'Captain America: Brave New World' briefing

2 ½ (out of 4)

            “You’ve gotta do better!”

After a dozen or so post-Endgame excuses for the longest denouement in cinema history (some of which have tallied insane budgets to exhibit the worst visual effects in all of modern blockbusters) the ceaseless Marvel slinky has become more than mangled and messed up, the Universe tripping over itself countless times in order to kickstart momentum for the brand’s new narrative scope.

I don’t think it’s too presumptuous to say this is how even the admirers and carefree casuals see things by now, a waning empire. Beforehand the pleasures were consistent enough to just enjoy the ride — now we’re lucky if one of these immediately memory-holed movies crosses your brain again without looking them up. In a world where The Marvels is ACTUALLY FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes (I had to double check then double take), that means the fourth Captain America becomes somehow just the third MCU movie with a dreaded green splat, ranging from the rightful ridicule for the totally asinine Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Phase Five sprinted for Kang Dynasty until Jon Majors’ legal problems forced a hasty audible… uh DOOMSDAY yeah, AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY!) to people ripping Eternals, which simply filtered fools as Chloe Zhao’s mature masterpiece (it honestly craps all over Nomadland, we’ll see ‘bout Hamnet) is worth many watches. Brave New World is right in between and not just because I was expecting trash beyond RT scores considering all the rumors of endless reshoots — the final product is not so disheveled, underwhelming certainly, but far more formidable as entertainment than it deserves, the script respectably two-stepping as it justifies Captain Falcon without getting too abrasive, direct or preachy about the racial subtext. Is even worth bringing up director Julius Onah made something as thought-provoking as 2019’s Luce, a Funny Games reunion for Tim Roth and Naomi Watts with some similarly simmering violence behind the more nihilistic bent of polite socialization — ignoring the practically pre-disowned hodgepodge sci-fi hack-job that is The Cloverfield Paradox, Onah’s other resume-ready conceit is the only neo-noir with a black leading man I can think of since (and maybe before?) Denzel in Devil in a Blue Dress, the character-rich The Girl Is In Trouble.

The first Post-Evans affair sprints to escape shadows via a simple conspiracy/assassination semi-Manchurian thriller tale molded after fan favorite Captain America: The Winter Soldier — the first act of Brave New World is just so eerily similar, with an opening stealth mission meant to uncover a devious plot of internal corruption stocked with political intrigue, followed by street-set ambushes (courtesy of an underused Giancarlo Esposito) and our heroes (an ex-Widow played by Shira Haas, half ScarJo’s size, still dropping dudes 150 pounds heavier, and the winsome Danny Ramirez as Falcon 2.0 Joaquin Torres) on the lamb and out for Ethan Hunt levels of righteous curiosity and responsibility. Sebastian Stan's forced cameo is supposed to make us all feel better — Bucky remains a barely second-billed bestie but he’s also a congressman? How… boring. Despite Carl Lumbly as an OG super soldier unfamiliar to me, this movie doesn’t really have that “didn’t you see Falcon and the Winter Soldier?” moment. It’s Anthony Mackie’s assurance making it all the more tolerable, and same goes for Sam Wilson’s relationship with protégé Torres, so strong you can end the picture on an emotional reconciliation — did you ever see that between Rogers and Wilson, really? Mackie holds his own so well considering he was treated like a token character at best before (Imagine them trying to sell a Don Cheadle War Machine movie, how few people would show up?), he’s even written to be kind of annoying in Infinity War. Mackie keeps his respect with nothing but earnestness, which felt natural since the ex-soldier angle is carried over from maybe his best performance in The Hurt Locker, the first thing I ever saw him in (my suburban ass had to catch up to 8 Mile).

Anyway Anthony’s attempt to make sure the film is worth its salt is offset by Harrison Ford who really didn’t need to openly admit he was doing it for the paycheck this time, unlike back ’97 when he cared about his fake presidential role in Air Force One. It took me too long to realize he replaced William Hurt’s character, who appeared most prominently in Civil War and The Incredible Hulk — Brave New World subliminally serves as a latent conclusion to the loose ends of the latter, oft-ignored second MCU feature, including Liv Tyler’s pointless return as the character’s daughter. Tim Blake Nelson as a goofy-ass Martian-like gamma-goosed-up villain, fuck what a class act, it’s pleasing watching a great character actor do his thing, especially as an underutilized peripheral figure in the mediocre, unmemorable Hulk movie directed by Louis Letterier and not the mediocre, more memorable Ang Lee interpretation. Otherwise, without Ed Norton or Mark Ruffalo in sight (or She who twerked with Megan Thee Stallion) this is all pretty darn perfunctory padding.

The mild moxie of Brave New World now makes that 180 million price tag more reasonable — sure this doesn’t live up to the involving action and headlong pace of a Russo Brothers romp (Winter Soldier’s prudent punch or the brimming bustle of Civil War) but it isn’t far off from the off-balanced rush of The First Avengers’ role as crossover-springboard. Captain America: Brave New World, for pointing us toward X-Men and reformed Avengers team-ups, is significantly less of a product/advert movie than its forebears. It’s got decent enough intentions, fights and flow, even as the movie is undone by marketing that can’t help but overshare Ford’s transformation into Red Hulk, the late climax of the picture. But Cap’n 4 miraculously doesn’t snake oil sell you anything — the movie made me go from scoffing at the idea of Mackie spearheading the leftover Avengers to rather curious how they might pull that sucker off. The fifth Avengers is right around the bend and general interest has to be a little higher for Thunderbolts (right?) and much higher for Fantastic Four: First Steps (r-right?). I might be going soft on Brave New World but sorry, even the gag-inducing humor is practically non-existent here (only ONE CRINGEY PAUSE FOR LAUGHTER MOMENT?), the banana peel under any wishfully slop-side-stepping superheroics.