Bravery, strength, courage and determination are all aspects of a superhero. “Captain America: Brave New World”, the fourth installment of the “Captain America” series, demonstrated that Sam Wilson–Marvel’s next Captain America–has all of these character traits plus more. However, the film itself does not fully reach a superhero’s status, although it comes close.
Following the election of a new president, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), chaos begins to unfold both in and out of the country. Captain America (Anthony Mackie) and his sidekick, the Falcon (Danny Ramirez) fight the conflicts to protect America.
The start of the film was pretty weak. Dialogue was cringey, acting felt weird, and the overall vibe of the film wasn’t there. After a while, however, that mindset faded, and the film became more enjoyable.
One of the better aspects of the film was the action. The fight scenes were well choreographed with deft and slick stunts. While some of the CGI was stellar, it was not on point for some portions of the film. Many scenes clearly revealed the use of special effects, and it appeared that there was little effort made to hide it.
The film held a solid, clear storyline. The viewer is not left questioning what is going on at every given moment, but a little Marvel Cinematic Universe backup knowledge may be required every now and then. The story wasn’t confusing and it was easy to follow. Many films require a rewatch or an “explained” video to further understand the plot and message.
The film considers the themes of bravery, sacrifice, togetherness, and hope. It highlights the importance of these factors when facing difficult and unpredictable situations. Utilizing these common themes in a genre-mix of drama, comedy and action crafted a pretty satisfying adventure.
To put it plainly, the picture was good, but not great. There were some really great parts but there were also some worse ones. In the good there was bad and in the bad there was good–or simply defined as “mid.” Overall, the film is worth a watch for Marvel fans, but not much beyond that audience.
