Film ● Review: Captain America: Brave New World
- Very Average Joe
- Dec 24, 2025
- 4 min read
Title: Captain America: Brave New World
Director(s): Julius Onah
Screenwriter(s): Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman & Dalan Musson, Julius Onah & Peter Glanz
Studio: Marvel Studios
Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 58m
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore
My Verdict: Whilst it is not outright bad, it is simply too conventional, predictable and lacks intrigue. Mackie and, to a lesser extent, Ford carry the film.
● This is a continuation of the already bloated MCU as part of Phase Five.
● Despite not being a fan of Captain America or even Marvel in general, I find the Captain America films to be the better works of the MCU. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) is a decent short series too, so I had some expectations for this fourth installment to the Captain America film series.
● Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson is cool and perhaps a little more relatable as he does not have any superpowers. Still, Wilson and Torres (Danny Ramirez) as the Falcon seem to be too tough at times. Hitting hard is one thing, taking hits as if you have superpowers is another.
● Harrison Ford is not bad as Thaddeus Ross, taking over the role from William Hurt who passed away in 2022. Although Ford gives a decent performance, he is too overtly antagonistic whereas Hurt comes across as more urbane.
● One of the main problems is that one already knows Ross becomes the Red Hulk so… well, there’s not much else.
● The film begins with Wilson and Torres recovering a sample of adamantium, a newly discovered metal. The sample was stolen from the Japanese. Ross is in the process of negotiating a treaty to share this metal with the rest of the world.
● In a summit held at the White House, there is an assassination attempt in which retired super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) is apparently an agent. Obviously, everyone is being played and the film follows Wilson and Torres as they investigate who is behind this.
● Ross and Wilson don’t get along but now that Ross is President of the United States, he is trying to play nicer. Unfortunately, Ross is just unnecessarily stubborn even if that is the character. Of course, one needs to play politics but inflexibly adhering to one course of action is not playing anything.
● Whatever game the villain is attempting seems to work but then they just reveal themselves to the heroes and start giving expositions because… the film could use a few expositions? Even though Wilson is the main viewpoint character, the villain could still be hidden from him.
● In any case, the game the villain wants to play is predictable and one already knows Ross is the Red Hulk. Despite that, the action and set pieces keep it mildly entertaining.
● It is shot and edited conventionally but well enough. There are a few instances where the action can be better choreographed and edited so that it is visually clearer and flows better (that is, not look like the bad guys are waiting to get hit).
● However, the CG is mediocre at best. Whether it is military hardware or the Red Hulk or damage to buildings, it is just too obvious that it is CG.
● Ross being president and having a temper is an obvious parallel to President Trump, or at least how some perceive him. Not all parallels line up so the film avoids being a total cheapshot. If anything, the film mostly avoids being “political” apart from Ross wanting some control of the adamantium.
● Ross and Wilson not getting along is obviously the conflict and part of the themes but, as already mentioned, Ross is just unnecessarily stubborn to the point that it is uninteresting. And related to the above, it could be more political so that there is more intrigue. It need not reflect on the current state of affairs, it just needs to be natural enough given the premise.
● So, pitting the US against Japan to the point of military conflict with insufficient buildup is just implausible and cringe. This scenario more resembles someone’s dream—perhaps some elements of China—and one wonders how much influence China has in Hollywood and whether this is some poor attempt at predictive programming.
● Another cringe element is former Black Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) as Ross’s security advisor. Whilst it is admittedly realistic for an Israeli to be at the highest level of the US government, it really is cringe.
● Ultimately, whilst the pacing is not bad, the plot just goes through the standard elements: someone is framed, law enforcement figure comes across as inflexible but then becomes understanding, sidekick almost gets killed, hero wonders if he is good enough, blah blah blah. As expected, Mackie sells it; and it is Mackie and, to a lesser extent, Ford carrying the film.
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