Before I’d even seen this movie, based on the previews I joked on Facebook that it went like this; “Cool black guy in blue pants and shades faces off against the President of the United States, who is also a discolored rage monster. Any resemblance to real persons, either living or dead, is completely coincidental.”
Captain America: Brave New World, of course, is the first feature film starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, after the original Captain America gave him his shield and he ended up having to fight for it in the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Mackie proved himself to be lead material in that story, and in this film, Sam uses martial arts, the shield and a combination of his personal gadgets and Wakandan tech to be a truly bad-ass combatant. But in many ways the movie is just as much about the bigger star, Harrison Ford, who plays new president Thaddeus Ross.
In Marvel Comics, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was more an antagonist to the Bruce Banner Hulk, like how J. Jonah Jameson is to Spider-Man. He doesn’t have superpowers and he’s technically not a bad guy, but his social position and enmity combine to make life difficult for the hero. Ross was already introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in The Incredible Hulk movie (2008), played by William Hurt, who is sadly no longer with us. But since they’ve cast Bruce Banner as three completely different looking actors by now, apparently nobody minds casting Harrison Ford. A few years ago in the comics, Ross got himself turned into the Red Hulk, which would be a huge spoiler for this movie, except that the previews already have spoiled it.
The plot, such as it matters, actually returns to “Celestial Island”, which appeared at the end of the Eternals movie when the Earth’s native Celestial almost emerged from the planet. Researchers in the Indian Ocean have determined that this “island” consists of a certain wonder metal that the world powers might be able to use to compete with Wakandan vibranium tech. This ties into Cap’s first scene in the movie, where he has to stop a “package” from getting into the wrong hands. After this success, President Ross invites Sam to attend a presentation at the White House, and Sam agrees only on the condition that he can bring his friend and mentor, Korean War super-soldier Isaiah Bradley (the great Carl Lumbly). But out of the blue Isaiah tries to assassinate the President (cause apparently they’ll just let anybody bring guns to the White House) and Sam and his tech sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) have to figure out what the hell happened and see if they can clear their friend’s name.
I liked Ramirez and Mackie, and the rest of the cast is great, including not only Ford and Lumbly but Giancarlo Esposito as a villain who may reappear later. And the background brings back not only Marvel’s Eternals movie but goes all the way back to The Incredible Hulk. But the previous Captain America movies and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were relatively grounded for superhero movies, and the political themes made them more relevant. But that plausibility goes out the window when Ford Hulks out with special effects that look that much sillier than the ones in the She-Hulk series. But even apart from the fantasy elements, the film is unbelievable in comparison to the real world for two reasons. The first is that a president who is clearly crooked as all Hell is capable of calming down and doing the right thing in the end. The second is that the country is willing to look at him and admit that maybe it’s not a good idea for a guy in his late 70s with pre-existing health conditions and anger management problems to be in charge of international diplomacy.
Apropos of nothing, this is the first time I’ve been to a theater in a while (as opposed to seeing a movie on streaming) and I think it might be my last. I went to a theater that charged only five dollars for a matinee ticket, so that wasn’t the issue. But a box of popcorn would have cost more than a combo meal at a fast-food place, I had to wait for maybe 15 minutes of previews and before that 20 minutes of non-movie ads. Unless a movie is so visually spectacular that it HAS to be seen on the big screen (like the Spider-Verse movies) I don’t know if it’s worth the bother.