“Captain America: Brave New World” (2025) Review
Written by Victor DeBonis
“Captain America: Brave New World” is a movie I very much wanted to like. Viewing the trailers, I was hopeful of loving it, due to the vibes I was receiving of the 2025 movie being in the vein of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” “The Winter Soldier” is one of the great MCU films in my eyes partly because it was a movie containing its most superbly constructed fight sequences and because it was a blockbuster daring to ask its audience challenging ideas. “Winter Soldier” was a movie with a firm knowledge of what causes its heroes to shine, but it would also effectively explore the concept of what even a hero as noble as Chris Evans’ version of Cap might do when he discovers the questionable actions taking place within the government itself.
Anthony Mackie is unmistakably still great in filling in his version of the titular hero. He has that eased grin when he’s joking or speaking assuredly to his comrades. That greater sense of duty is visible when he debates with the President about what the best action is for the nation’s heroes to take when things start to go astray after a close friend of his attacks others out of nowhere. His fierce stare and steady voice in the face of menace all consist of what you would hope to see from a great hero.
It’s a ton of fun to see Harrison Ford play the United States President again. I will naturally always love Ford as Indy, but I think he deserves more recognition for the roles he’s played as important fictional heroes working within the realm of the government. I’m talking about Ford as Jack Ryan in the 90’s films “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger” and him playing the President in “Air Force One” (All of these are movies you should dig up from streaming sites if you haven’t already, by the way). My admiration for the latter film made me especially excited to see him in this role again but with a different name and universe.
In this movie, Ford is certainly more than capable of playing the part. He assertively delivers orders for the next act for those under him to take, and he turns on the charm like a faucet switching the water on when he’s shaking hands with the crowd around him or when he is somberly reflecting on the pain of someone he cares about who’s no longer in his life. Just as in “The Fugitive” and everything else that he’s in, including a movie that’s not much good, Ford carries a ton of lovable gruffness and heart and never sleepwalks with the performance he’s giving.
So, the frustration only increases when charming acting talents, such as these, are coupled with a script and action that is deeply lacking.
There are no challenging ideas to speak of from the plot at hand. Sure, secrets are unearthed regarding what Ford’s President did in the past. Instead of thoroughly exploring the level of corruption done by the harm caused by greater powers as aforementioned “Winter Soldier” or even the series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” did, the movie chooses to merely mention to him a few times that he did bad actions from before and leaves it at that. Any opportunities to properly explore the harm that can possibly be done by greater leaders in charge is squandered. Almost everything you expect to happen with his arc happens, and, without giving anything away, what happens and what is said in regards to him in some of the final moments made me shake my head with disappointment. What occurred made no sense and even felt hokey.
Further adding frustration to the story at hand are the newer characters who add very little in the way of intrigue. Danny Ramirez tries his hardest to lend humor and bits of charisma to his role as Joaquin Torres playing the new Falcon. The problem is that he’s written as too bland and without much in personality. The script tries giving him and Mackie a few bits of banter, but the chemistry between them feels too stiff and unnatural. I struggle to think of one line of exchange between them that got a solid laugh out of me or that made me proud to follow their friendship, but I draw a blank. They have a fairly moving moment, later on, in the movie, probably containing the most emotion in the entire story, but the journey taken to get there doesn’t feel earned.
I feel bad for Tim Blake Nelson who plays the main villain of the movie. Here is a gifted character actor who is stuck playing one of the most boring opponents from a MCU film in recent memory. Nelson has a definite motivation for committing the evil he performs, but there is little else to him. Nothing about his appearance or demeanor or what he says caused the slightest chill down my spine or even made me chuckle. He has a definite inner motivation for his wickedness, but there is little else to him. Nelson’s character is rather puny to merely look at, and, without giving much detail, he’s not exactly the hardest to take down when it gets closer to the climax.
Whatever happened to good MCU villains? Does anyone else remember the legitimate menace they left when they arrogantly stormed into a room or the compelling backstory or philosophy they had for unleashing the hurt and pain they did? A good villain goes beyond having a motive for being wicked. They carry personality and something interesting about them that adds interest to what an evil spirit they already are. The villain of “Brave New World” sadly has none of that.
The action is rather inconsistent. It’s fun to see parts of the fight between the Red Hulk and Mackie as heavily advertised (despite the moments with the Red Hulk being brief and the story not doing much to build up the appearance of him). When the movie is allowed to take its time to present Cap landing hard punches and somersaults in the air against his enemies and give him more space to fight, the story momentarily wakes up. Some shots are pretty cool, such as an early aerial shot of Mackie sending his shield spinning around a circular gang of enemies to knock them out.
What gets in the way of the action being overall good is the editing. Transitions from when someone is throwing punches to when something interrupts the initial fight movies happen way too fast, and it’s hard to feel the impact of a blow or kick when this happens. Battles with this type of sequencing feel rushed when this occurs and don’t allow for as much enjoyment as one would hope to have with Captain America.
Folks, this was not a good film. Nothing interesting happens with the main characters at hand. There’s no interesting commentary to come from this political thriller at hand, and the story itself doesn’t have much going on. Action is mildly interesting in specific moments, but it doesn’t happen often enough. The performances mostly work but are fighting a losing battle against a weak script.
I hate to say it, but, as a whole, the shield didn’t fly particularly high or strong with this one.
Grade: C-