Sam Wilson has a bit of a history with Thaddeus Ross. Of course, Sam knows him as General Ross—a rather ruthless military man who would step on any neck to get what he wanted—not as President Ross.
So, seeing Ross in that newly elected position is, well, unexpected. As was Ross’ personal request for Sam to slip into his vibranium-laced Captain America suit to take on an important mission.
However, since the signing of the Sokovia Accords, Sam’s Captain America is one of the only superheroes the government can call upon. So Sam Wilson upholds his duty.
Oh, but that isn’t the only surprise in store. Because after Sam follows through and obtains what turns out to be a package of mysterious but vital international importance, Ross invites Sam to a public gathering and a personal audience at the White House.
They aren’t chums! But Sam decides to step away from past grievances and show up anyway. Of course, he also decides to use the public view of the White House meeting to help his friend Isaiah Bradley.
Isaiah is one of the supersoldiers who was experimented on by the US government way back when. The man even wore the uniform of Captain America for a while. But then he was framed and thrown into prison for 30 years. Sam is determined to bring Isaiah with him and to force everyone to recognize that this giant of a man was wronged.
Ross says Isaiah’s attendance is fine.
And indeed, Sam and Isaiah’s joint appearance at the White House event gets the news reporters buzzing. Not only that, but Ross pulls Sam in and hits him with an unexpected broadside: He wants him to start up the Avengers again. “The world needs those heroes. It needs them now!” Ross declares.
Sam is shocked. Is it possible? Can he do it?
Just about the time Sam is whispering the news to Isaiah and making plans in his head, however, something goes terribly wrong. Isaiah and five other men at the White House event suddenly go berserk and try to assassinate the president.
It’s insane, crazy. And after Isaiah runs, throwing people around like matchsticks and smashing through a White House window, Sam stops him. And … Isaiah has no memory of the event.
So, it looks like Sam will have to put the Avenger’s rebuild on the back burner. Instead, he has a mystery to solve and a friend to help. He’ll have to not only be a shield-carrying hero, but a detective, too.
Meanwhile, President Ross is beginning to look a little red around the collar. What’s that all about?
Sam makes heroic choices to save others throughout the film. But he does question at times if he was the right one to inherit Captain America’s shield, since he never took the super serum and gained super powers. Late in the movie, however, an old friend, Bucky, shows up to encourage him that Steve “gave you that shield, not because you were perfect, but because you were you.”
Sam voices his love for his friend.
Sam also takes a wannabe hero under his arm named Joaquin. He eventually wants to live up to wearing the mantle of the new Falcon. Sam gives him pointers and protects him in battle. And later, after Joaquin is injured, Sam encourages him. Sam essentially gives Joaquin the same encouragement that Bucky gave him.
Questions are raised about President Ross’ past and current choices. But he eventually makes it clear that he is trying to change his life for the better. An illness drives home the fact that his relationship with his estranged daughter, Betty, is of utmost importance to him. He eventually steels himself to contact her, and the two take steps toward reconciliation over the phone.
[Spoiler Warning] Later still, Ross takes full responsibility for his wrongdoings and resigns his position as President. Betty comes to visit him in prison and they continue to repair their relationship.
A Catholic priest and two nuns are held captive by a killer. Thugs threaten them with weapons, but Captain America rescues them. They bless him for his efforts.
We see a large, muscle-rippling Hulk that then calms down to his human form, standing frail and shirtless.
Thumping, riddling, zapping and explosive violence consumes screen time at every turn here.
There are for instance, massive explosions during an open sea battle between jets and warships. The jets let loose missiles and large caliber gunfire; some attacks strike their metallic targets with huge eruptions and gouts of flame. Others are deflected away by Captain America’s and the Falcon’s wings. (Though frankly, the very human Sam detonating missiles in midair and ripping open an F-18 cockpit with only his fancy suit and a shield is a bit less than credible.)
We don’t often see bullets pierce and bloody their targets, but guns blaze regularly and men do fall. Sam doesn’t shoot anyone, for instance, but he does use his shield and vibranium reinforced wings to ricochet bullets into others. He also uses his wings to slice cars, jets and other vehicles, as well as sending the vehicles crashing in a flaming heap.
In another instance, for example, the Red Hulk is shot repeatedly by various rounds of different caliber. And while the bullets somehow bounce off his tough exterior, blades drive home and stick in the raging beast’s skin. He’s also sliced open across the abdomen by one of Sam’s wings.
Sam in turn gets stabbed and shot a few times. Scores of men shoot weapons in his direction. He’s also hit with massive blows from the Red Hulk—as it smashes its way through trees, buildings, and the Washington Monument. Sam’s sent repeatedly hurtling into vehicles, trees and walls. (It’s assumed that his vibranium laced suit somehow absorbs most of that punishment, which is broadly similar to how Iron Man’s armor likewise protects Tony Stark.)
Other than the above-mentioned incidents we watch as men give battle with vicious blows. People pound away at one another in several different crowd scenes. Sam’s shield regularly ricochets around against walls and foes’ heads. People are slammed by heavy objects and furniture. A very small-framed woman is also a part of a few of those skirmishes. Though she looks to be about 85 lbs. wet, we’re told that she came from the Black Widow “factory” and is a fierce fighter. We see that claim put to the test.
There are several other deadly incidents worthy of mention as well. We see someone walk into a couple’s home and then hear gunshots as they are murdered. On several occasions, men are mentally controlled and then turn as a group to murder someone. We glimpse the aftermath in one case as the camera gazes on a room full of bloodied bodies. After one of those mind-controlled attacks, the killer turns to the camera and puts his weapon under his chin. The camera looks away an instant before he pulls the trigger.
Someone uses a sonic device to drive a man to his knees in agonizing torture. Then he turns the frequency up to painfully kill his victim. A sonic boom hits a crowd of men and sends them all sprawling into hard surfaces. Someone grabs a cinder block and smashes people in the head with it.
People are stabbed in the chest and side with small blades. Men are knocked to the ground by electric taser zaps. Someone is sent to the hospital with massive burns all over his chest and shoulders.
For a Marvel superhero flick, the amount of crude and profane language in the dialogue feels fairly heavy. There are some 15 s-words here, and more than a half-dozen uses each of the words “h—” and “d–n.” In addition, we hear two or three uses each of the words “b–ch,” “a–” and “b–tard.” Jesus’ and God’s names are misused a total of four times (once pairing “God” with “d–n”).
Sam drinks champagne in a limo and offers some to the others there. We learn that someone is taking a drug laced with gamma radiation. And that drug later turns someone into a huge Red Hulk.
Sam and Joaquin use Joaquin’s tech skills to break into the White House’s CVT system. And they later break into a high-security prison complex. We learn that a high-ranking government official hired a murderous team to steal valuable materials from another nation. Someone uses his gamma-enhanced brain to deduce the probabilities of things happening. He uses that information to hurt, control, belittle and kill others.
Ross decides to use the force of the American military to attack another nation. “I’ve been a wartime general, now I’ll be a wartime president,” he proclaims.
I’ll quickly admit that back in 2011, I enjoyed Captain America: The First Avenger. That film had an uplifting cinematic story, a real Golden Age comics vibe, heroes to cheer for and strong messages about patriotism as well as relying on one’s strength of character.
There were content issues to be wary of, to be sure. But all-in-all it was a pretty good comic-book pic to gather the fam for.
Five Marvel Universe “phases” later and … let’s just say that the Marvel movie family has been going through alot of reeling and stumbling as of late. And if you’re heading into this movie hoping for a sweet ride back to that Cap-and-his-red-white-and-blue vibe, well, you won’t quite find it here.
The movie does try: Anthony Mackie is heroic and slips into his Falcon wings and behind his Captain America shield with lots of athletic flex. Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross adds some movie gravitas. There are some tips of the hat to past Marvel storylines you may have forgotten. And there are even nice, kid-friendly messages stitched in here about living up to your potential when others doubt you and the power of accepting your past failings while reaching for a fresh start.
However, those nice parts don’t necessarily add up as you might hope.
Brave New World doesn’t ever take the time to let us connect emotionally with its new stable of characters. It rushes breathlessly toward each successive and explosive confrontation like a cat with its tail afire. And it presents a fairly cynical worldview of corrupt politics and pessimistic heroes.
On top of that, of course, is this superhero movie’s weighty layer of almost-too-edgy violence and foul language. Those factors alone will cause many parents to pause, even if their kids are yelling passionately for massive CGI explosions and Red Hulk smashes.
Wrap that all up in a review package with a vibranium bow, and I’ll say that Captain America: Brave New World isn’t the worst of the Marvel offerings. But it’s not really worthy of breaking out that red-white-and-blue shield you’ve got stored in the garage either.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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