Has Marvel been on top for too long? It certainly feels like it. 

Marvel’s latest addition to the pantheon, Captain America: Brave New World, surely had a lot resting on its shoulders. Not only does Brave New World strive to uphold Steve Rogers’ legacy and cement Sam Wilson as the new Captain America, it also follows on from the acclaimed Falcon and the Winter Soldier series, and ties up loose ends from two of Marvel’s biggest blunders to date in The Eternals and The Incredible Hulk.

The 35th entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe had plenty of potential to take the ailing franchise into new directions, with Falcon and the Winter Soldier teasing a Captain America that would more actively engage in fighting social injustice, striving for a… Brave New World, yet the film itself falls back on the same old tired Marvel formula, afraid to make much-needed waves and risk disrupting Marvel’s position at the top.

But the same old Marvel formula just doesn’t cut it any more, even for a big Marvel fan like me. Brave New World attempts to recapture the fading magic, intentionally drawing many parallels between itself and fan favorite Captain America: The Winter Soldier; political intrigue driving the plot and Captain America teaming up with a Falcon to name just two, but the newer entry is a pale imitation, unwilling to fully commit anything as it juggles its multiple commitments. 

Best bits done worse

True to recent form, so much going on means that little in the film is given the proper attention it deserves. The film’s villain, Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns, AKA The Leader, returns following the longest gap between Marvel appearances, having last appeared in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, the first entry in the MCU. The role here is reminiscent of Baron Zemo’s role in Civil War, but where Zemo’s plan sought to tear down the Avengers, The Leader’s plan is more focused on Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. Daniel Brühl’s Zemo enthralled viewers with a grounded and mysterious portrayal while Nelson’s Leader’s goofy look and cartoonish scheming in the shadows just feels a little bland.

In contrast, Ford’s portrayal of Ross was surprisingly strong. With so much news coverage leading up to the movie’s release centered on Ford’s somewhat nonchalant attitude to the movie, its reception, and Ford’s own on-set reputation. I went in expecting his performance to be phoned in — after all he had made it clear he only took on the role for the large amount of money Marvel had offered him — and was pleasantly surprised to find that Ford’s performance as Ross was easily my favorite. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ford is quite the natural at “grumpy old man.” 

Anthony Mackie’s performance as Captain America was also strong. Although a vocal few have raised their — in my opinion unwarranted — concerns about Mackie’s ability to do the role justice Mackie delivered as he had done in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, consistently bringing the charm to the role present since his first appearance as The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

In many respects however, Mackie’s Captain America has been let down by Marvel and the team behind Brave New World. The writing did at times fail to find the right balance in attempting to bring to the table the political issues supposedly close to the heart of this version of Captain America, always landing disappointingly neutral as Marvel and the movie’s writers continuously raise these ideas and stances, only to falter in willingness to come down decisively on one side or the other beyond bland platitudes.

How do you get this wrong?

Worse still, even the action fails to boost the dull writing. The action itself is a mixed but boring bag, where scenes are either doing nothing new, are dark and quickly cut messes, or bright and saturated CGI affairs. The biggest of the CGI fights is the big one heavily teased in the trailers and posters, the fight against the Red Hulk. I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t want to spoil too much, but even this fails to entertain, boiling down to what is essentially CGI destruction porn, unable to escape the obvious and extreme mismatch in power between the two combatants, forcing it into an underwhelming and expected end.

The fight highlighted a common Marvel issue for me: sterile visuals. Whether it stems from an over-reliance on CGI, the need to stick to the Marvel style, or an inexperienced production team — Brave New World is director Julius Onah’s fourth film and two of the movie’s three main writers come from a mostly TV background — everything in Brave New World felt just a little too clean, a little too clear, and a little too bright and colorful. The overuse of CGI and overly saturated colors actually had the unwanted effect of resembling AI imagery – it all just looked a little fake.

Strong performances by the movie’s two big draws unfortunately aren’t enough to rescue Brave New World from its own mediocrity. Marvel had the opportunity to do something new here but chose to rest on its laurels and produce another paint-by-numbers entry in the increasingly out of touch and lazy MCU, leaving us with a Captain America that could have been great but is instead slow, predictable and boring. 

Marvel’s reluctance to change up its formula while there is still a semblance of goodwill banked with general audiences is starting to bite it in the rear. While for now Marvel still holds its position as the top dog when it comes to superhero franchises, Brave New World is the big wobble that may just leave Marvel’s crown vulnerable and within reach as DC’s fresh start comes nipping at its heels.

Ben Newton Contributor

Ben is a big nerd, and has been gaming for as long as he can remember. His earliest memories being of playing DOOM with his Dad in the late 90's and he has recently been enjoying rediscovering all of the games he couldn't afford as a kid. His passion for gaming is shared with a passion for writing that he hopes to share by contributing to Smash Jump.