Captain America: Brave New World
Review: Listen up y’all. I’m mad. At people. I don’t get the hate and negativity around this movie AT ALL. I have yet to hear a valid reason as to why people didn’t like it, so if you didn’t please share with me what about it you didn’t like because I am GENUINELY curious what’s not to like. I thought it was great & reached the levels of quality of a lot of pre-Endgame Marvel. My bias definitely shows when it comes to Marvel movies to where I do transition a bit from a movie lover to a Marvel lover, because at the end of the day I’m still just a nerd. And there are so few Marvel movies I don’t like, this is definitely not one of them. I will hit on some of the cons just to show that it does still have some issues. I had a hard time buying into the character of Ruth Bat-Seraph, I think she was forgettable & easily replaceable. I think the Leader’s design would’ve been improved if it was comic accurate, but I actually thought it looked very good on screen. I think it was silly to cast an actor like Giancarlo Esposito in such an inconsequential villain role. I would’ve saved him for something with more gravitas. And finally, the nerd in me thinks that to tie things together a little bit, President Ritson from ‘Secret Invasion’ should’ve been referenced, but that’s minor. Obviously this movie didn’t reach the ‘epic-ness’ of an Endgame, but duh. That movie had a decade and 20 movies of build up.
That’s something else, I’ve seen people complain that you needed to have seen ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Eternals,’ & ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ for this to make since. (Side note, I think I’m in the small majority but I loved Falcon & the Winter Soldier. It and Loki season 2 are my favorite TV Marvel has done) I think it helps, but they do a huge exposition dump in the first five minutes so maybe just pay attention? And even if that was the case, Marvel has always been that way. The first Avengers movie had a 5 movie lead up & Endgame had like 20. This feels like a big rant but I’m just going to keep rolling. People online like to complain about a lot. One thing is that Marvel’s movies all feel the same & are stale. So they finally give us something new and different (a legitimate political thriller) & now people gripe about that. I’ve seen people complain that Marvel never ties up loose ends. That is literally what this movie is! I’ve seen people complain we haven’t gotten a proper ‘Hulk out’ onscreen in a while, and this movie has a FANTASTIC one. There’s also a large group of people online that whine about color grading in movies (such a miserable complaint to me), but this movie was extremely colorful & I have yet to see anyone acknowledge that.
Thaddeus Ross is so dumb. Not like as a character, I mean the guy himself. How are you going to have serious heart problems & anger issues but decide to get elected to the most stressful job in the world? That’s on him. RIP William Hurt, would’ve loved to see him continue the role, that being said Harrison Ford was great. There are few things that hit like Harrison Ford in a blockbuster movie. He just knows how to do it.
And Anthony Mackie was BRILLIANT as Captain America. I’m so glad he finally got to be the lead and that he was perfect. His one liners were very good. The action they had him do with the shield was peak. His aerial wing action was also so cool to watch. Also, Joaquin Torres is a perfect sidekick. Quippy, immature, but lovable & cool. I can’t think of a better superhero movie sidekick since Sam to Steve Rogers. Scroll all the way down for a slight spoiler I wanted to mention.
High: I never thought I would say this, but the high in this Marvel movie was the cinematography/camerawork. I truly think was the best shot Marvel movie I have ever watched. It used angles that you just typically wouldn’t expect to see in a big budget superhero film, but were stunning. I saw it in IMAX & I would highly recommend you do if you get the chance.
Low: Disney & Marvel screwed this movie over with the trailers. We should not have known Ross was going to become Red Hulk. I should’ve had to have put a spoiler warning right there. But I didn’t because it is literally the focal point of every trailer. The film very much plays out where that is a mystery & I think it would’ve greatly benefitted to that being kept more under wraps.
Rating: 9/10 (I loved this movie & will gladly defend it when necessary)
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SPOILER WARNING
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I LOVED Sebastian Stan’s cameo as Bucky. It wouldn’t have felt right for him to not appear & I think the way they did it was perfect to keep attention on Cap. I also feel like it was very good setup for Thunderbolts*. Shoutout to Academy Award nominee, Sebastian Stan, the man is on fire recently.
