The Stream: The storytelling is not very creative.

The Big Screen: Good action sequences.

The Final Bill: A solid, typical hero movie but not a Marvel classic.

– S2S:Movie Review
Director: Julius Onah
Writers: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson
Stars: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson
Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some strong language.
Runtime: 1 hour 53 minutes
Production Companies: Marvel Studios
Platform: Released in theaters February 14, 2025
Notable Trailers: Novocaine, Jurassic World Rebirth, Ballerina, Karate Kid Legends, Superman, The Fantastic 4: First Steps, Thunderbolts

Welcome back, Streamers! It’s Black History Month and here comes Captain America to make a new Black fact in Captain America: Brave New World.  On this lovely Valentine’s Day, Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan around the new element Adamantium.  Butt-kicking and rage-suppressing hijinks ensue.

Let’s get it out of the way early,  the movie is good and worth of seeing on the big screen. However, the movie is also a bit of a letdown or anticlimactic on the Marvel scale.   There was huge build up and anticipation for this new Captain America movie, but I’m not sure there’s a huge payoff. Maybe that’s due to the long break between “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” on Disney + to the release of this movie? The next letdown is that the marketing spoils the reveal of the Red Hulk reveal because there otherwise would have been some excitement and surprise to that development.  Marvel historically has done a good job of hiding a big surprise from viewers in their trailers. They dropped the ball on this one.  Beyond that, it seems like Marvel just threw in a couple storylines and characters in this movie that viewers probably don’t care about and more than likely will not return to the big screen. I’m sure comic book fans were pulling their hair out with all the minor details missed or lacking in continuity from the source materials, as usual.  Get your panties out off a bunch and get over it.  Finally, there’s not really a big bad in this movie which ultimately makes the stakes feel low.  While there is tension built it, it probably doesn’t amount to anything based on what viewers would be expecting from the trailer.

With all that humdrum talk done, Captain America: Brave New World is still entertaining and an action film.  Anthony Mackie still kicks butt and shields heads.   The action is pretty dope between the flying, shield work, and close hand-to-hand combat.  The movie looks great from the scenery to the superhero suits.  But ultimately, it just feels like another good action movie and not something special in and of itself.

Long story short, Captain America: Brave New World is a solid action movie with Marvel characters, but it doesn’t really feel like it fits in the MCU.  Great action makes this movie worth watching on the big screen but it’s probably just above average in the MCU filmography.  Grab a big bucket or bowl of popcorn and check out this new Captain America.