On Feb. 14, Marvel released its newest flop, Captain America: A Brave New World. After the original Captain America’s scored 90% on Rotten Tomato, this film scored a 50%. With trash CGI and a terrible plot, the movie was one of Marvel’s biggest disasters.
As a little girl, my family would see every Marvel film on opening night or in theaters. It is a tradition for my family, but it has become harder and harder to enjoy this tradition as films worsen. With lackluster plots and the characters who have no emotional connection, it has been harder to love these films.
A Brave New World is not Captain America, it is a Hulk movie, which was the first failure of the film. The movie focuses on President Thaddeus Ross, if you have never seen the first Hulk – you are blessed – Ross is the general who wants Hulk dead. Now he is on a mission to change his ways to get his daughter to love him again. Harrison Ford killed the performance; however, he was the only talented actor in the film.
Now we all knew this Captain America was different; it was no longer Steve Roger. We have met Sam in previous movies and television shows, but this is his first time as the lead in a movie and it did not deliver. I think this is a 50/50 issue. Anthony Mackie does not have ‘leading man energy’ as my mom says, and I sort of agree. He is hilarious and I think he worked with what he was given: a slow plot with little action. This is the recipe for failure in a Marvel movie.
Now the plot was bad, but the CGI was somehow worse. I feel like Marvel was given no budget for such a massive movie. I fear the CGI green screen moments look like they were filmed in the ‘Tangy Today studio. Plus, the fight scenes looked unplanned and needed more organization.
What I did enjoy was how Sam represented a modern America and showed you can be whatever you put your mind to, but the movie commutated this with a terrible plot. Steve Rogers was a classic Captain America with his 1950’s vibes. The original character romanticizes the older American ideals; however, Sam’s Captain America was modern and Gen-Z. His character made you feel represented, vs the original which felt like an American fable.
I hope to forget how this film looked in six months and move on to Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four; however, I am scared these films may also disappoint if they are similar to A Brave New World. I would rate this film at two out of five because I laughed (twice), the message was powerful, and the Winter Soldier had a cameo (one minute).
