Captain America: Brave New World review: "Anthony Mackie's Cap earns his Stars and Stripes in this uneven, un-MCU thriller"

Captain America: Brave New World wastes little time in getting its point across. Gone is the usual Marvel Studios opening fanfare and, in its place, a black-and-white logo that hints at a no-nonsense, back-to-basics thriller that's intent on reining the MCU in after a Phase filled with multiverse meddling and gratuitous cameos.

While the fourth Captain America movie doesn't quite make good on its bountiful potential, it does finally establish Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as an Avengers-leader-in-waiting. After all, it's been six long years since an elderly Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) passed the torch in Avengers: Endgame.

Disney Plus series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier showed early promise but, otherwise, the character (and Mackie) has been waiting in the wings for a chance to wield the shield and prove himself full time on the big screen. It's an opportunity he grabs here with both hands.

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Zipping about the movie with a cocksure confidence only reserved for the cream of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Mackie's Sam Wilson soon finds himself perched on top of a political powder keg as newly installed President Ross (Harrison Ford) makes a power play amid the discovery of Adamantium, the world's most versatile material, on the island formed out of the dead Celestial Tiamut (Eternals fans, this is your moment).

"The threats we face show no sign of slowing down," Ford's Ross growls in the opening act, kickstarting an opening hour laced with all the hallmarks of a great thriller: assassination attempts, paranoia, and a chase for the mastermind led by Sam and his partner-in-stopping-crime Joaquin Torres, AKA The Falcon (Danny Ramirez).

Bolstered with a Wakanda-enhanced suit, Sam sets about untangling an increasingly knotty situation, one that brings Giancarlo Esposito's Serpent Society leader Sidewinder, Shira Haas' capable government agent Ruth, Carl Lumbly's returning Super Soldier Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson's The Leader into the fray.

Follow The Leader

Of Brave New World's heaving ensemble of villains and wildcards, it's Esposito's Sidewinder that is emblematic of both its greatest strengths and familiar MCU weaknesses. The character is smartly deployed throughout the film and makes the most out of director Julius Onah's adept control over the suitably weighty action, while his ability to disrupt and crash into proceedings in unexpected fashion means the audience is always kept on its toes.

Still, Sidewinder's erratic presence appears to be the product of being stitched together through reshoots and additional photography, with his actions here only acting as an hors d'oeuvres before, presumably, he takes center stage in another Marvel project in several years once all momentum is drained from the character. Esposito could have easily been the focus in a grounded project such as this, but ultimately feels like it's making the best of a bad – and possibly Frankensteined in the editing booth – situation.

Most intriguingly for MCU diehards is the appearance of Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns/The Leader. Formerly a side concern in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Brave New World appears to relish in making Marvel's most forgotten – and largely forgettable – entry relevant again.

While Sterns only ever operates on the fringes, his cerebral, hands-off approach at least elevates Sam's Cap from a whipsmart, wisecracking hero into one that can sniff out clues, see through deception, and even be a little nasty in the field when the situation calls for it. It's a compelling foil for Sam to bounce off, despite their chalk-and-cheese dynamic never quite sparking in the vein of great villains from Captain America's cinematic past.

That, of course, works in tandem with Ford's 'Thunderbolt' Ross (here recast after the death of previous actor William Hurt). In truth, Ford's inclusion raises the magnetic presence that, Mackie aside, Brave New World so desperately requires. Ford is fantastic here as an irascible President under pressure, with the threat of the Red Hulk also looming large throughout Brave New World's slightly-dragging two-hour runtime. Arguably, Ford brings the sort of star power the MCU has been lacking since Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark snapped off this mortal coil (and perhaps speaks to his surprise Doctor Doom comeback in next year's Avengers: Doomsday).

A thriller of two halves

Despite the groundwork laid by the new Marvel movie's opening act-and-a-half, the taut, drum-tight plotting eventually comes unstuck. As the conspiracy unravels so, too, does Brave New World. What begins as a substantial detour from typical MCU fare rapidly turns into The Winter Soldier-lite in the back half, a litany of action sequences on auto-pilot and half-baked monologues about world-saving philosophies. Even the much-touted Red Hulk vs. Captain America clash doesn't quite live up to its heavyweight billing, despite a Serum-less Captain America that can be bruised and beaten frequently nudging Brave New World into intriguing narrative territory.

Yet, you can't help but applaud the effort. After the Fox-filled excesses of Deadpool and Wolverine, this refreshingly straightforward actioner once again proves the biggest strength of the MCU is in its malleability. A Brave New World, then? Not quite. But it's a step in the right direction.

Captain America: Brave New World releases in theaters worldwide on February 14. For more on the MCU, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our guide to watching the Marvel movies in order.