Marvel Studios has had a rough couple of years. With every success, such as 2024’s “Deadpool And Wolverine” and 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” there comes a series of flops, such as 2021’s “Eternals” and 2023’s “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.” Marvel has tried their best to make audiences care about their characters, and it has worked to some degree, but without Iron Man or even the original Captain America, Marvel has struggled to make new stars to take center stage to lead the few films for the next couple of years. This is where “Brave New World” comes into play.
In this film, Sam Wilson has to solve a conspiracy that he is a part of. The plot is straightforward, but Marvel always has to tie this film with other films as this is the Marvel norm. The biggest crime is that this film tries to market itself as a “serious” and “down to reality” film as 2014’s “The Winter Soldier,” but the problem is that many scenes feel unfinished and make the audience wonder what got cut and edited out for time. One of the other biggest problems of this film is its poor pacing.
One of the weakest aspects of the film is the villains. Marvel has had a bad track record of villains, but this film has three, ranging from either bad to just forgettable. Without getting into spoilers, one of the villains is a “surprise,” but they just feel irrelevant. They were a big waste of screen time that could’ve gone to other characters instead. This is also the first Captain America film without Steve Rogers, and instead, his partner from the previous three films, Anthony Mackie, has to fill in the gap. For the most part, he does a decent job with what he has to work with, and Mackie’s chemistry with his other co-stars carries the film.
The real star of this film and one of the only good highlights in this film is Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross. He is the only character in this film that has a full character arc. His character has to navigate through a sea of emotions and learn the value of trust after a failed assassination attempt. This causes him to turn into the Red Hulk. Seeing Harrison Ford let loose as the Red Hulk and fight Captain America was one of the film’s few highlights. The downside to the fight scene was that it was short, and the fragmentary computer- generated imagery (CGI) was very noticeable and distracting at times.
This film has its moments, but they’re very few in number. This film doesn’t know what it wants to be. At times it tries to be a political thriller with social commentaries, but at other times it wants to be a “fun” blockbuster. The reshoots were noticeable and affected the viewing experience.
This film also felt more like a Disney+ series rather than a theatrical release. In fact, a Disney+ release may have been better received. 2025 will see the release of two more Marvel films: “Thunderbolts,” which releases in May, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which releases in July. Hopefully, those films are better than this, but so far, Marvel is off to a rough start this year , and if those films garner the same reception as “Brave New World,” it’ll be fair to say that Marvel will be in deep trouble.
Superhero fatigue has been the topic of conversation in the world of cinema, and with more misses than hits lately, it can be easily concluded that it’s real. It’s not that audiences are tired of superhero films, they are instead tired of bad and mediocre superhero films. For many years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been able to provide the audience with escapism. Over the last few years though, that magic has disappeared as Marvel loses more of its audience with each new release. Hopefully with the release of this film Marvel can go back to the drawing board and start making entertaining films again.
Verdict: While it’s not the worst Marvel film, it’s also not the best Marvel has to offer. If anything, it’s an excuse to go out to the theater. While this film has its moments with certain scenes and performances, it’s probably better to wait for it to hit streaming services.
