A BRAVE NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA?

First off, thumbs up to Julius Onah, the Nigerian filmmaker, for his directorial work on this movie. He’s made us all proud. The top is not too far from reach if you strive for it. To be given the enviable mantle of making a movie about an American comic icon is such a big deal.

Okay, so generally there are mixed reviews on the new Captain America movie- A Brave New World. Some seem to like it a lot while others just don’t know what to make of it. What’s the Movie Buff’s take? Do we have a brave new Captain America? Well, first I didn’t read any reviews before watching it to keep an open mind. Just heard there were. I still haven’t as I write these thoughts down. So here’s my undiluted view. Don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers here for those yet to watch it.

My general feeling about the movie? Hmmm. I dunno, really. Funny, huh? But really…I can’t quite place it. I didn’t exactly leave the theatre with a high level of satisfaction but I wouldn’t say I was disappointed either. So let’s just unbundle these mixed feelings, shall we? Here we go.

Is it fair for us to expect more from the movie?

Actually, no. From the trajectory of MCU movies lately, no. Their formula seems over-flogged now, taking us down the lower end of the bell curve after a high. But in a way, this Cap movie, like previous Cap movies, has defied the typical Disney formula of gratuitous humour and goofiness which has plagued recent movies like Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man: Quantumania. Cap movies usually deliver a perfect blend of humour, intrigue, and seriousness that makes good storytelling. Captain America movies have always relied on a good story more than character to be successful- and they have all been. Probably because the writers realize that the main character is arguably not as deep or unique as other staple Marvel characters like Thor, Spider-Man, and Iron Man.

The character predates these others, mind, so cut him some slack. Heck, he predates Marvel itself, coming up as an American symbol of hope during WWII. Captain America is basically a Rip Van Winkle fella with super strength, a high sense of patriotism, heavy dose of courage, and a shield. C’est tout. Not enough character depth to carry a movie and successful sequels on his own. He needs support. That’s another thing, his supporting cast in the comics is not as engrained in pop culture as the J. Jonah Jamesons and the Mary Jane Watsons. So his movies need a lift from elsewhere to succeed.

How did Previous Sequels Work?

They did this by adapting popular comic book stories like The Winter Soldier (written by Ed Brubaker) and Civil War. What did these stories have? Political intrigue, controversial topics, new and arguably more colourful characters than Capt. America himself. Superhero guest appearances worked the charm in his comics, so why not in his films? So the first sequel introduced Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier and Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon. The threequel, Civil War, based on a popular Marvel superhero crossover series, brought the entire Avengers and introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man! What more can a fan ask for? You barely remember who the movies are meant to be about.

So that’s the Cap formula and A Brave New World adopted the same, for the most part, using the typical espionage and ground-level suspense and action that we have come to expect from Cap movies. What I found lacking though were interesting new characters to take the load off Cap as usual. Don’t say the Red Hulk (come now, that’s not a spoiler. He’s on the poster!). There is nothing new about a rampaging Hulk -whether green, grey, or red. We’ve seen the Hulk many times over. And don’t say Samuel Sterns (a.k.a The Leader) either. That villain could not carry the film any more than Baron Zemo could have in CA: Civil War. So we were left to focus almost solely on the new Cap…or is it the new Falcon?

That’s the other problem.

Is it Captain America or a rebranded Falcon?

You thought it would grow on you but it didn’t, eh? Same here. I just can’t seem to identify Sam Wilson as Captain America. When the moniker is mentioned, I find myself looking for Captain America. And don’t get it twisted, it’s not about race, gender, or anything like that. It’s about the essence of the character. Steve Rogers was a physically-augmented human being with a shield and enough ‘cahunas’ to take on the world for what he believed in. That’s all. His limitations in combat were compensated by his uncanny strength of will and old-fashioned altruism. This was his trademark.

Here, Sam’s Cap has far fewer limitations. He can fly as fast as a jet and has vibranium wings to protect him from harm, making Steve’s little shield frankly redundant- just symbolic. He shoots vibranium spikes and has ‘Red Wing’ as a partner to cover his back and shoot beams and stuff. In fact, this Cap is now an economy Iron Man. What I saw all the time was Falcon with a shield and an identity crisis. Too harsh? Well, it’s what I saw: more Falcon than Capt. America. That bridge is yet to be crossed.

Falcon was at best a supporting character in the comics. He was not a Black Panther with a unique Wakandan backstory and colourful cast like the Dora Milaje. This makes his reliance on a good story and interesting new characters far greater than Steve Rogers’ Cap. But these are the fundamentals that made the other Cap movies successful. The first Cap movie CA: First Avenger was his origin story and had enough juice and Red Skull to keep it going.

Some other observations

CGI was good but could have been better in my opinion- especially in the final battle scene. I’ll say no more on that as I promised no spoilers. Also, is it me but why does every film with a black actor as the main character have to have a hip-hop score or track in it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hip-hop head amongst other music genres but it seems quite stereotypical. I mean Cap movies are like Superman movies: they have trumpet music, march music/anthems as scores to evoke a sense of grandeur, purpose, and patriotism. I feel it should remain that way- regardless of which culture dons the garb. After all, Cap is Cap. My opinion though. Some might argue that we should promote black culture when and wherever possible as we seldom get the opportunity in the global media space.

MCU & A Brave New World

The plus in this movie is Marvel has shown signs that they are brave enough to enter a whole new world of characters. There appears a growing fatigue for the same old characters, who have been with us for almost two decades, and a desire for new ones. MCU should explore and introduce the rest of the Marvel Universe beyond the Avengers. The discovery of adamantium around Japan (ok, I believe I’m allowed at least one spoiler here) as an offshoot of the Eternals movie (probably the only good thing to come out of it) suggests Wolverine, X-Men, and the mutant generation will soon make an appearance. We felt almost the same excitement when a hammer was discovered in Mexico those many films ago.

Also, the upcoming Fantastic Four movie provides a sneak peek into the other side of the Marvel Universe (Silver Surfer, Galactus etc). There are so many fresh characters to show and stories to tell that there’s little time to spare wringing every old character dry of sequels. Also, they have a lot of loose threads to tidy up like the ‘under-nourished’ Hercules we saw at the end of the last Thor movie. Then we have the epileptic Blade movie, Black Knight (post-credit scene in the Eternals), the Kang multiple dimensions plot (thank goodness that’s paused!), and our street-based heroes- Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist from Netflix. So MCU should hurry on along. The future is bright if they can let go of the past and seize it with both hands!

So after all this unbundling, I see A Brave New World as a good movie- which is all you can expect from it when the basic ingredients to make a great Cap movie are missing as explained.

I give it a 6/10 as far as superhero movies go.