"Captain America: Brave New World" partial poster.
The first reviews are in for Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford’s Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure Captain America: Brave New World, and while there are some positive takes, many are saying the film is mediocre or even worse.
Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, the former Falcon who took up the mantle of Captain America from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) at the end of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
After that, Sam began settling into his new role as Captain America in the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring Mackie and Sebastian Stan.
The logline for Captain America: Brave New World reads, “After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.”
Harrison Ford stars as Ross/Red Hulk in the film, assuming the role of the former military general after William Hurt died in 2022 at age 71. Captain America: Brave New World also stars Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler and Tim Blake Nelson.
Robert Daniels of Roger Ebert online was brutal in his takedown Captain America: Brave New World, writing in his review, “This movie is anything but brave. It is the most feckless, spineless blockbuster of the last decade, a film in need of burning down the old world before daring to look for the new.”
William Bibbiani of The Wrap isn’t a fan of Captain America: Brave New World either, calling it “a movie without backbone.”
“It’s a shamelessly pointless motion picture, one that stumbles into powerful symbolism but uses those symbols to say as little as possible. In fact, nothing is said. Which sadly says it all,” Bibbiani writes in The Wrap.
What Are Other Critics Saying About ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?
Rotten Tomatoes critics have collectively given the film a 53% “rotten” rating based on 129 reviews so far.
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter is among the top critics on RT who gives the newest entry in the MCU a “rotten” review, writing, “Unfortunately, Captain America: Brave New World proves a lackluster Marvel entry that feels as if its complicated storyline has been painstakingly worked out without a shred of inspiration.”
Harrison Ford's Red Hulk in "Captain America: Brave New World."
David Fear also gave the new Captain America film a “rotten” review on RT, but his review wasn’t as damning as some other critics. In his review in Rolling Stone, Fear writes, “While Brave New World is nowhere near as bad as the various MCU low points of the past few years, this attempt at both reestablishing the iconic character and resetting the board is still weak tea.”
In Richard Lawson’s “rotten” review for Vanity Fair on RT, the critic writes, “Brave New World is a bunch of characters wandering around in search of meaning, the Marvel machine creaking loudly as it tries to whip up some grand mythos around these B-tier figures.”
Owen Gleiberman was among the few top critics on RT who gives the film a “fresh” review, although he has some reservations. In his review for Variety, Gleiberman writes, “It’s superhero meatloaf and potatoes served with just enough competence and dash not to feel like reheated leftovers.”
Helen O’Hara of Empire Magazine also gives the film a “fresh” rating on RT, writing, “Pacy and punchy, this is a promising first official outing for the new Captain America, even if some awkward and inconsistent moments hold it back from greatness.”
Meanwhile, Deadline’s Pete Hammond writes that Captain America: Brave New World “below the standards of what the Russo Brothers achieved” with their MCU films, but finds plenty of good things to say about it.
Hammond praises Mackie, writing that “he is up to the role physically and with style, particularly as Sam Wilson,” as well as Harrison Ford, who he says “steals the show” as President Ross. In addition, Hammond writes in Deadline that there are “plenty of action sequences to satisfy any Marvel fan, including the key set piece of an aerial assault where Captain America gets to strut his wings and save the day – if only temporarily.”
Rated PG-13, Captain America: Brave New World plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
