I saw Captain America: Brave New World a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t feel all that compelled to write about it until now. I won’t waste a lot of time lamenting the lack of story. Especially lately, anyone who goes into a Marvel movie expecting an award-winning-level screenplay gets what they deserve. With respect to Martin Scorsese, people do go to Marvel movies for the same reasons they go to amusement parks. Where Mr. Scorsese and I part ways is that I don’t consider that to be a bad thing.
Marvel Long Ago Staked its Claim on Entertainment Value.
We go to Marvel movies to be entertained, plain and simple. Any thematic value, story depth, or character depth we get out of them, and we have gotten each of those components a few times, is purely gravy. However, even the most basic story must have a little dramatic arc and a little character arc. That is where Captain America: Brave New World began to lose its way and caused it to be one of the least entertaining Marvel movies of all time.
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) was a terrific character in a supporting role. While I applaud and appreciate what Marvel is doing by making him, as a person of color, the new Captain America, it isn’t enough. Mackie is also an executive producer on the film, so he almost certainly had approval of the script. The problem with that is that he made his character flawless. Flawless characters are flat characters, flat characters are uninteresting characters, and Sam Wilson is an uninteresting character. In fact, at the end of the film, there is even a moment when a character asks him why he’s perfect, and he says that he has to be. His lack of need for growth removes any possibility for drama in the story. Without drama, the story falls flat, and this story is as flat as a smooth road.
Harrison Ford is my favorite actor of all time, and his character, President Thaddeus Ross, was much more interesting than Sam Wilson was. He was the villain of the film, and he had depth. They added components to his character, like having an estranged daughter that he wanted to reconnect with, which humanized him and allowed the audience to relate to him. Ford is obviously no stranger to blockbusters, and he did what he could, but it wasn’t enough to save this movie from itself.
It Felt Like the Effort Wasn’t There.
I would never accuse filmmakers of giving anything less than one hundred percent when working on a film. But like any endeavor, sometimes your heart isn’t in it. It’s difficult to watch Captain America: Brave New World and believe that everyone was totally into making this movie. There were times when it seemed like they just weren’t into it. I noticed this in some of the Marvel and Star Wars TV shows. When characters run, they’re not going all out. They’re giving it about a 75% effort. That is what the storytelling and direction felt like. It was almost like they didn’t want to make this film but were contractually obliged to, so they gave it the 75% effort that it needed to get done. That is ultimately why this film is disappointing.
It’s Time for Marvel to Move On.
Ultimately, it’s time for Marvel to move on from Captain America and the Avengers. We got an awesome arc from the original Avengers, and it’s hard to imagine a reboot could do any better. What will a new team of Avengers bring us that’s different or more exciting than what the original Avengers brought us? There isn’t anything. It can’t be done, and it shouldn’t be done. Marvel should focus on other properties like the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the forthcoming Thunderbolts. This iteration of Marvel hasn’t tackled those ideas, and they could provide fresh ideas that people will be excited about, not only to see but also to work on. Instead of retreading the same tired, worn-out properties, take a chance on fresh ideas that can give us new stories and characters to fall in love with.
