Are Marvel Studios movies getting worse over time? After “Avengers: Endgame,” audience reception of Marvel films has generally been more critical. Some fans do not like the cameos in newer films that tackle the multiverse. Some fans do not like how Iron Man and Steve Rogers’ rendition of Captain America are gone. Some fans just think the plot and films in general have been worse in quality.

However, finding its release date on Feb. 14, “Captain America: Brave New World” releases. Finding their new Captain America in Anthony Mackie, and their new villain Red Hulk, played by the infamous Harrison Ford, Marvel seems to have found their big break.

Directed by Julius Onah, “Captain America: Brave New World” follows Sam Wilson, played by Mackie, who has now taken on the mantle of Captain America, while an outside force tries to threaten peace in America, by attacking the new President, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by Ford. With his new Falcon apprentice, Captain America has to figure out what is happening within the country and stop the threat before it is too late.

Onah’s directing career is short, and Onah’s previous films such as “The Cloverfield Paradox” show that Onah’s ability to carry on a franchise is not the strongest. However, the acting talent in this movie has an outstanding history. Ford has played iconic characters such as “Han Solo” and “Indiana Jones”, Giancarlo Esposito also plays a role in this film, Esposito is famously known as Gustavo Fring from the hit series “Breaking Bad.”

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In addition to this star-studded cast, the main star of this film, played by Mackie, has been a character in this shared universe for over 10 years and has appearances in many well-received films such as “Avengers: Endgame” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” So, the talent is there for this movie to be a success. The question is, did “Captain America: Brave New World” live up to the title of a truly good Marvel Studios film? And to answer this question, yes, Marvel Studios finds a new hit in this film. 

The Plot

The plot of “Captain America: Brave New World” is amazing. There is a very heavy theme of mystery and espionage and this is very reminiscent of previous Captain America films like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” which are also done very well. This movie is also very reminiscent of the early Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies like “Iron Man 2” in the way that it is a simple standalone movie that has faster pacing. Together two factors make this movie feel like a concept that is not new to the MCU.

The pacing of this film at times made it seem like it was rushed. Some scenes felt cut short because they wanted to get through the scene to get to the next scene, such as Captain America and a villain, The Leader’s very short confrontation with each other towards the end of the film. Another example of this rushed pacing is when Captain America and his new apprentice Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, discuss that they have a very short time frame to sneak into a prison. The film cuts from them sneaking in to then being at their destination, without showing their navigation there. 

With an espionage theme and a mystery at hand, the film needed to tie it all together at the end to satisfy viewers. And that is exactly what “Captain America: Brave New World” achieves. All of the loose ends are tied by the end of the film, and the mystery that looms throughout the film has a conclusion, no ends left needing to be tied. This was satisfying because recent Marvel films such as “The Marvels” have scenes or post-credit scenes that are not explained and have no timeline of when they will be further explored. But, this film ties everything together in the end, leaving the viewer satisfied.

Another aspect of the plot that gave this film its own identity is that it did not rely on cameos. Marvel movies such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Deadpool and Wolverine” heavily rely on cameos from other Marvel heroes to hook the audience and make them enjoy the movie, but this film does not do that. There is only one short cameo from a surprise character in “Captain America: Brave New World,” and arguably, this cameo does not add or take away from the film or plot. This film’s single cameo has little significance to the overall plot, which makes the plot even more satisfying.

The script in this movie was well written too. The comedy from characters like Sam Wilson and another secondary character, Isaiah Bradley, was unmatched. This movie is not advertised as a comedy, but there are many moments in this film where a laugh is warranted, which was a pleasant surprise.

The Characters

Sam Wilson, the Captain America, is the best part of this film. What Captain America stands for is what Sam is built on in this film. Captain America is a hero for the people and does whatever he needs to do to keep the greater good safe, even if that means directly going against words from the government. Another key characteristic and quality of Captain America is that whoever holds the title needs to be good at giving motivational speeches, and Sam Wilson more than checks both of those boxes.

In “Captain America: Brave New World,” Sam Wilson has a truly good moral compass. Even though he is not juiced up by the same Super Soldier Serum as Steve Rogers and Isaiah Bradley were, Sam Wilson has no trouble fighting for what he believes is right, and always gets back up again. This is what truly defines Captain America, and Sam Wilson is perfect for the role. Wilson is just a truly likable character, and he carries this film on his back.

Another notable character that was done well was Wilson’s apprentice, Joaquin Torres. Torres, the character taking up Wilson’s old title of Falcon, is a young character who is a part of the military. Torres is a funny guy and  has a very modern and younger generation sense of humor. 

The chemistry between Torres and Wilson in this movie is another great addition. Torres feels like he is trying to prove the point to Wilson that he is worthy of being the Falcon, and Wilson is there to mentor him along the way. Their relationship in this film did not feel forced, and any time that the duo would be on screen together doing a mission or fighting, their presence lit up the room. The MCU finding their new Falcon in actor Danny Ramirez was an amazing addition to the film, and the Falcon seems to fit right into a spot on the new Avengers team that will inevitably come soon.

President Ross has really great motives in this film. Now that Ross is the president, he cannot spend all of his time focusing on superheroes like when he was in the government previously. But, he still wants to make a name for his legacy and prove to his daughter that he is a changed man. Betty Ross, the daughter of the president, cut ties with her father after the events of “The Incredible Hulk,” and President Ross spends his time in this film trying to make up for that. This drive was nice because it showed the audience that even though Ross is troubled and makes bad decisions sometimes, he is trying to do the right thing.

Isaiah Bradley is another character that does not have much screen time, but when he is there his presence is friendly and welcomed. Bradley, initially introduced to the MCU in the Disney+ series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” was one of the first people to take the Super Soldier Serum along with Steve Rogers, but where Rogers found heroship, Bradley found government corruption and was thrown into prison wrongfully for decades. In this film, Bradley is a friend to Captain America and an enjoyable character because the audience can tell what he has gone through and see that he can still be a lighthearted man, even after being wrongfully imprisoned for 30 years. “Captain America: Brave New World” knocked it out of the park with the character development.

The Action

This film’s action sequences are almost perfect. There are plenty of action sequences in this film, enough to leave an action-hungry audience satisfied. The quantity of action scenes in this film is not what takes it away from a perfect score. It is the quality of the action that takes it from having perfect fight scenes.

The biggest problem with the fight scenes in “Captain America: Brave New World” is that there is not enough hand-to-hand combat, like in previous installments in the Captain America franchise. Although Sam Wilson is not a super soldier like the previous Captain America, it would have been cool to see Wilson get into more fistfights rather than relying on his wings and Captain America suit.

However, even though there is not a lot of hand-to-hand combat in this film, the scenes that do have this type of fighting, along with the rest of the action scenes, are coordinated very well. In particular, there is a scene where Captain America fights the Sidewinder, Esposito’s character. The way that the action was dealt with here looked visually pleasing because Captain America had to rely on his wits and physical strength rather than his shield and wings.

By far, the best fight scene that will leave the audience wanting more will be Captain America vs. the Red Hulk. This scene was done well. It made Red Hulk look like an actual threat to Captain America, and it had many shots of Red Hulk doing significant damage to make himself look like a scary threat to encounter.

The Visuals

The visual effects (VFX) in “Captain America: Brave New World” are very iffy. There are some scenes with great VFX, and other scenes that make it seem as though the movie was made 30 years ago. It seems that this time around, Marvel picks and chooses where they would like the VFX to shine, and also where they would like the VFX to sink.

A standout when it comes to VFX in this film is Red Hulk. He looks absolutely fantastic any time he is on screen. From being able to see individual bullets pierce his skin, to seeing the veins in his face and arms, the Red Hulk computer-generated images (CGI) is amazing. Even Ford’s transformation from Ross to Red Hulk looked like it was designed with intense detail and care. On the topic of CGI, the film also made another one of the villains, The Leader, look well done as well. The Leader’s CGI never felt as though it was lacking, even though the overall design of the character is not 100% true to the comics.

However, the settings cannot have the same said about them. There were quite a few moments in this film where the green screen was very poorly done. Especially in the third act of the film, there are scenes when it is easy to tell the frame was a reshoot because of the amount of camera cuts and blurriness of the background. When the background of a film is blurry and the characters are very clear and isolated, it is very easy to tell that a green screen was used to film that scene.

Another thing that this film did well was the use of camera angles and shots. There were multiple transitions and shots in this film that were very satisfying to look at. For example, one shot of the movie is shot from the ground up, while Captain America is holding the stereotypical “superhero pose” looking good for the camera. A transition that was nice was a car driving down the road into the next scene. As the car gets closer to the camera and then starts driving past the camera, the camera flips upside down and transitions into the next scene.

All in all, this film discovers who Sam Wilson is as his own hero, and does it in a way that paves the way for him to lead the Avengers, whenever they decide to show up again.

“Captain America: Brave New World” shows that not every new MCU film needs to have groundbreaking new elements to be good, scoring a 4/5 star rating from me.