The Tartan

By Stephen Makin

The fourth installment of the Captain America solo franchise, entitled “Brave New World,” was recently released in theaters to a slightly-subpar fanfare, and I must say: deservedly so. It is the most five-out-of-ten action movie that I have ever seen, scoring most of these points from having been a “fun” watch rather than from anything too nuanced. Now, I always prefer to start with what there’s more of, so without further ado —

Cons:

The film clearly ran over-budget. Granted, Harrison Ford and Giancarlo Esposito are not cheap, but was their casting worth tarnishing every high-octane shot with some of the most miserable green screen work ever recorded by Marvel Studios? Esposito especially — he appears for so few minutes that his character is effectively a cameo. It is worth noting that Marvel did not go down without a fight. However, the attempts to raise money throughout the film are almost obnoxious. I noted blatant advertisements from each of the following companies: GMC, Peloton, Ray-Ban, Microsoft Windows, and iPhone (specifically for the AirDrop and Apple Intelligence features). I started counting about a half hour into the movie.

We also see Marvel taking yet another step away from realism here. Even in a movie primarily about international relations, geopolitics, and modern warfare, plenty of elements make the situation seem surreal or even ridiculous. For one, superheroes used to be based somewhere. Avengers Tower, to name an example, or the Sanctum Sanctorum, or even just a normal apartment in Queens. Sam Wilson’s new base is… ahem… an American-themed man cave in an undisclosed location, which he shares with his buddy Joaquin Torres and no one else. Whether he lives there or not is unclear. The general vibe is “child’s bedroom.”

Surely, though, geopolitics have to come into play eventually. They do — but in a way one might readily expect from a film like this. It almost feels pointed, singling out four specific nations throughout as the most essential allies of the United States for the coming world conflict over “adamantium.” Fictional leaders of Japan, India, and France are heavily featured, and President Ross’s foremost advisor is a known secret agent of Israeli origin — the latter detail is completely meaningless to her two-dimensional character, as well as within the context of the film. As such, its quippy, one-off inclusion comes off as either politically motivated or a ploy for online attention, the same as the dropping of any particular buzzword regardless of one’s stance — similar to when Taylor Swift ad-libs profanity in concert. It’s painfully unnecessary.

This may have just been bad acting, but it’s tough to miss regardless, especially since the film makes concerted efforts elsewhere to ignore the controversial issues that shaped Sam Wilson’s origin as Captain America in his Disney+ TV series. In fact, there is little mention of any social issues in America at all. There are times when the movie’s stance feels absurdly corporate. 

The film also creates two new loose ends in its mini-boss villains, all while disregarding the previous major loose end, the Skrulls. At this point, I don’t care anymore. The Russo Brothers can have fun writing the next team-up movie.

Pros:

Harrison Ford may well have been phoning it in. However, he is still Harrison Ford, and he delivers a standout performance. It is not his fault that Red Hulk looks terrible. Danny Ramirez — who plays the next iteration of the Falcon, Joaquin Torres — also puts in a convincing shift as a potential new Avengers member. At the end of the movie, Sam Wilson teases the Avengers’ reformation, with himself as leader. This is at minimum exciting, if potentially unfeasible. 

I was also shocked at how well Red Hulk was handled. I was worried initially about power-scaling; there should be no way for a non-super-soldier like Sam Wilson to effectively fight a Hulk at all. Quite rightly, though, he ends up getting the crap beaten out of him, resorting to talking it out. The budget may have compromised the length of the movie; had the film been any longer, this would have been less cringeworthy and a very respectable choice.

I enjoyed the mystery villain. He is a pretty good mini-boss as far as mini-bosses go. I’m worried he’ll be a loose end going forward, and his post-credits scene is of truly unwatchable quality, but he is nonetheless a cool callback. The acting behind him is solid, kudos to Tim Blake Nelson. 

Finally, the wait for the reveal of the Celestial Island, or the giant adamantium skeleton in the Indian Ocean, proves well worth it. Seeing its shores from afar constitutes the film’s most terrifying scene, even though it’s just a landscape shot. I would be happy to see another movie taking place here, and I pray it’s not just another forgotten piece of world-building. 

Oddities:

Again, the post-credits scene is among the worst pieces of media I’ve ever viewed. The line, “I’ve seen it… in the probabilities!” will live long in my memory, a bizarre lovechild of “Every town… has an Elm Street!” and “The numbers, Mason, what do they mean!?” The reason that this does not go immediately in the cons section is because it raises interesting possibilities for the future. The “it” in the quote is apparently some kind of world conflict. We do not know between whom. Humans versus humans over adamantium? Humans versus Skrulls? Multiverse battles? Doctor Doom? I have no idea. It’s all too convoluted. So much in my brain all at once. I love comics. I love Marvel. Hire me, Disney.