captain america

REVIEW: Captain America: Brave New World (2025) [Spoiler free]

CAPTAIN AMERICA:  BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025 Disney)

Directed by Julius Onah

The Multiverse Saga has been moving at a glacier’s pace.  We’re umpteen movies and series worth of content into the 2nd saga, the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse Saga, and the Avengers still haven’t assembled!  The pieces are finally moving into place for this to happen, hallelujah, in Captain America (4):  Brave New World.  We’re also finally seeing some resolution to events set in place during the Eternals (2021), Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)  and even The Incredible Hulk (2008).  It also sets up the sure-to-follow Mutant Saga.  None of this is spoiler territory as we’ve seen these reveals in trailers and casting.

Fans are sick of the setup, and movies have to stand on their own.  Captain America 4 doesn’t really do that; it really helps if you’ve seen the above films.  It is, however, a better than average Marvel movie.  Some issues that have plagued recent ones have been improved upon.  It still feels like one piece of a larger puzzle, which wasn’t so much an issue with Phase One’s Captain America films.

Captain America is now Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and the movie recaps that Steve Rogers entrusted the shield to him.  Carl Lumbly returns as Isiah Bradley, the forgotten super soldier that was ill treated by his country.  Just as there is a new Captain America, there is also a new Falcon:  Joaquin Torres played Danny Ramirez.  Those who haven’t seen or don’t remember much of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be lost as to who these characters are.  New to the team is Harrison Ford as now-President Thunderbolt Ross.  Controversially to some, this role was recast after the death of William Hurt.  Harrison’s take on the character is far more Ford, but I had forgotten how much I like the guy as a baddie.  Ford’s role was large, and he was great in every mood of the mercurial president.  Also new to the multiverse, Shira Haas was terrific as the former Black Widow, Ruth Bat-Seraph.  Giancarlo Esposito was a fine secondary villain as Sidewinder, but we have all seen Esposito chew the scenery with far more vigor in other famous roles.  He brought the chill, but not so much the fury.

Since Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam is more accepted as Captain America, but still suffers from self doubt and questions whether he should have taken the super soldier serum or not.  He is given perspective from the supporting characters, but ultimately feels like he has something to prove.  It’s not as emotional or satisfying a character arc as he had in the TV series.  Mackie, of course, plays the role with the passion we expect from the actor.  He is certainly his own Captain.  Steve Rogers was more quiet and reserved.  He spoke softly, but knew he could back up his words.  Mackie’s Captain is a little more fun loving, a little more brash and loud, and a blast to watch, especially in intense one-on-one scenes with Ford.

The cloak-and-dagger plot isn’t too complex.  It all comes down to a personal vendetta to take down President Ross and expose him as the monster he really is.  There’s worldwide tension over Celestial Island, a massive statue in the middle of the Indian Ocean that was created during the events of the Eternals and barely referenced since.  Why?  Probably because the celestial named Tiamut is not just made of rock, but also contains Adamantium.  The same stuff Wolverine’s bones are made of.  With Adamantium introduced into the storyline, we have even more setup for the eventual X-Men.  Turns out this stuff is even more valuable than Vibranium, and stronger too.  America and Japan are at the edge of war after an incident involving a stolen shipment of Japanese-owned Adamantium.  In an eerie case of prophecy, America and its allies are falling apart.  This, and some scenes with Ross losing his temper to his upper staff, felt…ominous.

Ultimately, at the end of the film, you know what Marvel wanted to show you:  Captain America vs. the Red Hulk.  There are plenty of action scenes before that, but this is where Marvel may be learning something of a lesson.  If you look at something like Black Panther 2, or the Marvels, the action scenes had way too much going on with so much visual noise.  They were hard to follow, and in many ways, nonsensical.  These action scenes are scaled down.  In fact, the battle of Celestial Island featured primarily just four combatants:  two jets, Captain America, and the Falcon.  There were missiles and big fleets of ships, but the action was kept to mostly those four elements.  The Red Hulk segments also felt scaled back slightly, and easy to follow and enjoy.  We saw the film in IMAX, and the Red Hulk looked great.  The action wasn’t as CG-ish and washed out as we were used to.  The giant Celestial made a cool backdrop for a battle, but I would have liked to have seen more.

The soundtrack was interesting.  While I liked the score by Laura Karpman, it didn’t feel like it fit the mood of several scenes, including the opening.

There is one character design that deviated far from the original comic material and looked creepy enough, but might have missed the mark of what could have been.

There is one post-credit scene.  Everyone in the theater stayed.  They knew the drill.  It was a cool little sequence that hints at the big things we know are coming in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.  It feels like we’re finally getting closer to the ending.

Rating the four Captain America films, you just cannot top The Winter Soldier, or Civil War.  That’s not going to happen.  Brave New World is a welcome continuation of the legacy.  It’s light on big emotions, but it does satisfy for action and furthering the adventures of the heroes who will one day soon be known as the Avengers again.  Bring it on.

3.25/5 stars

#850: Truly A Marvel

GETTING MORE TALE #850: Truly A Marvel

You can blame my dad!  He doesn’t remember getting me into Marvel comics, but he started it.

My neighborhood friends did have something to do with it initially.  Marvel’s Secret Wars was turning into the comic event of the year.  Neighbors like Bob Schipper and George Balasz introduced me to some of the characters – The Vision, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Storm, and Bob’s favourite Hawkeye.  Bob liked collecting “limited series” and 1984’s The Last Starfighter (based on the movie) was the first he completed.  Marvel also had the comic rights to Star Wars and Indiana Jones, so it was natural for me to gravitate to them rather than DC.   Even Kiss had a Marvel comic.

I remember Marvel four-packs at convenience stores.   You would get four Marvel comics from four different titles in one bag.  My dad would buy these for us on the way to the cottage to give us something to do.   Just one bag of four books would keep us occupied on those long drives.  Iceman, Iron Man, ROM the Spaceknight and the X-Men entered our lives this way.  I didn’t want DC comics; I wanted the characters that I knew.  We were not comic fiends the way some kids were, but Marvel was there for me with astounding tales of science fiction and fantasy.

My father has no memory of buying those old books.  He looks at these Marvel movies today completely dumbfounded.

“Who’s that guy?” he’ll ask.

“That’s Tony Stark!  Iron Man!  You bought my first Iron Man comics when I was a kid!”

Although he always responds with “I don’t remember that,” I sure do.

It’s all true.  He bought my first Iron Man.  When I started reading them, James Rhodes was actually Iron Man.  Tony was just about to reclaim the helmet for himself when I jumped in.

Of the heroes, ROM was my favourite.  His adventures crossed over with Ant Man, Alpha Flight and others, exposing me to more Marvel characters.  A ROM annual (#3) with the X-Men hooked me on the Spaceknight.  At this time, my grandfather was dying of cancer.  When we went to visit the hospital, I wasn’t allowed to see him anymore.  He was too sick and they didn’t want me to remember him that way.  I can remember sitting in the waiting room reading ROM #62.  The battle to save Earth from the Dire Wraiths was a good distraction from the hospital sounds and smells.

As a little kid, I couldn’t buy everything.  It was hard just getting to the stores to catch every issue.  So my mom got out her cheque book and bought me subscriptions to my three favourite books.  Now there was no way I would be missing the latest issues of ROM, GI Joe, and The Transformers.

DC Comics had the big movies – Superman, Batman – but Marvel didn’t seem to translate well to live action.  We had the TV show The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno, but it was only loosely based on the comic.  (The TV producers didn’t want the Hulk to be green but fortunately Stan Lee insisted upon it.)   Marvel finally came out with a great film in 2000’s X-Men, directed by Brian Singer.  Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan were fantastic, but it was Hugh Jackman as Wolverine that was the real breakthrough.  Unfortunately the X-Men films declined in quality too quickly.  Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man debuted in 2002, but suffered the same fate by the third film.

Whether it was Blade, Fantastic 4 or Ghost Rider, Marvel rarely made me gasp in awe at the silver screen.  Not until Iron Man flew around the world in 2008.  That Jon Favreau film was a game changer.  Especially when Samuel L. Jackson showed up in a surprise cameo as Nick Fury to discuss the “Avenger Initiative”.  Suddenly the idea of Marvel heroes interacting with other Marvel heroes seemed possible.

None of us could have imagined the marvel-ous tapestry that they would weave over the next 22 movies.  Finally seeing my heroes like Captain America, Thor and Ant Man in movie form made me remember what I loved about my old comics.  They tried to stay reasonably close to the original stories.  The costumes might have been updated and less colourful, but there was no mistaking the Mighty Thor for anyone else.

And now all these decades later, I’m going back, buying graphic novels and catching up on my old friends in the Marvel Universe.  Reprints of The Infinity Gauntlet, Secret Wars, and the very first adventures of the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the X-Men are all in my library any time I need some nostalgia therapy.  Thank you Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and all the rest.  Jim Shooter, Larry Hama, Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman, I will always be grateful for bringing me childhood heroes month after month!

 

Motherlode of Christmas Rock!

I have 31 discs of music to listen to now.  And a whole lotta other goodies.  Here we go!

First up – books.  Peter Criss’ Makeup To Breakup, and the latest from Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Guiness’ Book of World Records.   I’ve leafed through Peter’s book — all he seems to do is bitch about Paul and Gene.  Review will come.

Next, Queen.  A total of 8 discs of awesome remastered Queen to listen to:  The Miracle, Jazz, A Night at the Opera, and Live Killers!

Next up, Rush.  6 discs in each of these two Sector box sets, including 2 DVD’s in 5.1 surround, plus 2 discs of 2112.  Awesome.  (I already have Sector 2 and have a review of that coming in the next few days.)

And the rest:  The 4 disc Cult Love Omnibus Edition.  Thin Lizzy’s Life Live (2 discs), Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra, and the new Rage Against The Machine XX edition (2 discs plus a DVD).

But that’s not all.  Check out this Kiss lunchbox, these movies and vintage G1 Transformers 1988 “Bugly” action figure.

Lastly my folks got me this neat Joby camera tripod.  This is going to come in handy when I make my next Transformers stop motion animated movie.  I did a brief 15 second screen test — check that out too!


Hope your Christmas was filled with happiness, love, joy, and rock!