Film Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025): A Decent Marvel Movie with a Fine Harrison Ford and an Adequate Anthony Mackie

Captain America: Brave New World Review

Captain America: Brave New World (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Julius Onah, written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson and starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, William Mark McCullough, Takehiro Hira, Harsh Nayyar, Rick Espaillat, Todd Allen Durkin, Dustin Lewis, Rachael Markarian, Phuong Kubacki and Alan Boell.

With Captain America: Brave New World, director Julius Onah has crafted a comic book movie that feels like it has been assembled at a factory where all the perfect ingredients for an action-filled blockbuster have been nicely put together even though the deep themes that the film attempts to tackle are ultimately more than which are necessary for a successful and satisfying picture. If the new movie bites off more than it can chew with its politics, it can also be an exciting Marvel event to watch if one doesn’t think too much and too hard and just goes with the action film’s flow of events which, luckily, move along at a quick pace.

This film’s main story line begins with the introduction of President Thaddeus Ross, played by the incomparable Harrison Ford. Whereas Ford has played the President of the United States before in Air Force One, he takes the role here and makes it a true highpoint of the movie as he spins his previous performance as the President on its head with his characterization here. Anthony Mackie assumes the role of Sam Wilson and does an adequate job more than holding his own beside the always formidable Ford, but Ford is certainly the main reason to see Captain America: Brave New World.

At the start, we get some scenes that keep the momentum of the film pumping. We see Sam and the new Falcon, Joaquin (the perfect Danny Ramirez), alongside longtime prisoner, Isaiah Bradley (an interesting turn by Carl Lumbly) meet with the President who wants to reform the Avengers. Soon, Isaiah and others literally lose their minds, so to speak, and make an attack against the President. Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) is the President’s chief of security and Haas is excellent in this role, adding some much-needed intensity to her characterization which helps drive the plot of the picture forward as Ruth makes sporadic appearances which help shape the overall premise of the movie.

Giancarlo Esposito’s role as Sidewinder also makes for some immediate action within the picture. Esposito is another true stand-out in this picture, adding a signature distinct characterization to his resume with his work in this picture. Above all, the action gets a lift thanks to Esposito’s presence in the movie. Esposito is an old pro and doesn’t falter with his work in this film.

Tim Blake Nelson serves as Samuel Sterns who is taking a step down from his better dramatic roles such as his recent one in Bang Bang to play the bad guy here. He’s done this exact role before in a previous Hulk movie but, here, there’s more substance to the character of Sterns who is working towards goals set before him by the President albeit with a different agenda of his own that he wishes to carry out. Sterns is a wickedly fine character with a lot of depth on the page, but Nelson overplays him, coming up a bit short in his scenes within the new picture. Stern’s ability to control minds is well-played but the movie pushes the envelope too far with some mind-numbing action that eventually works only in spurts.

There are a lot of plot twists in this movie with the politics of the characters sometimes taking center-stage at times. Harrison Ford emerges as a Red Hulk for some of the most surprisingly successful scenes of the picture. Technically speaking, they stun. Ford’s character is also strongly penned with the concept of coping with his estranged daughter (Liv Tyler) and ailing health problems motivating the choices the President makes in his life, for better or worse.

Anthony Mackie gives the role the old college try and, more or less, succeeds but whenever Ford is on-screen, there’s no question as to who the true movie star really is. This film is more of an ensemble Marvel movie than solely one centered on Mackie’s character, but Ford sticks out like a sore thumb as the highlight of the movie. Mackie nevertheless does succeed to a lesser extent and is intriguing enough to compel viewers to stay with the film when it occasionally meanders with one too many over-the-top action scenes and plot points. Mackie’s charisma helps carry the film through its slumps.

Captain America: Brave New World may have an interesting political agenda if one looks closely but the goal of the film is mostly to entertain with its extravagant action set pieces. Ford and Mackie’s characters face off well with sequences that are bound to make people take an interest in material that may not have worked as well in the hands of a less competent filmmaker and less notable performers. This is a well-made Marvel movie, but it still won’t please everyone. Anyone looking for it to live up to the previous entries in the Captain America series will find it comes pretty close to them but doesn’t match up, for whatever reason. Ford, nevertheless, is a national treasure and he elevates the material to successful heights that warrant the picture a recommendation.

Rating: 7/10

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