FILM/ REVIEW
CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
Rated PG
118 Minutes
Released February 14th
My point of view on Marvel movies is that of someone who sees them as purely entertaining stories. I have never read comics cover to cover, so I am not well-versed in their almost Biblical trove of tales, histories, and characters. The character of Captain America was first introduced in a 1940 comic as “Steve Rogers, Super Soldier.” In this chapter of the history of Captain America, former Falcon soldier “Sam Wilson,” played by the fabulously versatile Anthony Mackie, gets to be the new Captain.
Mackie is an excellent superhero – empathetic, charismatic, steadfast, and unassuming. The story for Captain America: Brave New World was written by five screenwriters, and that can be a recipe for disaster, as in “too many cooks.” The narrative has too much going on, especially for those of us who are not comic book nerds. People who have recently been affected by the destruction of the wildfires might find watching well-known landmarks being destroyed by explosion or fire a little too close to home emotionally.
However, there are many visual treats in the movie, including the famous cherry blossoms in Washington, DC, in the background of certain shots. Those trees are only in full bloom for about a week each year, and the timing is unpredictable, so either the filmmakers had great luck, or laid out the timing of the shoot with adaptability, or simply made excellent use of AI to get those blooming cherry trees.
This is the first Marvel movie for young director Julius Onah, who was born in Nigeria and raised in the Philippines, Nigeria, Togo, and the UK before moving to Arlington, Virginia, where his father was based as a diplomat. Onah felt that this film offered a “wonderful way to evolve this character…whose superpower is his empathy, his humanity.”
Onah’s choice of Mackie to play the lead is perfect. Mackie is a psychological shapeshifter as an actor and embodies the attributes that Onah sought. Mackie grew up in New Orleans and is the son of a roofer who was killed during Hurricane Katrina. Mackie’s career has encompassed stage, film, and television. Harrison Ford reprises his Marvel role as “Thaddeus Ross,” who is now President of the US.
At age 82, Ford is now #26 on the IMDb Star Meter and is a household name. Not bad for someone who dropped out of acting early in his career and taught himself to be a carpenter, thinking he’d never make it in film and TV. The character who really lights up the screen is Shira Haas as “Ruth Bat-Seraph,” a former “black widow” turned US government official, now the President’s Security Advisor. Haas is 5’2’, and her role was shot to emphasize her small stature as a counterpoint to her astonishing power.
As with any movie within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the filmmakers here had a high degree of difficulty. On one plane, they needed to please their discriminating moviegoers, and on another, they had to tailor the characters and story to be viable for dedicated disciples of the comics world. Comics lovers may be thrilled about the appearances of so many well-loved characters, but some of us may be overwhelmed with the number of players in the story.
Not only were there five writers, but the movie also went through several reshoots and rewrites, so a fluid narrative is never established. The premise is political, and it’s hard not to relate that to the drama unfolding on the world stage today, but the film was completed well before last year’s election. The story does a good job of conveying the universal machinery of politics with a cast of colorful characters, and the film has done well ahead of expectations at the global box office.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
