Marvel Turns Into A Dinosaur
If you’ve been following Marvel stories, then you know they’ve been tumbling down ever since Endgame was released. They’re hindered by the reality that writers with no prior relationship to comic books or their storylines are brought in, along with the incoherent style blunders (I’m sure everyone’s thinking of Thor: Love and Thunder) that inflict more damage than is essential, like in a war customer service queue. The result? Carnage.
And it doesn’t help that the overarching villain, Kang the Conqueror, has been received as warmly as a cold shower. I mean, this is the same bloke who’s been beaten twice already, the most recent instance being ganged up upon by a swarm of enormous ants. Not really all that threatening, is it? And that’s not even scratching the surface, considering a near-infinite number of clones are said to be waiting to take their turn.
When Bob Iger came out and said there would be a slow down in quantity for content from Marvel with a focus on quality instead, it was clear that Brave New World was set to be a fresh start for the MCU, catalyzing a new era in preparation for the two upcoming Avengers movies. So is it safe to assume Marvel is back? Is the expectation for the new Captain America movie to serve as a dynamic, beating heart that pumps new life into a classic for the franchise? No, no, no, it does not.
In case some of our audiences don’t know this, the movie’s budget has been a clear issue with all the different stakeholders ever since its production began. Previously, reports have stuck around 350 million dollars, to about a month ago where news outlets began circulating a new figure of 180 million dollars. Why is this important?
A number of reports claims that the movie supposedly has undergone at least three reshoots, slapdash scripting and editing with last minute alterations and completely new scenes added into the movie, particularly after multiple test screenings for Disney went exceedingly poorly. The reason I bring this up is because Brave New World showcases, in one of the most blatant ways, some of the worst editing and directing you will witness this year, or at least in early to mid-2023.
Set after the events of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier series, this story also serves as a sequel to The Incredible Hulk film released in 2008. The story combines two styles that seem to cater to older Marvel fans while awkwardly setting up a seemingly easy entrance for new viewers. But if you’re part of the folks who haven’t watched Disney’s series (and let’s be honest, many people haven’t touched the viewing figures), a recap video would quickly bring you up to speed.
At this point in the Marvel universe, Sam Wilson is now Captain America which means he has been bestowed with the shield. He also seems to be poised to lead a new chapter in the franchise, following the comics with the New Avengers.
In the shield lies enormous power, with Sam Wilson claiming the title of Captain. Firstly, he appears to have some fresh new sharp extensions in the form of the metal wings which were apparently provided by the Wakandans. Alongside them, there’s a little drone that has laser shooting and electric capabilities. Oh, and a suit with a vibranium helmet too. One of the many things to keep in mind is the fact that Sam Wilson has not taken the super serum.
Instead of super strength, Sam makes use of his agility and merges it with his skills as Falcon to try and succeed as Captain America. This includes flipping, flying, and engaging with enemies on the battlefield as well as using Steve Rodger’s signature shield bounces; he also wall and ceiling bounces.
This is set up so that the central conflict is an engaging political drama and you can tell they are trying to go back to the overused brutal tone of Winter Soldier. As in, the mystery is about as bland as one can get and while the politics have absolutely no gray areas.
The dramatic focus centers around an arms race between countries fighting to control a newly discovered mineral called adamantium. Newly elected President Thaddeus Ross is overseeing this operation for the US and has plans for Edwardian level trade with other nations, but only if the US sets the rules of engagement.
Five months later the story begins with Sam Wilson and the new Falcon Joaquin Torres stopping an illegal sale of adamantium by Serpent Society led by their leader Sidewinder. Cap and Falcon were both set into motion and given their highlight reels to strut their stuff in action.
A mind-controlled assault of President Thaddeus does set Cap off into an investigation to figure out who is such a villain that would do something so diabolical and why.
It becomes painfully clear that the President is a mere piece in a far more sinister plan by someone far more powerful having complete control over the area, and there is an intense struggle for the truth revealed leading to yet another grande White House brawl. The entire scuffle lasts approximately 10 minutes, which most viewers will know from the marketing, while for the rest was quite confusing because of what the big reveal will be from all the advertisements.
Given most will already be aware of
I personally don’t get the logic the creators had to ruin the reveal of Red Hulk, who was spoiled right out of the bat in the trailers. It’s hard to not wait for him during the movie to show up and test the new Captain America.
How does Sam Wilson do with the suit of Captain America? Well, he’s definitely not a Steve Rogers, and to make matters worse, his capabilities in a fight are extremely questionable.
While traveling, he gets ambushed by Sidewinder with an aggressive intent to fight. Sam, who lacks both gear and equipment, gets a rather nasty jagged knife stuck in his chest along with an axe forcing the bladed end into his side. After Sam manages to remove the knife, he tosses it at our villain (who’s clad in bullet-proof armor, I might add) and knocks him out.
There are certain parts of the movie where Sam Wilson is extremely underwhelming, especially as Cap. While he may have some agility, Cap’s character’s reasons for not taking the super serum is left completely unexplained. More often than not, it feels like this character’s beliefs are absent.
Earlier, Isiah Bradley’s brawl (the super soldier first featured on Falcon and the Winter Soldier) aims to highlight that Sam Wilson has ‘agility’ but lacks strength. But this becomes irrelevant as Sam is able to survive what Red Hulk delivers by way of a chest punch, as well as seeming fatal chest wounds.
Of course, this is a Marvel movie. Audiences are expected to suspend disbelief to some degree, but it feels more like an insult rather than something that requires it.
The part of the story that is put together seems to have been carelessly glued together which results in editing this way. This feels ripped straight out of Power Rangers, do you recall how the Angel Grove rangers always instantly teleported to some arbitrary area? Captain America 4 has similar problems with geographical sense.
One of the more extensive fight scenes which includes a naval battle with Cap flying around in the air is breathtaking to the point of feeling like a child using action figures. To make matters worse, there are no distinct rules when it comes to the boundaries Cap must observe while using his powers.
If Cap is able to use a drone to cut through a fence, why can’t he use the same drone to eliminate the soldiers in an ultra-secret base he’s planning to sneak into?
There are also a couple of sidesplitting moments that are bound to make you laugh and of course, the arriving of Captain Israel which is also known as Sabra. Naturally, she is not the same superhero from the comics, but for those who do not know this woman, her first action scene will be both hysterically bizarre and ridiculous.
Sabra’s a terribly powerful government figure – in other words, she wields no political authority, governance gives her no power, and her height makes up a mere four-foot mark while her weight caps off at a hundred pounds. Interestingly enough, her first appearance is in a hallway where she proceeds to decimate a platoon of armed soldiers single-handedly. Clad in armor and a multitude of weaponry, they’re still no match to Sabra’s powers (if we can call them that) of… administration?
Contrasting other movies, with Black Widow’s scenes from earlier Iron Man and Avengers series, the differences are rather striking for this sequence.
To give them a break, it isn’t entirely the actor’s faults as they try selling this incomprehensible pile of a movie. Editing and directing though, yikes.
Some of the action scenes remind me of Quantum of Solace, with its frantic twenty-frame-a-second cutting and jarring camera angles that only serve to mask the lackluster fight choreography and composition. As out of place as these cuts feel, they stand out even more because for most of the movie, we instead have to endure a bland political thriller.
It seems like Sidewinder was put in for the sake of having one more character and his purpose is to spoonfeed all the characters the main plot and villains before vanishing for good. It’s rather hilarious looking at who the main antagonist is and how their lack of creativity for the master scheme happens to be their greatest defeat. I’m not giving anything away here, but with how shallow the plot is, the amount of logic hoops you have to jump through to follow “political thriller” is ridiculous and damaging to the narrative.
All these points combined are a cherry on top of a poorly designed cake, where someone randomly threw in layers from different cakes to create a Frankenstein’s Monster. This isn’t the worst Marvel movie from the studio, and unlike Love and Thunder, it doesn’t tarnish the reputation of legacy characters.
In contrast, this is where Brave New World shines. Meanwhile, the poorly written and edited mess claims to be above while looking intently below to truly showcase how dire the state of Marvel is.
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