Captain America: Brave New World, 2025.

Political films come in many different forms. Some include dramatic elements to add emotion to their sensitive situations, while others add the thrill of a moment to increase the suspense and the importance of its events. Today, we are looking at a film that adds something different to the political genre… superheroes. In this review, we’re going to take a look at Captain America: Brave New World. The film came out on February 14th, 2025. It had an all-star cast including Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Lumbly, and Tim Blake Nelson.

What Genre is the film?

As it is customed in most Marvel films, each film has two or more genres in addition to the superhero genre, the film is superhero political thriller, it follows Captain America Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, to investigate a plot against the president of the United States in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Thaddeus “thunderbolt” Ross, played by Harrison Ford. The film manages to brilliantly fit all three genres in every scene without making one genre overpower the rest. 

Themes:

The film discusses four themes throughout its events. The first theme is Redemption. This theme is being discussed through “Thunderbolts” Ross as he seeks to be a better man after past events that paint him in a negative way. Ford managed to play the role of a man trying to fix his past mistakes and make the world a better place. Ford managed to masterfully portray a man who gained a notorious reputation that cost him the love and trust of the person he holds dear the most. The film’s writing and Ford’s acting managed to capture with each scene Ross’ struggle with fighting with his past and trying to keep his new image, as well as showing his determination to succeed in his cause that he believes will return his daughter’s love and trust. 

The second theme that the film discusses is the pressure of handling a mantle. This is shown mostly through Sam Wilson and, at the end of the third act, with Joaquin Torres, played by Danny Ramirez, as they try to live up to the mantles of Captain America and The Falcon, respectively. Throughout the film, we see how Sam is being compared to the previous Captain America, Steve Rogers. Mackie managed to carry the emotions of a man who questions himself if he is worthy of the mantle bestowed on him. The film beautifully adds to this emotional conflict throughout several scenes from start to finish, and ends this conflict with an emotional dialogue that shows the characters' understanding of their roles and responsibilities. I do not doubt that Mackie will live up to the role that he took from Chris Evans and mold it into his own version. Needless to say, I’m interested to see how his character will develop in “Avengers: Secret Wars” and “Avengers: Doomsday”.

Another theme that the film tackled is how veterans are treated by their governments. This theme is shown through Isiah Bradley, played by Carl Lumbly. Lumbly successfully portrays a soldier hurt by his government and whose lost his faith in them. Bradley is a metaphor for any veteran who felt left out by the country they risk their lives for, and while Lumbly played his part, the film doesn’t go any further than scratching the surface of this theme, which is a shame in my opinion as Isiah is the perfect character to tackle this on many levels because of his status as a former Captain America. I would have loved it if the film gave us his thoughts as a former soldier on the current events, and how the politics changed, and how it affected him both as a person and as a former soldier. The film also shows us what goes on behind the scenes of politics and political incidents, as it shows how politicians act in different situations and how they assess a situation when it escalates. Although it is a theme in the film, it can be argued that it is only used for the sake of moving the plot, but despite that, it is still an important topic that cannot be denied, even though the events are fictional.

Film notes:

Aesthetically, the film has no problems. There were some shots that you can tell that CGI was used, but those are few and won’t ruin the enjoyment. The action is what you would expect from a good Marvel film; it also manages to coordinate perfectly between the action scenes and the camera work that almost any viewer can keep track of the action, even with the camera constantly moving. The soundtrack is also good, as it manages to match the tune and atmosphere of each scene, regardless of whether it's a dramatic one, or intense moment, or several fights happening at once. The addition of “Mr. Blue” by Fleetwoods is also a nice touch that is both pivotal to the plot and a nod to a past Marvel film that gives the identity of the true antagonist of this film.

All the actors were phenomenal. Giancarlo Esposito played his role with his usual elegance, Shira Has did everything as her character should do, and Danny Ramirez was a great partner to Mackie. Tim Blake Nelson, who played the main antagonist for this film and is one of the returning characters from an old Marvel film, was a calculating, sinister genius. And I already mentioned how great Mackie and Ford portrayed their characters.

One thing that the film does exceptionally well is the use of lighting. Whoever did the lighting in this film did a phenomenal job, as it managed to give the film the perfect atmosphere for each scene. It makes the fight scenes more intense, even those that happen in the air, and even the CGI that is used can’t be a setback, as the lighting overpowers the use of CGI and makes you forget about it because of the action. It also increases the importance of the thrilling and dramatic scenes with how bright or dark they are made. An example of that is in one scene where Wilson and Torres investigate a prison, the film decided to go with the darkness of little red lights and even less white and lights and light blue screens. This decision intensifies the thrill and mystery of the scene, combined with a soft but intense soundtrack that keeps the viewers interested in finding the mystery that the characters are investigating. I can’t emphasize how important the lighting is; I dare say that it accounts for 25% of the film.

Another thing that the film does excellently is its narrative. The film sets its pace nicely and takes its time to tell its story. And while 2 hours might seem long to some, it doesn’t leave a dull moment. The film also wraps loose ends from 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk”, in which some characters return to end their story, and in the case of the antagonist, sets up future events. All the characters are relevant, no matter how small their role is, 

Final verdict:

When I first watched this film, I thought about giving it a 3.5 out of 5, but after rewatching it again and noticing how brilliantly the lighting was used and how the film was able to fit 3 genres and write its characters wonderfully, I decided to change that score. Taking all the things I discovered in my rewatch, I give Captain America: Brave New World a 4 out of 5. I believe the film told a fantastic political drama with a superhero flair, it’s aesthetically pleasing, the soundtrack matches the scenes, and the actors are phenomenal. It’s one of the better Marvel films in the current phase.