Movie Review

Anthony Mackie is the best thing in Captain America: Brave New World

Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World.

Photo by Eli Adé / courtesy of Marvel

If it feels like it’s been a long time since the last Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, that’s because it has. Deadpool & Wolverine technically counts, but it was really its own thing that was mostly disconnected from the larger story the MCU is trying to tell. And two out of the three MCU movies in 2023 were underwhelming, so Marvel remains far from the highs of its Avengers days.

They’re trying to get things going again with Captain America: Brave New World, the first glimpse of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) - formerly known as the Falcon - as the new Captain America. The film thrusts the audience right into the action, with Wilson on a mission to retrieve a ~~MacGuffin~~ stolen package for the U.S. government at the behest of President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The two men continue to have a symbiotic relationship for the majority of the movie, with each needing the other and hating the fact that they do.

The main story of the film improbably (unwisely?) brings together two of the MCU’s least well-received films, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and 2021’s The Eternals. Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), apparently holding a longtime grudge since the events of The Incredible Hulk, plays a big part, as does the Celestial Island, which was last seen at the end of The Eternals and not mentioned in any property since that time.

Directed by Julius Onah and written by Onah and four other screenwriters, the best that can be said for this return of the MCU is that Mackie makes for a compelling presence. The combining of the Captain America elements with his Falcon persona makes for some pretty good action, with the character showing off some unique moves. On the downside, though, he’s mostly facing off against anonymous henchmen, so most of his fight scenes feel repetitive and uninspired.

The story itself is a mishmash of characters that only hardcore Marvel/MCU fans will know, with barely any attempt at reintroducing them to a broad audience. Sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and wronged super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) return from the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, providing some levity and gravity, respectively. Having Sterns back in the mix is never explained properly, nor is how he is able to wield influence over a large number of people.

If there’s to be any lasting memory from this film, it’s the introduction of the (fictional) indestructible material adamantium into the MCU. Previously known from the X-Men universe as what was used to strengthen Wolverine’s skeleton and give him his claws, adamantium is now a prized discovery found in the Celestial Island that, like any valuable material, causes normally level-headed people to get into fights over it.

Mackie brings enough charm to his acting that he can ably act as the lead, something he hadn’t previously been asked to do in the MCU. Ford is fine; his years of experience make him a natural for playing another president, although the transformation his character undergoes is goofier than it needed to be. Nelson has to act from behind some truly hideous makeup and he feels one-note most of the time.

For the MCU to make it back to their previous standing atop the blockbuster landscape, they’re going to have to deliver much more interesting characters and stories than are present in Captain America: Brave New World. It might be time to consider stand-alone stories instead of ones that rely on information that many moviegoers have long since forgotten.

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Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters on February 14.

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Movie Review

Onslaught can’t find its footing in brutal mix of horror, action, comedy

Photo courtesy of A24

Adria Arjona in Onslaught.

The most important thing for any movie to establish early on is its tone. No matter the genre, a film needs to make its audience understand how they should feel as the story unfolds so that they’re willing to go along with whatever transpires on screen. A film that doesn't do that, such as the new Onslaught, runs the risk of failing to connect with viewers even if it has some interesting or fun elements to offer.

One of the biggest issues for the movie is that it fails to fully invest in its main character, Celeste (Adriana Arjona). She’s a military veteran who now lives in and manages a desert trailer park, which is filled with a motley crew of offbeat people. She also has a contentious relationship with her ex, who unexpectedly drops off their daughter, Daisy (Blake Kennedy), soon after the film begins.

Celeste has a stash of high-powered weapons, showing she hasn’t left her former career fully behind. Her expertise comes in handy when something goes wrong at a nearby military contractor facility run by Hans Kemmler (Dan Stevens), and a trio of super soldiers escapes into the wild. Trained to kill everyone in their path, it’s not long before they set their glowing eyes on the trailer park.

Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett, the film has elements of horror, action, and comedy, but the filmmakers struggle in finding the right combination of the three. Wingard and Barrett divide the film’s focus between the trailer park and the military facility for a long time at the beginning of the film, and the quirkiness of people at the former mixed with the bold weirdness of the people at the latter keep viewers off balance in a bad way.

Once they finally settle into the main part of the story where the super soldiers go on a rampage, the filmmakers overpromise and underdeliver. The showdown between a seemingly unstoppable group and an angry woman and her band of misfits seems destined to be highly entertaining, but comes off as underwhelming. The sequence is filled with brutality with no meaning and heroics that feel more accidental than purposeful.

The ham-fisted way in which the story plays out is disappointing since the film has a bunch of characters who could have been great if used properly. The trauma of Celeste’s military career and personal life are hinted at, but don’t come into play as much as expected. Hans and his wife Hanna (Rebecca Hall) are completely off-the-wall, but their eccentricities seem to be apropos of nothing. The super soldiers are initially intimidating, but the climactic sequence undercuts them significantly.

Arjona has yet to fully break out despite some good roles in Hit Man and the Disney+ show Andor. She makes for a good lead here, embodying the toughness of a military veteran while still being relatable. Stevens and Hall go all in with their bonkers characters, but the story doesn’t serve them well. Comic relief comes in the form of Reginald VelJohnson and Eric Wareheim, and they do a great job in smaller roles.

A movie like Onslaught is typically one where the audience just turns off their brains and enjoys the carnage. But Wingard and Barrett try a little too hard by throwing in oddball characters that don’t add much to the story, forgetting to pay enough attention to the mechanics of the plot in the process.

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Onslaught opens in theaters on September 4.

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