---
title: "Captain America: Brave New World"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/captain-america-brave-new-world"
fi1m_score: 46
critics_score: 43
critics_reviews: 22
published: "2026-09-19T12:32:43.944233+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-19T12:33:22.443147+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Directed by Julius Onah · 1h 59m · MPA PG-13 · Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

**Fi1m score: 46** · Critics 43 from 22 reviews

*In a sentence:* A conspiracy thriller in which nobody, not even the conspirators, seems especially worried

> Anthony Mackie is ready to carry the shield and Harrison Ford is ready to fall apart in the Oval Office. The film around them is a conspiracy thriller with the paranoia left out, shot in murk and visibly stitched together. Watchable, not much more.

## Synopsis

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is Captain America, without the serum and with a pair of wings, and Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) is his new Falcon. They open the film in Mexico, taking a stolen shipment back from the mercenary Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). Newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), once the general who hunted the Hulk, invites Sam to the White House and asks him to help rebuild the Avengers. Sam brings Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), the super-soldier his own government once imprisoned, as his guest. At the reception shots are fired at the President, Isaiah is among the shooters and remembers nothing, and Sam sets out to find who is pulling the strings, with Ross’s security adviser Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) watching him. A treaty over a new metal hangs on what he finds.

## Review

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has had the shield for a while, and *Captain America: Brave New World* is the first film to ask what he means to do with it. He is not a super-soldier but a man in a good suit with a pair of wings, and the film knows this is the most interesting thing about him. Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), the general who spent years hunting the Hulk, has been elected President and wants Sam to help him rebuild the Avengers. Julius Onah directs from a script credited to five writers, himself among them, and the aim is a Washington thriller in the manner of [*Captain America: The Winter Soldier*](https://film.one/film/captain-america-the-winter-soldier). It gets the Washington. The thriller is another matter.

Mackie is ready, and has been for years. He plays Sam as a man who listens before he speaks and is never sure he is welcome, which is the right way to play a Captain America who cannot bend a car door. Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, is loud where Sam is quiet, and their bickering over a radio link is the film’s best running joke. The opening raid in Mexico, on a compound held by the mercenary Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), is shot by Kramer Morgenthau in plain daylight and staged so that we can see who is hitting whom. A later dogfight over the Indian Ocean, Torres threading his wingsuit between Japanese jets, has the same clarity. Those are the two set pieces we would show anyone.

Ford has decided to act, which is not a given these days. His Ross takes pills, breathes badly and has a daughter, Betty (Liv Tyler), who will not return his calls. Ford gives him a low rasp and a hand that shakes when nobody is looking. In the Oval Office he tells Sam he wants to be a better man than he was, and Ford delivers it as though he half believes it and is furious about the other half. Gersha Phillips keeps him in the same dark suit throughout, and he seems to shrink inside it.

The film’s best idea belongs to Carl Lumbly. Isaiah Bradley was the Black super-soldier the government experimented on and then locked away for decades, and Sam brings him to the White House as his guest. Within the hour Isaiah is in custody again, for something he does not remember doing. Lumbly plays the holding-cell scene without raising his voice once; he tells Sam he cannot do this a second time, and looks at the wall. It moved us more than anything else in the film, and then it made us angry, because the film has him arrested to start the plot and then does not visit him for most of an hour. The question of what this country has done to this man is put on the table and left there.

The plot is the problem, and so is the telling. The villain is Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), last seen in [*The Incredible Hulk*](https://film.one/film/the-incredible-hulk) in 2008, and the film spends too long explaining him to an audience most of whom will have forgotten. Matthew Schmidt and Madeleine Gavin cut the fights into short pieces from which the geography goes missing. Morgenthau, so clear in Mexico, shoots the interiors in a grey-green murk, and Laura Karpman’s score marches underneath without a tune we could recall. Ramsey Avery’s one big set, an island made from a stone hand the size of a mountain, is the only image with any scale, and the film cuts away from it every time.

*The Winter Soldier* worked because for an hour nobody on screen could be trusted. Here the film shows us who is behind the plot before Sam finds out, so there is no suspicion, only waiting. We noticed we were bored during a fight in a warehouse, which is the wrong place to notice it.

Most critics have landed around where we have. It does not outstay its 119 minutes, and Mackie and Ford give it more than it earns. See it if you have kept up with the series; watch it at home, where the murk is easier to forgive.

*Fi1m score 46, published 19 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics find this a tired entry, and the negative reviews outnumber the positive nearly four to one. The praise that does come clusters on Anthony Mackie, whose steady, grounded Sam Wilson is credited even in the harshest notices, and on Harrison Ford, who several reviews say is doing more acting than the material asks of him as President Ross. A handful also rate the fight scenes as sturdily staged, particularly in the first two-thirds.

The reservations cluster on the script: convoluted plotting, a heavy debt to earlier Marvel lore, stiff dialogue, and visuals described as drab or murky, with more than one review noting signs of reshoots. The spread is wide, running from 20 to 75. The Los Angeles Times is the most generous, reading it as a decent political thriller with something to say about Black heroism; RogerEbert.com and The Wrap argue the opposite, that it raises its political ideas and then declines to engage with them.

### Reviews we read (22)

- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (75/100, inferred): Despite being bogged down by heavy MCU exposition and lore, the film works as a decent political thriller with resonant themes of Black heroism and a strong central performance from Anthony Mackie. The clear cinematography, sturdy action sequences, and chemistry between Mackie and Danny Ramirez stand out as bright spots. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-02-13/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrison-ford)
- **Empire**, Helen O’Hara (70/100, inferred): Mackie delivers a strong, focused lead performance in a coherent story that emphasises his compassion and relationships. It is pacy and promising overall but occasionally formulaic with stilted dialogue and inconsistent thriller elements. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world/)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): The film works well enough as a vigorous, prosaic adventure that balances shield-bashing action with elements of a gritty geopolitical thriller, escaping much of the recent superhero fatigue. Harrison Ford's performance as the unstable President Ross and the earthbound quality rooted in Mackie's performance are highlights in this competent MCU time filler. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrison-ford-1236303617/)
- **Total Film**, Bradley Russell (3/5): Mackie’s Captain America earns his place in an uneven thriller that ventures into unfamiliar territory with strong turns from him and Harrison Ford before falling back on familiar Marvel shortcomings. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrison-ford-mcu-marvel/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (50/100, inferred): The film is a convoluted wannabe paranoid thriller that suffers from a disjointed narrative but excels in coherent action sequences and strong character work, particularly for Sam Wilson. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrisn-ford/)
- **Radio Times**, Patrick Cremona (2/5): The critic deems the film flat, insipid and cobbled together, with an underbaked narrative, bland dialogue, drab visuals and nondescript action. It lacks creative spirit despite efforts from Mackie and Ford. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/scifi/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/)
- **Screen Daily** (40/100, inferred): The critic notes the film struggles in the shadow of stronger predecessors, with conventional set pieces that pale in comparison and an unremarkable feel overall. Mackie’s gritty presence is a positive amid the lacklustre sequel. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/5201862.article)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (35/100, inferred): The critic calls the film clunky, uninspired and workmanlike, criticising its reliance on obscure prior MCU lore, ugly green-screen action and forgettable plot. Mackie’s portrayal of an insecure hero is a highlight amid the minimal impression made overall. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-2025)
- **Financial Times**, Raphael Abraham (★★☆☆☆): Anthony Mackie’s first outing as Captain America is burdened by Marvel backstory and filler. Harrison Ford valiantly tries to do some actual acting amid the action set pieces and predictable Red Hulk payoff. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/9b8c8293-4cdb-4ce7-935b-a97469e837bf)
- **Sight and Sound** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a dull medley of prior MCU elements with little spirit or spectacle. The plot is overly on-the-nose in its politics and the action sequences feel mundane and conventional. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-dull-marvel-content-medley)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The film is a tired and uninspired Marvel entry with moderate action and convoluted plotting. Ford brings gravitas as the president while Mackie is charismatic as Captain America. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/12/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-harrison-ford-juggles-green-screens-red-fists-and-vanilla-plotting)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a lackluster Marvel entry with an uninspired storyline and direction that lets down Anthony Mackie, despite some strong elements like Harrison Ford's performance. The pacing drags and effects are underwhelming. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrison-ford-marvel-1236133439/)
- **The Telegraph** (30/100, inferred): There is a yawning emptiness at the heart of this thrill-free thriller that wastes Harrison Ford. Mackie and his sidekick follow an investigative trail without much ideological or narrative substance. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-harrison-ford/)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★☆☆☆☆): The MCU has eaten itself into a bloated stupor in this enervating 35th instalment. Even Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie cannot save the vacant characters and constipated plotting. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/captain-america-brave-new-world-film-review-txmwl92h9)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (30/100, inferred): The review criticizes the film as a messy, tiresome, and shallow Marvel production that fails to explore its ideas deeply or deliver exciting action, turning the MCU into a 'slop machine.' [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-captain-america-brave-new-world-another-marvel-mess.html)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Robert Daniels (20/100, inferred): The film clumsily wraps distant political themes around misshapen action set pieces and fails to deliver narrative coherence or meaningful representation for its Black Captain America. The intermittently sturdy, well-crafted action sequences provide the only saving grace amid tedious plotting and an unearned ending. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-movie-review-2025)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Anthony Mackie up to the physical and stylistic demands of the role as Sam Wilson takes over as Captain America, while Harrison Ford steals the show as President Thaddeus Ross in a complicated action turn. Director Julius Onah gives Mackie plenty of opportunity to shine in an extension of the TV series, though the film falls below the standards of prior entries like The Winter Soldier and is a game effort with room to grow. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/02/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-harrison-ford-marvel-reboot-1236286418/)
- **Den of Geek**, Joe George (3 out of 5): The film has enough B-movie thrills to mostly overcome its clunky and uneven script, with a propulsive pace and impressive fight scenes in the first two-thirds that evoke cheap 1990s thrills. The final act slows down with unearned emotional beats and poor visuals, but the overall cheap quality works in its favor. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/captain-america-4-review-brave-new-world/)
- **Collider**, Aidan Kelley (4/10): The film is one of the weakest MCU entries, predictable with rudimentary action, stiff dialogue and technical issues from reshoots; it praises Harrison Ford and Carl Lumbly for injecting humanity into their roles. [Read](https://collider.com/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/)
- **NME**, James Mottram (2/5): This is a bland, functional Marvel movie that offers little excitement and is largely dull and disappointing, with murky footage and no emotional depth despite Mackie doing a decent job in the lead. A semi-decent role for Tim Blake Nelson and a couple of nice cameos provide minor highlights amid the disappointment. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-anthony-mackie-marvel-3837635)
- **Polygon**, Susana Polo (40/100, inferred): The film fails at both the political and personal levels and bats strongly below average as a Captain America movie; it singles out Tim Blake Nelson's performance as The Leader and one wing-suit action sequence for praise. [Read](https://polygon.com/review/522443/captain-america-brave-new-world-review-harrison-ford)
- **The Wrap** (20/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a superficial, perfunctory sequel that stumbles into powerful symbolism but has nothing to say about its ideas of government mistreatment of people of color or an unstable president, using them only as excuses for pedestrian action sequences. It looks half-finished with flat direction, underwhelming effects, and a timid refusal to engage with its themes, ending in one of the worst post-credits teases. [Read](https://thewrap.com/captain-america-brave-new-world-review)

## Details

- **Director:** Julius Onah
- **Director:** Julius Onah
- **Screenplay:** Julius Onah, Peter Glanz, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson
- **Story:** Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Rob Edwards
- **Cinematography:** Kramer Morgenthau
- **Editor:** Matthew Schmidt, Madeleine Gavin
- **Music:** Laura Karpman
- **Production design:** Ramsey Avery
- **Costume design:** Gersha Phillips
- **Producer:** Kevin Feige, Nate Moore
- **Cast:** Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America; Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross; Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres; Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph; Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns; Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley; Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder; Liv Tyler as Betty Ross
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 14 February 2025
- **Genres:** Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
- **Budget:** $180 million
- **Box office:** $415 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSzFLV-EyQ

## Where to watch in the US

- Disney+: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-19.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie 2025: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* (2014), Fi1m 77: The Washington thriller this one wanted to be, with the paranoia intact. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/captain-america-the-winter-soldier.md)
- *The Manchurian Candidate* (1962): Brainwashed assassins, a trigger nobody sees coming, and real dread.
- *Three Days of the Condor* (1975), Fi1m 80: Redford runs from his own government and the camera is as nervous as he is. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/three-days-of-the-condor.md)
- *Air Force One* (1997): Harrison Ford as a president who fixes things with his fists; simpler times.
- *The Falcon and the Winter Soldier* (2021): Where Sam and Isaiah were given room; the film assumes you have seen it.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/captain-america-brave-new-world