Marvel Studios has a long record o fAmerica, Sam Wilson, played by the likeable Anthony Mackie, has brought more humanity than most oi the other heroes. As his civilian boss, President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), tells him, “You’re no Steve Rogers,” That pretty much tells it all because that hero was one of Marvel’s more accessible leads. In addition, Sam Wilson is Black, a favorable choice for the franchise to embrace a diversity urge.
While Wilson is a hero in every respect—he certainly can fly with the best of them—he is also a decent guy devoted to his friends like Isaiha Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and former combatant, now president Ross. The challenge, as it would be for anyone, is to remain faithful to them, when as in those two cases, they have seemingly gone to the dark side. Despite the hot mess of plot points, Marvel’s message is clear: Explore the many possibilities of loving relationships, even when friends or relatives seem to have lost their way.
Marvel characters like Cap’ outstrip their DC counterparts in darkness and distress. While a costume-clad flier like a bird isn’t my idea of an evening’s fun and games, he can be such for a family looking at a bleak movie landscape until after Oscar.
Captain America: Brave New World
Director: Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Screenplay: Onah, Rob Edwards (The Princess and the Frog), Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Peter Glanz from Jack Kirby and Joe Simon creation
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford (Blade Runner)
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1h 58m
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take (recently listed by Feedspot as two of the ten best NPR Movie Podcasts) out of WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com