Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

I don't know why, but I felt as if Captain America: Brave New World was going to be the fresh start that we needed for the MCU. It didn't have to be weighed down with the baggage of a whole load of other movies. It didn't have to necessarily be setting up numerous future adventures. It could simply . . . be, allowing fans to appreciate what they got onscreen while still remaining calm and unfazed about whatever was coming along next.

It almost worked.

Anthony Mackie is Sam Wilson, now Captain America, having been bequeathed the iconic shield some time ago. He has a few extra gadgets to help him, but no super-serum. Harrison Ford is President Thaddeus Ross, a powerful man who may be ready to empathise and compromise with superheroes who are now necessary to keep countries, and even the world, safe. Things might work out well, but not if the likes of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) and Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) have their way.

There's enough to enjoy here. Mackie is excellent as a leading man, Ford is a great addition to the MCU, and there are some very enjoyable supporting characters. Danny Ramirez is likable enough as Joaquin Torres, someone who wants to be the next Falcon, Carl Lumbly is very good as Isaiah Bradley, a previous Captain America, and Shira Haas is certainly memorable as a leading security advisor to the POTUS. Nelson is also great, and benefits enormously from receiving more time and attention than Esposito, who is sadly wasted (and this is the second of the 2025 movies I have seen that sadly wastes Esposito).

Director Julius Onah, who also worked on the screenplay with four other writers, doesn't embarrass himself. He delivers some good images, keeps the tone impressively serious without being too sombre and gloomy throughout, for the most part, and handles the action well when we get some action. That is arguably the biggest problem with this though, a disappointing lack of action. It feels caught between two places, with some of the paranoid political thriller vibes of the excellent second Captain America film and then some belated crash bang wallop moments to keep fans happy just before the credits roll (and, yes, we’re back to waiting around to see what a post-credits scene will hint at).

It may be a return to form, certainly in terms of the overall look and feel, and there may be a focus that seemed to be lacking from the MCU during the past couple of “wilderness years”, but there’s nothing that makes it feel as entertaining, bombastic, or just outright fun as the better movies under the Marvel umbrella. Much like the titular hero, however, it does give some hope for the future.

7/10

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The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

It has long been the case that if a movie was released with very little marketing and/or no advance screenings for critics then everyone could safely assume that it wasn't going to be very good. A lot of stinkers have been dumped into cinemas this way, making a cash grab before the word starts to spread on just how bad it is. But the times they are a changing, as a popular song will tell you. And that is how so many people ended up spending their time after the recent Super Bowl watching The Cloverfield Paradox. Very few people knew it was being released so soon, and even less expected the trailer from Netflix advertising it as being available to watch right after the game. Well played, Netflix, well played indeed.

Now let's get to the film itself. Tenuously linked to the previous two films, The Cloverfield Paradox shows us an Earth that is limping through a dire energy crisis, which is the perfect time to develop and build a huge space station thingummybob that will head upwards into the stars and fire a big beam down on our planet with probably no long-lasting negative effects to us or the universe, obviously. The crew are impressively multi-cultural, with Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) being the one we are kept alongside the most, and they take turns at working together and fighting one another when things go wrong and Earth seems to disappear. If they can ever make it back there, and if some strange force will actually let them, becomes the focus of the film, with occasional diversions to show us what is going on back on Earth itself (which you should already be aware of if you've seen the previous two films).

You have a few things working very well here. The cast, for one, are a great mix; as well as Mbatha-Raw, there's Daniel Bruhl, Aksel Hennie,  Zhang Ziyi, David Oyelowo, Chris O'Dowd, and more. The production values are good, with some impressive special effects throughout. And fans of the previous movies will enjoy scouring each scene for small connections and references to other events.

Julius Onah directs well enough, showing especially good instincts when it comes to the scares and surprises, which are just a bit too few and far between. One moment features some squirm-inducing eyeball freakery that perked me right up again just as my interest had started to wane.

The biggest problem lies with the script, written by Oren Uziel. Hampered by a lack of logic, even movie-based logic, and possibly also hampered by having to shoehorn in those Cloverfield connections, the script falls completely flat in between the better set-pieces. Worst of all, it undermines the decent acting on display by making most of the characters very hard to care about. There's also no attempt to give us a decent hint at an explanation for certain events. I don't need everything spelled out for me, most people don't, but that doesn't mean a film can just be made up of various moments thrown together with no real idea of the cause and effect. That way lies anarchy and a lack of satisfaction for viewers.

Everything else makes up for the poor script, but only just (and I have already heard from a LOT of people who disagree with me). The weakest of the series so far, I can still see this being a big, even monster, hit for Netflix, thanks to the (lack of) marketing and the curiosity that fans will have. I just hope that whatever we get next is a bit better.

6/10

Get the previous two movies here.
Or, in America, get them here.