Captain America: Brave New World - Review: A New Star-Spangled Man Takes Flight

 

As opposed to virtually every single other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Captain America: Brave New World,” does not open with the flowing logos for Marvel Studios, showcasing a combination of clips from the previous MCU films and comic book panels of yesteryear. Instead, the fourth film centering on the role of the Star-Spangled Man and the first to have Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie (“The Night Before,” “Twisted Metal”), take over the role, opens with simple black and white words over pensive strings. “MARVEL” appears first, then “STUDIOS,” then “PRESENTS,” each word appearing on its own.  

It’s a small way of signaling to the audience that this is a film with different goals than some of the previous works, a film committing to the espionage centered political thriller that the beloved “Winter Soldier” film also touched upon. It’s a smart move as well, as the film does touch upon plenty of political themes and espionage, but isn’t nearly as successful, or just frankly good, as Marvel’s last attempt to do so.  

The film follows Wilson taking over the mantle of Captain America full time after the events of “Avengers Endgame” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” President of the United States Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by Harrison Ford (“Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Shrinking”), is attempting to broker a treaty between various countries to share the resources discovered on “Celestial Island,” an island made of the remains of a Celestial being after its death on Earth in “Eternals (2021).” During an event to celebrate these talks, an attempt is made on the President’s life, which leads Wilson to attempt to piece together who orchestrated the plot, why they involved his friend and former super-soldier Isaiah Bradley, played by Carl Lumbly (“Justice League (2001),” “Alias”). 

Mackie’s charm continues to radiate throughout the film, just as much as it ever has. Whether he’s been Cap or the Falcon, he’s be a source of charisma without begetting seriousness. His characterization also helps to further establish the differences between his version of Cap and Chris Evans/Steve Rogers’s. He and Ford have some excellent banter and chemistry as well. Ford’s performance continues to show that, for as much as he might bemoan these films in interviews, he’s committed to the showmanship required for blockbuster filmmaking. He narrowly eeks out Mackie and cements himself as the absolute best part of the film. 

It makes sense that Mackie and Ford are the best parts of the film, as they’re not only the two leads but the two marquee characters. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters fade away and are almost completely overshadowed by the two leads. The script has clearly gone through plenty of rewrites, with this final version credited to Rob Edwards (“Treasure Planet,” “The Princess and the Frog”), Malcolm Spellman (“Our Family Wedding,” “Empire (2015)”), Dalan Musson (“See What I’m Saying,” “Iron Sky: The Coming Race”), Peter Glanz (“The Longest Week”), and the film’s director Julius Onah (“The Cloverfield Paradox,” “Luce”). Those drafts have unfortunately muddled what political intrigue the film clearly wants to build. 

The rest of the film’s characters come across as people filling out the cast, rather than naturally fitting into the plot. Wilson’s partner Joaquin Torres, played by Danny Ramirez (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Chestnut (2023)”), takes over his Falcon role, and the pair bounce off each other well. Ruth Bat-Seraph, President Ross’s head of security, played by Shira Haas (“Bodies (2023),” “Asia (2020)”), feels like a copy-cat of what came before with Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, as if she was supposed to fit into the role pre-“Endgame.” Wilson’s friend and secret service agent Leila Taylor and nemesis Sidewinder, played by Xosha Roquemore (“Cherish the Day,” “The Mindy Project”) and Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad,” “Do the Right Thing”) respectively, are great when they’re here, but simply underutilized. The only one who manages the balance of emotional pathos and great use of screentime outside of Wilson and Ford is Lumbly, but even that comes mostly from the beginnings of his tale in the Disney+ show “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Tim Blake Nelson (“Holes,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), as Samuel Sterns, is also great, in a scenery-chewing kind of way, but is limited by the amount of screentime he has.  

Yes, there’s some poor timing with a film based around the President and this kind of political machinations, but beyond that, the mystery still manages to be engaging despite the muddled themes. Those character moments and ambiance are the film’s best aspect. What isn’t is the action sequences. In-between a bombastic opening and final battle, the hand-to-hand combat is lackluster. What was once a massive feather in the cap of the Cap films specifically feels like a watered-down afterthought. It bizarrely feels like it's playing at two-thirds speed compared to the other action scenes, and it suffers because of it. 

Thankfully, the technical aspects behind the production are top notch. While some green screened reshoots show their seams, the camerawork from cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau (“Creed III,” “The Many Saints of Newark”) is fantastic across the board. Numerous scenes play with the camera’s tilt and the use of empty space, in a similar vein to something like Mr. Robot. The more grounded nature of the Captain America films also means that there’s an overwhelmingly practical nature to this film, though it's not without its CGI spectacles. The musical score from Laura Karpman (“American Fiction,” “The Marvels”) is also a massive highlight, bringing in some subtly and uncomfortable espionage ladened strings to complement the bombastic themes for the action set pieces. 

Despite how underutilized some of its characters are and the hand-to-hand action, this latest adventure with Cap and Co. is a legitimately entertaining romp. When it zeroes in on the most mysterious and small-scale elements, it really works as a fun bit of MCU comfort food, neither rising to the heights of films like “Winter Soldier” nor falling to the depths of “Quantumania.” It's a solid adventure with clear room for improvement, but imminently watchable for anyone looking for a superhero fix more in line with the early MCU’s more grounded nature than the current glut of science-fiction, space opera, multiversal tales. 3.5/5

Love Hurts - Review: All Pain, No Gain

 

There’s something to be said for a studio that excels at a very specific niche. For Blumhouse, it's cranking out low-to-mid budget horror films. For Amblin, it’s crafting adventure films either for the whole family or that feel like they're from a bygone era. For 87North, the youngest of the bunch, delivers action films with an emphasis on excellent technical stunt work. This has worked well for a while, with the studio’s previous works ranging from “Nobody,” “The Fall Guy,” “Bullet Train,” “Kate,” and more. In theory, teaming up with an actor with a huge amount of stunt experience who’s recently experienced a career resurgence should be an absolute slam dunk. 

“Love Hurts” follows Marvin Gable, played by Key Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Loki”), a real estate agent who loves to emphasize positive vibes and happiness in his houses and everyday life. One day, after an attack by two goons King and Otis, played by Marshawn Lynch (“Bottoms”) and André Eriksen (“Violent Night,” “The Trip”), and a bird themed assassin named Raven, played by Mustafa Shakir (“Ghosted,” “Luke Cage”), his life is thrown into disarray when his old crush Rose, played by Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story (2021),” “Wish (2023)”), reappears to ask for him to resume his violent, hitman tendencies to help her get revenge against Marvin’s brother Knuckles, played by Daniel Wu (“Into the Badlands,” “American Born Chinese”). 

On paper, everything about this film seems up to snuff. Not only does Quan have the stunt experience (before his acting resurgence, he worked on numerous productions as a stunt coordinator), his smiley, optimistic personality is a perfect fit for a film like this. He’s great, allowing the film’s differing personas for Marvin to take over his performance, resulting in a role that takes advantage of his two biggest skills. His stunt work is excellent, as is the action throughout the entire film. It does end up being some of the silliest material of 87North’s catalogue (a giant novelty spoon and fork are involved at one point) but it's still just as brutal and fluid as any of their previous works. 

Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end though. The rest of the film is a pale imitation of these kinds of action flicks, and much of it is quite simply bad. Despite a runtime of under 90-minutes with credits, first-time director Jonathan Eusebio fails to amass much momentum with the story. Despite being peppered with action sequences, the actual plot is painfully boring, which then makes the actions scenes feel worse than they actually are. When the only thing separating the action scenes is a plot that you can’t get invested in, it makes those action scenes blend together. There’s a “hamster wheel” type of feeling, as if the film is just running in place. 

That script also does none of the actors any favors. Co-writers Matthew Murray (“Sheltered”), Josh Stoddard (“Betas,” “Warrior (2019)”), and Luke Passmore (“Slaughterhouse Rulez,” “Archenemy (2020)”) relishes in its action movie cliches without ever expanding on them. It invites pieces of weirdness in, like the Raven and his feathered weaponry and poetry, but stops there. It’s just weird for the sake of it, without actually relating to any other vibe the film is putting out. Meanwhile the dialogue is just awful. Numerous moments of emotional pathos are ruined by truly groanworthy lines that simply drag the film down. It doesn’t help that, besides Quan, the rest of the cast feel like they’re phoning it in. Wu is a bland antagonist, Shakir plays the Raven with a grimness that feels weird against the strangeness of the character, Lynch and Eriksen feel like they’re trying to channel a Tarantino banter to minimal success, and DeBose, despite winning an Academy Award just a few years ago, delivers her lines like she’s doing a purposely bad impression of a 1960s film noir femme fatal. 

Even the film’s budget is an issue by the time all is done. It makes sense that this isn’t a film that costs a hundred-million dollars, but its cheapness is most noticeable again because of the poor pacing and boredom. If the film had a decent pace, then, just like the action scenes, some of the cheapness wouldn’t be as noticeable. But every set where a fight takes place feels woefully sterile and flimsy, like it's made of paper and put together just to be destroyed. Yes, some of those fights take place inside of Gable’s “for sale” houses, but the bright lights shining through windows don’t feel like bright sun, they feel like giant stage lights from somewhere in a sound stage. 

Here’s hoping that, in the next few years, Key Huy Quan can continue to capitalize on his newfound success, but that he reads the material first. “Love Hurts” certainly stings, as it manages to completely waste both its lead and the talents of its production studio. What’s good here can’t break through the monotony and what’s decent is turned into a slog because of that aforementioned monotony. “Love Hurts” quite a bit, apparently. 1.5/5

Companion - Review: A Tale of Our Relationship with Technology

 

While it doesn’t share the same writer or director, “Companion” does share the same producers as the 2022 surprise horror hit “Barbarian.” And like that film, it's also a tale best experienced while knowing as little as possible. It’s virtually impossible to discuss “Companion” with any real merit without spoiling its central conceit, so for those just wanting to know its quality: it's a taught, bloody, exceptionally funny dark comedy horror thriller that riffs on romantic comedies to delightful and ridiculously fun results. 

The film follows Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets,” “Heretic”), who travels with her boyfriend Josh, played by Jack Quaid (“The Boys,” “Star Trek: Lower Decks”), to a fancy cabin in the woods owned by Sergey, played by Rupert Friend (“Homeland,” “Asteroid City”), the older Russian boyfriend of Josh’s friend Kat, played by Megan Suri (“Never Have I Ever,” “It Lives Inside”). After a night of drinks and partying with everyone, including Josh and Kat’s friend Eli, played by Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows (2019),” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”) and his boyfriend Patrick, played by Lukas Gage (“Smile 2,” “”), Iris realizes a horrifying truth: she isn’t a real person, she’s a companion robot Josh rents to be his girlfriend, full of fictitious memories and feelings for him. 

Thatcher anchors the entire film with a performance that, even given her previously stellar work, absolutely excels. She turns Iris into someone you become fully invested in, riding with her throughout her tumultuous adventure. It's a character that just lets her run away with the film and she’s just utterly fantastic. Quaid is also fantastic, continuing to use his “good guy” persona to excellent effect, building up the emotional core of the film while also weaponizing it to terrifying effect. He can balance both halves expertly and is a perfect foible for Thatcher and Iris. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the cast is still great, but just don’t get as much meat to dig into as Thatcher or Quaid. Gage is an absolute standout, cementing his place as almost a third lead in the film. His career seems to be slowly morphing into that of a scream king, and he plays it well. Suri and Guillén get to fulfill the typical archetypes of their roles in this kind of genre cinema, but they don’t feel one note though. A huge part of that is the script, the film is written and directed by Drew Hancock (“Suburgatory,” “Blue Mountain State”), which manages to shatter each characters' pre-conceived role in the tale to great dramatic and comedic effect. There are numerous stretches where the film feels like a straight up comedy, with Hancock cranking up the tension exactly when needed. 

Composer Hrishikesh Hirway (“Save the Date,” “Everything Sucks!”) gets in on the juxtapositions as well, with a musical score that does fall into the typical tense and horror adjacent strings when needed but otherwise plays into the film’s bright and cheerful rom-com facade. Hancock and his team get great mileage out of a relatively small shooting space, using the lake house and surrounding woods to create a palpable sense of claustrophobia. 

Hancock’s experience working on off-kilter sitcoms and directing music videos for the likes of Tenacious D shines through here, as the film somehow never splits from its horror-comedy tone. There are breadcrumbs to piece together through the first act, and even when things turn, it remains an exceptionally funny movie. It's a bit of a magic trick how both of these elements not only work together so well, but never overshadow each other. Given the heavy themes piled throughout, Hancock keeps it highly entertaining. It's the sort of film that’s just a really fun time at the movies, plain and simple. If there is one thing that holds it back, it's the fact that, for all its modern-day urgency and topic-ness, it does feel like yet another “A.I./robot-adjacent horror film” even for as well executed and entertaining as it is. 

“Companion” is a ton of fun in just about every way. It really isn’t the film’s fault that it just happens to be coming out in a glut of robot-focused horror or thriller films. After all, in the years going forward, all that will remain is the fact that this is a tightly written and directed film that’s never fails to be funny or tense, sometimes at the same time, and proves to be yet another showcase for the fantastic talents of Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. A connection with this “Companion” is an easy recommendation. 4.5/5 

Dog Man - Review: The World's First "Supa Cop"

 

Almost a decade after their first foray into the world of Dav Pilkey’s books with “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie,” DreamWorks is dipping their toes back into the well of kiddish silliness once more. While the books this film is based on are actually written by Pilkey, they’re considered “in universe” novels written by the two young protagonists of the “Captain Underpants” series, George and Harold. Which does explain why, from the names of locations to the dialogue to the offbeat art style, everything about “Dog Man” bleeds kid whimsy from each frame. 

Set in Ohkay City, dimwitted cop Officer Knight and his beloved and much smarted dog Greg are caught in an explosion set up by Petey the Cat, voiced by Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies”), resulting in life threatening injuries. The only way to save them is to sew Greg’s head onto Knight’s body, creating a dog-man “supa cop” hybrid known as Dog Man. In his new state, the Chief of Police, voiced by Lil Rey Howery (“Get Out,” “The Carmichael Show”), sets Dog Man after Petey the Cat, who now has a young clone/son Lil Petey, voiced by Lucas Hopkins Calderon in tow, all while famed reported Sarah Hatoff, voiced by Isla Fisher (“Wedding Crashers,” “Wolf Like Me”) reports on the arch enemies. 

Much like the original novels and the previous “Captain Underpants” film, writer/director Peter Hastings (“Animaniacs,” “The Country Bears (2002)”) keeps an authentic kind of silliness on full display here. From side characters without names (the police chief is just named Chief) to important locations like the Living Spray Factory or the Abandoned Expendable Warehouse, it feels as though a ten-year-old kid sat down and told the entire story to Hastings, who then pitched it to a bid-budget animation studio. There’s a refreshing level of nonchalance to everything; no one ever winks at the camera for any of these jokes or puns, because that’s just how the world is here. You just sit back and go along for the ride. 

While Howery and Fisher are a comedic highlight, both leaning into the most cartoonish voices they can muster, Davidson and Calderon are both unexpected delights. While Calderon more or less has to speak with his own kid voice, Davidson brings a surprising amount of pathos to a role that should be just a joke. An evil cat to fight off a good dog, but his delivery is exceptionally comedic while also being soft and sincere. It’s a weird balance that makes him a standout for the film. 

For those unaware, the “Dog Man” books feature plenty of silliness and slapstick, but when they shift away from Dog Man and towards Petey and Lil Petey, they take a tonal turn into the more somber. While his origins aren’t delved into as much in the film, Petey’s discussions on life, parenting, and love with Lil Petey seemingly come out of nowhere. It feels like when a small kid will randomly ask you about your life, and all of a sudden, you’re accidentally having introspective conversations with a 6-year-old, with a kind of honesty only they can muster. This isn’t just apparent in these scenes, as little details of Petey’s rougher childhood, such as a robot he names “80-HD” (say it out loud), give little insights into the character. It gives the film and Petey an extra layer that makes it more than an over-the-top silly romp, and arguably turns it into a film far more about him than Dog Man. 

It isn’t all somberness and “deep talks about life” though, as 95% of the film does rocket straight ahead with its silliness. This does mean that the first 10 or so minutes of the film move at such a breakneck pace, you’d be mistaken for believing it was being fast-forwarded through. The freewheeling comedy and action mean that the pacing is quite erratic, moving blisteringly fast one moment, and grinding to a halt the next. The third act feels this the most, as despite being filled with action and comedy that’s just as funny as the rest of the film, it also introduces a new villain, Flippy the telepathic fish, voiced by Rickey Gervais (“The Office (2001),” “The Invention of Lying”), who sticks out thanks to a rougher vocal performance. 

Beyond the pacing and humor, the film’s visual style is a sight to behold. Ditching anything remotely close to realism, the world of Dog Man comes to life with bright colors and a purposefully simplistic art design. Characters eyes are nothing more than black dots or lines, puffs of smoke billow in scribble balls, and everything feels handmade in the best way. When Dog Man’s head turns, you see both sides of his mouth, never betraying his hand-drawn two-dimensional design. Even inanimate objects brought to life simply have big Muppet-ish googly eyes added on top of them. It’s just another layer of humor that helps bring this world to childish life. 

“Dog Man” is dizzying and very very funny, in an honest kind of kiddy way that’s almost impossible to be replicated by anyone older than 8. But Peter Hastings has taken Dav Pilkey’s beloved “supa cop” and thrown him onto the big screen in all his scribbly glory. For as erratic as the pacing is, it can’t spoil a thoroughly funny and authentically childish film that makes for an excellent way to spend 80 minutes at the movies. 3.5/5

The Reel Life's Year in Film: Best of 2024

Join me in celebrating this year in film as I count down my top 10 films of 2024, as well as highlighting my most surprising, best actor, and best actress, and other individual awards.

One of Them Days - Review: A Buddy Comedy That Pays the Bills

January has proven itself to be a theatrical dead zone for years given most studios tendencies to dump films either poorly received or that they think just won’t make money in any other month. Yet, there’s also plenty of films released during that month that buck the trend; not only is it when a lot of awards buzz films tend to expand to wide release, but there’s also the likes of “Cloverfield,” “M3GAN,” “Scream (2022),” “Split,” “Bad Boys For Life,” “The Grey,” and plenty more. Now, one more can get added to that list, and it's also the first theatrically released Hollywood R-rated comedy in quite a while. Plus, it's good. 

“One of Them Days” follows two best friends: diner waitress Dreux Jones, played by Keke Palmer (“Akeelah and the Bee,” “Nope”), and aspiring artist Alyssa, played by SZA in her film debut, who find themselves in trouble after Alyssa’s on-and-off boyfriend Keshawn, played by Joshua Neal, takes the money they’d set aside for rent. With only a few hours to pay, the duo run around L.A. attempting to make money, while also trying to escape from Keshawn’s new girlfriend Berniece, played by Aziza Scott (“Home Before Dark”), and getting Dreux to her interview for a new job as a diner franchisee. 

There’s plenty of material and humor here that echoes producer Issa Rae’s (“The Lovebirds,” “Insecure”) hit HBO series “Insecure,” from the believable absurdity to even the people involved with the production: the film is written by Syreeta Singleton (“Insecure,” “Rap Sh!t”) and directed by Lawrence Lamont (“Rap Sh!t”), with Singleton working with Rae on “Insecure” and both working with her on “Rap Sh!t.” There’s an even flow to the humor that’s helped by the film’s self-imposed ticking timer, but also because Singleton and Lamont make sure things always boil down to Druex and Alyssa’s friendship. 

It’s the kind of comedy that comes from their relationship. It’s funny because you’re getting to know them and watching them evolve throughout the film. Therefore, it's bolstered immensely by two very funny lead performances. Palmer is an absolute standout, continuing her conquest of the modern studio comedy market. She brings the pathos for the handful of scenes that require it, but she’s clearly a comedic actor in her element, even if she can be even better when she’s the one cut loose to swing from the rafters. SZA does manage to hold her own, working as the ditsier, more laidback friend between the two. She does nail the role, and the energy and chemistry between the pair is infectious and provides enough of a reason to see the film. 

Much of the film’s supporting cast is filled with a who’s who of black comedic actors, from Katt Williams (“Friday After Next,” “The Boondocks”) and Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary,” “Central Park”) to Lil Rey Howery (“The Carmichael Show,” “Get Out”) and Vanessa Bell Calloway (“Coming to America,” “Southside with You”). They all do their jobs well, with Williams being the only real standout amongst them. Like most comedies like this, they pepper the numerous scenes and give our two leads other even weirder characters to bounce off of. Maude Apatow (“euphoria,” “The King of Staten Island”) also pops up as Druex and Alyssa’s new neighbor Bethany, the only white person in their apartment complex, and she proves to be a standout as well, especially in the film’s third act.

There’s a slight bit of absurdity filtering through the behind the scenes of the film as well. The musical score, composed by Chanda Dancy (“Blink Twice,” “Devotion”), and cinematography from Ava Berkofsky (“Share,” “The Sky is Everywhere”) provide just enough variety and twists on the genre to keep things playful. The cinematography in particular feels slightly bent in a way that highlights the L.A. craziness without drawing direct attention to it.

“One of Them Days” is an excellent way to kick off 2025 for film. It’s a fun buddy comedy with two excellent leads that keep things moving fast and funny. Palmer is already a star, with this film proving it even more so, and SZA may just be a new comedic star in the making. By basing the comedy in their friendship and allowing it to filter through them, the film lifts itself slightly above the genre, proving to be more than just another R-rated comedy. 4/5