FEBRUARY 15 — It’s beyond doubt that we’re now smack in the middle of what people have been calling “superhero movie fatigue.”
When you have two titans like Marvel and DC churning out one superhero movie after another every single year without fail to fit into their respective cinematic universes, not to mention the scores of TV series that are also part of these universes, it’s only natural that these will reach some sort of saturation point for audiences.
And when you add to that the mostly awful superhero movies of Marvel characters owned by Sony, we really can’t blame internet trolls from taking a dump and making endless memes out of these movies.
But here’s the thing, making fun of superhero movies can cause fatigue as well, especially when we take into account the unfortunate online culture of making hyperbolic statements in order to gain attention or one up each other.
Nowadays, if we only depend on social media for news or opinions on things, something is either the greatest thing ever or the worst thing ever.
For example, when did you last see a video saying that this is the third best or fourth best nasi lemak the reviewer has ever tasted?
It’s always either this is the best nasi lemak in town, or the worst nasi lemak in town.
As Malaysians, we know damn well where our favourite nasi lemak is, and where our second, third or fourth favourites are, and we can make that judgement on our own, regardless of what the internet tells us.
Superhero movies are a bit like that now. Don’t let the internet tell you what to think, especially what’s being said about the new Marvel movie, Captain America: Brave New World.
Judging solely from the ratings and scores on crowd favourite sources like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, it would seem like this new Captain America movie is the worst Marvel Studios movie yet, and one of the worst superhero movies ever made.
Some have even called it worse than Sony Marvel abominations like Morbius, Madame Web or Kraven The Hunter, which is very clearly an example of the aforementioned online hyperbole.
As a huge fan of the Captain America movies by Marvel Studios, I’ll happily admit that this fourth movie in the series sits comfortably in fourth place, with Captain America: Civil War at number three, Captain America: The Winter Soldier at number two, and Captain America: The First Avenger my eternal favourite in terms of Captain America movies.
Anyone familiar with the Captain America movies will know that to be fourth placed on that list does not in any way mean that it is one of the worst superhero movies ever, because the Captain America movies are some of the finest examples of what can be done right with superhero movies.
I can definitely understand a lot of the criticism regarding Brave New World – the CGI work looks pretty cheap and wonky, almost as if it’s made for Disney+ instead of for cinemas, the action set-pieces are nowhere near the heights reached in The Winter Soldier and Civil War and there’s a vanilla/by-the-numbers feel to the film’s plotting that makes it feel formulaic and safe, instead of the brave new world that most of us would’ve hoped from the title.
However, like all the previous Captain America movies, especially The Winter Soldier, there are subtexts and allegories to be unearthed from them, and this new one’s no different.
On the surface, this is a simple story about Captain America (previously the Falcon aka Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, in case you haven’t been following the MCU) trying to work with the newly elected President Ross (Harrison Ford), a former general with an established suspicion and dislike of enhanced individuals/superheroes.
Sam, like the audience, isn’t entirely sure whether Ross’ invitation to work together is really because he’s trying to change and become a better man (in order to patch things up with his estranged daughter, Betty, from 2009’s The Incredible Hulk) or whether it’s a trap.
A lot of things happen afterwards, including an attempt on President Ross’ life, which snowballs into a potential war between the US and another country, but hiding in plain sight between all this action and thriller bits is the movie’s main reason for its existence and its beating heart, as Sam asks himself the question – how can he love and serve a country that doesn’t seem to love him back?
If this isn’t plain enough on Sam’s side, the movie even took it upon itself to also include the character of Isaiah Bradley aka the Forgotten Cap (heartbreakingly played by Carl Lumbley) to make this point twice over.
And once you notice this and start thinking about it, the part where Sam has always refused to take the super serum, instead relying on just his normal human capabilities enhanced by hard work, training and high-tech gadgets, makes even more sense.
And maybe that’s even why this movie feels a bit more “normal” when compared to the other Captain America movies, because this iteration of Captain America is really indeed a normal guy with no superpowers, trying to survive and make sense of things in an extraordinary world.
It’s a bit of a shame that director Julius Onah didn’t go all in on this, but I also understand that this is a Marvel superhero movie that reportedly costs US$180 million, so concessions definitely had to be made in terms of commercial elements.
It’s this slight failure that made the movie a merely solid 6 or 6.5 out of 10 movie, instead of the home run it could be if only it picked a lane and really stuck to it.
But it’s definitely not the disaster that a lot of people are making it out to be.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
