Weekend Watch: Captain America: Brave New World, Paddington In Peru
Marmalade and MCU-aid
Image Credit: Marvel/Disney
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Marvel looks to get back in gear and Paddington’s looking for his aunt. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite, Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite and Blue Sky: @jammerwhite.bsky.social
Both the big films out this weekend (in cinemas at least; Bridget Jones Mad About The Boy was dispatched direct to Peacock in the States) carry the weight of expectation based on past achievements.
Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th –– 35th! –– Disney/Marvel movie set in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe has to prove that the comic book film studio arm hasn’t lost its way completely following a slightly disastrous 2023.
Last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine, for all its giant success, was more of a blip, set largely outside MCU continuity and likely to have less of an impact going forward. No, this new outing for Captain America, with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson finally getting his own big screen adventure, needed to reassure us all. And, to some degree, it does. You just wish the movie were better.
It’s no fault of Mackie, who certainly has the personality to make his version of the heroic stalwart different from Chris Evans, but his charisma isn’t always used to the best effect, Sam here largely clenched-jawed and serious (which given the stakes, is understandable). He’s at his best when joshing with new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) or his moments with Carl Lumbly’s Isiah Bradley, AKA the forgotten super soldier who served his country nobly, only to be thrown in prison for 30 years.
Around them, we have a typical crisis (though as ever, not so crucial that the other remaining Avengers show up) and Big Stakes, this time revolving around a Celestial creature that emerged from the Earth during the events of Eternals, and which is now a source of dispute between countries looking to mine its resources of “new” element Adamantium.
In case you’re wondering, despite some attempts to fill in details, this is a movie that sometimes feels like homework, requiring a passing familiarity with the events of The Incredible Hulk, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and other previous MCU stories. It’s not quite such a load that it makes it distracting, but it become annoying at times.
Director Julius Onah (who previously made Luce and The Cloverfield Paradox) is at his best when focused on Sam and other character work; outside of that, you do sometimes wish for some more vision (no, not Paul Bettany’s character). The movie itself feels like a take on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but never flies so high.
As Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Harrison Ford (replacing the late William Hurt) is appropriately gruff in his new role as President of the United States, though I do think they missed a trick not having an action sequence set on Air Force One. When he turns into the Red Hulk, however (thanks to the machinations of Tim Blake Nelson’s mutated genius Samuel Sterns), the movie descends into the standard Marvel Third Act Smash-a-Thon (with some dodgy VFX in places to boot).
And speaking of Nelson’s character, he feels like a missed opportunity, neither different nor fresh enough to stand with villains past. His motivations are vaguely interesting, but the make-up job, at least when seen in actual light, is a little lacking.
All in all, the film is far from perfect, but certainly has its moments. Better than could have been hoped given all the reported changes, it still suffers in finding the requisite altitude.
Captain America: Brave New World is in UK and US cinemas now.
Image Credit: StudioCanal
Paddington In Peru similarly has a lot to live up to, given that Paddington 2 in particular is one of the most beloved family films of the last couple of decades.
And the new entry has a slight disadvantage from the off, with director Paul King, who co-wrote and oversaw the first two, away himself travelling pastures new (though he did work on the story for this one and has a producer credit).
Instead, first-time film director Dougal Wilson is the man facing the humungous task of bringing us all some charming new Paddington time. And while this is not in the same league as the second, it has enough of the movies’ spirit to make it worthwhile.
The story this time finds habitual fish –– well, bear –– out of water Paddington (voiced once more by Ben Whishaw) journeying from London to discover what has happened to his Aunt Lucy, who has seemingly vanished from the Home for Retired Bears on a mysterious mission.
With the Brown family –– played as ever by Hugh Bonneville, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin (with Emily Mortimer replacing Sally Hawkins as matriarch Mary) –– in tow, this is another cheery adventure with more of an Indiana Jones spirit.
The Browns as ever are entertaining enough, though Harris and Joslin get somewhat short shrift, reduced again to plot devices more than characters.
Perhaps a bigger issue is the antagonists, since the Paddington films have had truly great villains in the past via Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Here, National Treasure Olivia Colman does her best as a nun with an agenda, while Antonio Banderas certainly has some fun as a seemingly friendly boat captain with big greed issues and a swathe of ghostly ancestors encouraging his worst impulses.
Paddington’s sometimes clumsy, chaotic nature is on full display here, yet the film never quite has the same energy. The emotional factor is at least in place again, particularly towards the end.
Paddington In Peru is in US cinemas now. It’s available to buy or rent from various digital retailers in the UK.