Cap is back for the second film in the Captain America movie franchise, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Marvel seems to be able to do no wrong with the super hero movies movies. One of the great things is that the Winter Soldier is able to successfully not just be a super hero movie, but instead has a great spy thriller feel to it that appeals to not just the comic book crowd but an even larger audience base then just the super hero movie genre. This aspect is something important for just the average movie goer to understand about Captain America: The Winter Soldier and not to just dismiss it because they think it is a super hero movie.
Chris Evans reprises his as Captain America/Steve Rogers and in this go around he is able to really grow his character. It was nice that in The Avengers we got a lot of the awkwardness of him adjusting to the new times and this truly allowed him in this movie to be Captain America and "The super hero out of time" was used sparsely and really was simple comic relief without being overdone. While this movie is about Captain America it is really Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow in many ways stole the screen. The character of Black Widow has become more intriguing to me with each film she has been in and it was great for her to get more screen time where she was not just kicking butt. Johannson brought a great vulnerability to the role as we were actually able to learn more about her and her past. This worked because while we learned about her it was like getting just one layer of an onion peeled off. Seeing her in this movie makes me want a stand alone Black Widow movie now. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury played a little more prominent and we learned more about his past and what led him to being Director Fury. Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier is truly a great nemesis for Captain America to go up against. The ability he has to not only go blow for blow with Cap, but the the ability he has to use his cyborg arm to catch Cap's shield makes him an equal as no one else has been able to catch the shield. A character that talks so little typically ends up being a completely lacking character, yet Stan is able to convey so much with just a look. The rest of the supporting cast all give admirable performances and really work well onscreen.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is going to be a game changer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this story they decided to make a Captain America sequel with some serious, darker plot development and close range hand to hand combat fights. So what should have been a typical super hero film, instead became a conspiracy filled espionage thriller. The Winter Soldier was very well written and it is filled with suspense and yet they are still able to bring about socio-political issues dealing with "Big Brother" control and surveillance as a theme in the storytelling. The story unfolds gradually and builds throughout the film by using miniature climatic moments. Because of where the screenplay written by McFeely and Markus takes us with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it will never be the same. With the game changing plot developments this will truly make Captain America: The Winter Soldier be a movie that is remembered with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the fact that the MCU will never be the same, it only excites me more to see where everything continues to go in future movies and story lines. The pacing the Russo brothers set forth in their directing is nearly perfect as the mixture of telling a story fits so well with the action. Not too mention they still are able to progress story arcs amongst the action whether in a look or a quick comment.
The action for The Winter Soldier was very well done. It was great to see this movie limit the use of CGI. Giving us hand to hand combat action and the use of stunts as much as possible was perfect. The action was made even stronger and exciting in my opinion through the use of Captain America's shield being featured more in this go around as a primary offensive weapon. One of the best action sequences that I really enjoyed was the elevator scene. With such a confined space that is full of people, the fighting sequence could be tough to make exciting or workable. Yet, they are able to be successful with this scene and only shows the power Captain America has even when heavily outnumbered. I loved the action as it was great to see everything choreographed out so well that it all flowed perfectly within what the Russo brothers were telling in the story.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier surprisingly was not what I expected from the movie as it was a great spy thriller with super heroes. Chris Evans and Scarlett Johannson really worked well on screen together and the chemistry they had really showed and made this movie almost a duo movie that worked perfectly. The quips that they had from time to time worked well and lightened up the tension of the movie at certain moments. Sebastian Stan with his few spoken lines actually gave him an intense performance that allowed him to be the perfect nemesis to Captain America. The story and the action worked so well together and flowed the pace perfectly. This was the best sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the two extra scenes that were directed Joss Whedon have only intensified my interest to see future Marvel movies in the current and future phases. Captain America: The Winter Soldier gave some great twists and turns and because of all of that I am giving Captain America: The Winter Soldier four and a quarter buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a movie that will no doubt be added to the movie collection as soon as possible.
-The Movie Man
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