After the disappointing Iron Man 3 and the only halfway satisfying Thor: The Dark World, to say that I was skeptical about Captain America: The Winter Soldier being a good movie would be an understatement. The Avengers knocked it out of the park and each Marvel movie that has come out since has had the impossible task of living up to it. The hype surrounding this movie was off the charts. Some called it Avengers 1.5, others said that it could stand among the ranks of great political thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate and even others have called it the best Marvel movie ever made. I wouldn't quite go as far as to agree with the last one, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the first Marvel movie since The Avengers that has finally lived up to its hype.
I'll put it this way, CA:TWS has joined Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, Marvel's The Avengers and Man of Steel in a very elite group of movies. It's only the 4th movie that I have seen in the theater on its opening weekend... three days in a row! I saw it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and the Sunday showing at 8:15pm was sold-out!
This movie was so good that it's going to be very hard to review. There are so many twists and turns that I can't say too much about it or I'll end up spoiling major plot points that truly do affect the Marvel cinematic and TV universe from this point on. I watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on TV and the episode that played last week ended on a cliffhanger that directly relates to this movie. Heck, one of the familiar agents from the Marvel one-shots is sent on a mission by Coulson during that episode and the second scene of CA:TWS relates to that, but in a way that you don't have to watch the TV show to know what's going on. I'm very excited to see the new episode tonight.
**MINOR SPOILERS**
The movie starts off with a fun reintroduction to both Steve Rodgers (Captain America, played by Chris Evans) and Natasha Romanov (Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson) as well as the introduction to the man who will become Falcon, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), just before Widow and Cap have to head out for a mission. It's the mission you see in the beginning of the movie's trailer. Captain America almost single-handedly takes out most of the group of terrorists, led by a French mercenary named George Batroc (or Batroc the Leaper for those of you familiar with the Marvel Extended universe... and jokingly, my "favorite" Marvel villain) who are holding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents hostage. As the mission progresses, Cap realizes that Widow is there on a separate mission from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Cap takes it personally and confronts Fury about it.
Fury tells Cap that it's all about compartmentalization and Cap fires back that he can't effectively lead a team when the members have other agendas. Fury, as a gesture of trust, takes Cap down to the sub-levels of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building and shows him Project Insight, three next-generation Helicarriers that will be able to pre-emptively strike threats before they even happen. Cap and Fury have a calm argument about freedom vs. order which leads Cap to leave and Fury to start digging deeper into S.H.I.E.L.D. activities.
Cap is trying to find his place in the world and begins to question why he keeps fighting. While trying to figure things out, he visits Sam at the VA hospital to find out more about him and possibly make a new friend. Meanwhile, Fury digs pretty deep and is then attacked by rogue police forces and The Winter Soldier.
That is the first 20-25 minutes of the movie. The rest of the movie deals with a possible rogue element inside of S.H.I.E.L.D., itself, and what Cap and Fury do to combat it. I can't say anything else specific or I will ruin the twists and turns of this excellent story.
Chris Evans is Captain America. When his casting was first announced for the first movie, my reaction was, "Really? The Human Torch and the guy from Not Another Teen Movie is Captain America?" Well, it ended up being perfect casting and he's really grown in the role. Scarlett Johansson was great as Black Widow. In fact, this was the first movie that she was believable to me as a woman that could kick wholesale ass! Anthony Mackie as Falcon was great, too. He reminded me of the early action days of Will Smith, particularly Independence Day. Sam Jackson, Robert Redford (???? in a friggin' Marvel movie? Awesome), Colbie Smulders, Hayley Atwell (yes, Peggy Carter) and Frank Grillo all put in good performances, as well. The biggest surprise was The Winter Soldier (I can't say who is playing him because it will ruin the reveal to those who don't know). Perfect execution of the character. Can't say anymore, but I want to.
What did I like? Most of it. Captain America knows all the martial arts. It's nice to see the fight scenes from Van Damme and Jet Li type movies make it into modern action/superhero movies... only better.
The fight between Cap and Batroc was awesome, and showed why Batroc is "Batroc the Leaper." The fights between Cap and TWS were like fight scenes from The Bourne Identity... only not super-zoomed-in-shakey-cam; you could actually tell what was going on. The ratio of action to political thriller. Some call it predictable, but I thought the story was very well done and had a lot of good character development for the leads. The humor was well placed and not over-the-top. The various references to other characters in the Marvel universe and events in previous movies. That the entire Marvel universe has now shifted because of this one movie. The end credits scene... both of them. The Bible passage on a certain gravestone at the end.
What didn't I like? Not much. Really, after three viewings, I can't find anything that wrong with it. My biggest complaint is that the stakes seemed high enough that Cap should've wanted to contact the other Avengers for help... Iron Man at the very least... but you can't put every character in every movie.
Again, after the disappointment I felt from Iron Man 3, it's nice that Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a sequel to what some have argued is the weakest of the Avenger stand-alone movies, would end up being arguably the best Marvel movie made to date. I had a great time and was most definitely entertained... all three times I've seen it.
I'll put it this way, CA:TWS has joined Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, Marvel's The Avengers and Man of Steel in a very elite group of movies. It's only the 4th movie that I have seen in the theater on its opening weekend... three days in a row! I saw it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and the Sunday showing at 8:15pm was sold-out!
This movie was so good that it's going to be very hard to review. There are so many twists and turns that I can't say too much about it or I'll end up spoiling major plot points that truly do affect the Marvel cinematic and TV universe from this point on. I watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on TV and the episode that played last week ended on a cliffhanger that directly relates to this movie. Heck, one of the familiar agents from the Marvel one-shots is sent on a mission by Coulson during that episode and the second scene of CA:TWS relates to that, but in a way that you don't have to watch the TV show to know what's going on. I'm very excited to see the new episode tonight.
**MINOR SPOILERS**
The movie starts off with a fun reintroduction to both Steve Rodgers (Captain America, played by Chris Evans) and Natasha Romanov (Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson) as well as the introduction to the man who will become Falcon, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), just before Widow and Cap have to head out for a mission. It's the mission you see in the beginning of the movie's trailer. Captain America almost single-handedly takes out most of the group of terrorists, led by a French mercenary named George Batroc (or Batroc the Leaper for those of you familiar with the Marvel Extended universe... and jokingly, my "favorite" Marvel villain) who are holding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents hostage. As the mission progresses, Cap realizes that Widow is there on a separate mission from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Cap takes it personally and confronts Fury about it.
Fury tells Cap that it's all about compartmentalization and Cap fires back that he can't effectively lead a team when the members have other agendas. Fury, as a gesture of trust, takes Cap down to the sub-levels of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building and shows him Project Insight, three next-generation Helicarriers that will be able to pre-emptively strike threats before they even happen. Cap and Fury have a calm argument about freedom vs. order which leads Cap to leave and Fury to start digging deeper into S.H.I.E.L.D. activities.
Cap is trying to find his place in the world and begins to question why he keeps fighting. While trying to figure things out, he visits Sam at the VA hospital to find out more about him and possibly make a new friend. Meanwhile, Fury digs pretty deep and is then attacked by rogue police forces and The Winter Soldier.
That is the first 20-25 minutes of the movie. The rest of the movie deals with a possible rogue element inside of S.H.I.E.L.D., itself, and what Cap and Fury do to combat it. I can't say anything else specific or I will ruin the twists and turns of this excellent story.
Chris Evans is Captain America. When his casting was first announced for the first movie, my reaction was, "Really? The Human Torch and the guy from Not Another Teen Movie is Captain America?" Well, it ended up being perfect casting and he's really grown in the role. Scarlett Johansson was great as Black Widow. In fact, this was the first movie that she was believable to me as a woman that could kick wholesale ass! Anthony Mackie as Falcon was great, too. He reminded me of the early action days of Will Smith, particularly Independence Day. Sam Jackson, Robert Redford (???? in a friggin' Marvel movie? Awesome), Colbie Smulders, Hayley Atwell (yes, Peggy Carter) and Frank Grillo all put in good performances, as well. The biggest surprise was The Winter Soldier (I can't say who is playing him because it will ruin the reveal to those who don't know). Perfect execution of the character. Can't say anymore, but I want to.
What did I like? Most of it. Captain America knows all the martial arts. It's nice to see the fight scenes from Van Damme and Jet Li type movies make it into modern action/superhero movies... only better.
What didn't I like? Not much. Really, after three viewings, I can't find anything that wrong with it. My biggest complaint is that the stakes seemed high enough that Cap should've wanted to contact the other Avengers for help... Iron Man at the very least... but you can't put every character in every movie.
Again, after the disappointment I felt from Iron Man 3, it's nice that Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a sequel to what some have argued is the weakest of the Avenger stand-alone movies, would end up being arguably the best Marvel movie made to date. I had a great time and was most definitely entertained... all three times I've seen it.
Final Grade - 9/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is in theaters now
Until next time... are you not entertained?
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