Okay, now that you've seen who is the author. I guarantee that you think I'm letting my excitment cloud my judgment. But, I'm not. As many of you here know, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the best superhero films of all time. It's very easy to see why. The more I've been sitting on it and thinking about it, the more I love it. I geniunely think that this could be the best superhero sequel ever. Which is funny because The First Avenger is one of my all time favorite Marvel films. Here, I will let you inside my head so you can see why I think that this could be the best part two yet. Beware, potential spoilers toward the end.
As I've stated in my review, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is really at its core about friendship, truth and security over freedom. This is a superhero film with something to say and quite frankly, has quite a bit more humanity to it than any other superhero movie. Even more so than, Spider-Man which is amazing in my opinion because Spider-Man is most human in Marvel's category. Further going to into the humanity and friendship, it makes this the most emotional superhero film any studio has ever given us. Steve's visit to the nursing home and his final confrontation with The Winter Soldier are easily the most emotional parts of the entire film. Going into security over freedom, there has to be a line to draw. The movie blurs that line for a while but when Project: Insight is revealed, it's all so clear and the twists/turns make so much sense. Personally, I can understand the point of view of what Project: Insight is. Ultimately, I would never support it but I can understand that paranoia and that way of thinking.
Without being two and a half hours or longer, Captain America: The Winter Soldier does its job in developing the characters without getting too bored and gives us more than just witty dialogue and action to move us along. For my money, this is easily the most engaging and intruiging story I've ever witnessed in a superhero movie. The twist, turns, intensity, paranoia, everything that makes it all the more engrossing but makes it more of a action-thriller than the generic superhero movie. Most superhero movies are about, whether they want to give up being the superhero or not. Marvel Studios continue to avoid this by, putting Captain America on the run as a fugitive trying to figure out what has happened and who is behind the attack of, The Winter Soldier (can't go into spoilers with that particular scene). Yes, the action scenes are intense and I will get to that here in a bit and the dialogue is very witty. But, this is a superhero movie that not only cares about the characters and making the stakes feel very real, it also gives us a very unique superhero movie. A movie involving, The Winter Soldier and his story automatically confirmed we were going to get something special. But, the way they went about the story in this film really put it up there with the likes of The Avengers and The Dark Knight. I'm not saying The Avengers has a great story but, just the quality as a whole.
Easily, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has the best action sequences in a superhero movie. You don't need CGI fights to have fantastic fight sequences. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was more practical than anything. The first fight between Cap and The Winter Soldier on the streets of Washington D.C is by far the most brutal, intense, heart racing, edge of your seat fight sequence I have seen in a superhero film. The film in the department of the fights and action in general is exhilerating. Especially when we see The Falcon take flight in the third act final battle among the three helicarriers. The elevator sequences, Cap taking out a quinjet, the opening ship sequence and attack on the bunker at the half way point of the film really make the movie all the more exciting.
The supporting cast as I said in my review is the biggest highlight of the film. While no doubt, Chris Evans is iconic in his role as Sam Jackson is as Nick Fury and Downey is as ol' shellhead, the supporting cast of the film really does stand out. While none (outside of Robert Redford) are the likes of J.K Simmons, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. The supporting cast really does shine. While Chris Evans is the heart and soul of the movie, Anthony Mackie breathes life into it. Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan stand out. Where Mackie breathes life into the movie, Stan is intimidating as The Winter Soldier and while he doesn't get out a lot of dialouge. He shows a lot of emotion and you can tell alot by his expressions. He is the Tom Hardy Bane of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is that great and intimidating. That and when you can knock Cap off of a highway and through a bus, you're doing something right to become the resident badass. Pierce was a really cool supporting character. The introductions of both Sharon Carter. I'm sorry, Agent 13 and Bruck Rumlow while not large roles, I think bring a extra layers to both the intensity and paranoia of the movie as well as Sharon bringing an extra layer of heart, humanity and even innocence to the movie. The more I think about it, it actually is a strikingly great balance between Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight. Not trying to compare the the movies by any means.
Character development, we get to know characters and their arcs. Not to mention by the time the movie ends, we are left wanting to know more about the characters because we are so invested in them. For me, Black Widow and The Winter Soldier in particular. We get to know a little bit about the widow but, enough to where we are interested and want to know more about the character that we become a little bit emotionally invested in her. As far as, The Winter Soldier goes. We get a little bit of back story on him but, he's brainwashed and outside of what we are told and shown, we don't know much about what has happened between The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier. We are interested in the character, we want to know what is going on in their head. Between the writing and the acting for the character, the mystery and his internal struggle ultimately make the final battle all the more intense. Nick Fury and Cap also get great development as Nick Fury is more paranoid than before, not trusting almost anyone. He's put in a position where he has to entrust Cap to lead them not only to save the lives of millions. Cap grows because everything is not what it seems. The journey he goes onto in, The Winter Soldier shows that he may have to trust less people than before and ultimately puts his morales in a grey area between freedom and security. As he says in the movie "For the longest time, I just wanted to do the right thing. I'm not quite sure what that means anymore". That line ultimately reflects his inner conflicts and the overall look at the over arching story as to what is and isn't right in today's world where the line between right and wrong are more blurred than they have before.
In case it really isn't clear to you as it feels like this has been more of a review than an explination as to why it's the best superhero sequel yet. Let me put it like this for you: Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not only a perfect superhero sequel but, the best one we've gotten yet due to the fact of such great performances and character development. It's a dark movie but is unique sequel with enough levity to it that it isn't moody and can still be a fun superhero blockbuster that has some of the most intense action/fight sequences ever seen. It is the most thrilling, emotional and ultimately the most fullfilling and satisfying superhero movie the genre has given us. But ultimately, that's just my opinion. There are great arguments out there as to why an X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, etc and I want to hear what you guys have to say in the comments below. You can strongly disagree with me but as always, let's be respectful about it.