So I was going to write a lengthy, structured review of Captain America The Winter Soldier where I talked about its surprisingly rich and relevant themes, and how those themes tied in perfectly with both character and plot. How it features the first Marvel villain since Loki that actually works on more than one level. And I was going to break the film down and really examine how well every part of this movie works.
But everyone else has done that already. And I'm presuming by now you've all seen it, so instead I'm just going to ramble on about how much fun this film is, bouncing from point to point like Cap's shield bounces from anonymous goon to anonymous goon. Structure be damned.
All that really needs to be said about Captain American The Winter Soldier is that it is Awesome with a capital A. The rest is just gravy.
After I saw the trailers I was really excited about the direction Marvel was taking this franchise, getting all 70's paranoia conspiracy thriller with it. Even going so far as to cast Robert Redford, a veteran of the genre (Three Days of the Condor, All the President's Men). This being a comic book movie I had my concerns that it would flub the tone, that the more serious vibe of the films it was evoking wouldn't gel with the lighter aspects of the Marvel universe. But that's not the case at all. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo totally nail it. The humour of the characters and their interactions with each other act as a perfect counterbalance to a serious plot about fear, freedom, and the corrosive effect power can have on the morals of men. The light makes the darker moments hit all the harder, and the darkness makes each joke all the more welcome. The Russo brothers (whom I admittedly had my doubts about upon hearing they'd been hired) have more than proven themselves to be the men for the job. I'm so glad they've signed on for Cap 3.
The action in this film is excellent. The opening scene as Cap singlehandedly takes down a boat full of armed mercs is thrilling stuff. The score is a tad too Hans Zimmer-y for my tastes here, but it's not overly distracting. Cap's hand to hand fight with Batroc the Leaper (I can't believe Batroc the Leaper is in a movie!) is so great. Batroc is played by mixed martial artist extraordinaire Geroges St Pierre, one of the greatest pound for pound fighters ever, and I couldn't help but see his influence in many of the fight scenes. I have no idea if he actually helped choreograph any of the fights, in fact I'm guessing he didn't, but the way certain strikes would be thrown, or moves would be pulled off, were reminiscent of fights inside the cage. The way Cap immobilises the Winter Soldier's arm with his legs before going for the rear naked choke is the exact way BJ Penn tapped out Jens Pulver. Anyway, what I'm saying is, the action has a plausibility to it. It's grounded. It's real. Even with a dude who has giant metal bird wings swooping in to kick guys in the face.
But what makes the action so exciting is that it's not just believable, but crazy inventive to boot. The way Cap uses his shield is straight out of the comics and I couldn't help but smile every time he'd ricochet that bad boy off one guy into the next and then catch it without breaking his stride. I loved the way the Winter Soldier's arm would whir as it powered up for a powerful attack, punching holes in the pavement and tearing gashes in the side of vans. Everyone has a moment to be bad ass. Nick Fury shows his stuff in a dynamic car chase as he bickers with his on board computer ("Then what's not broken?" "Air conditioning is fully operational"). Maria Hill sliding on her chair before nonchalantly taking out two gun men. Falcon out manoeuvring a bunch of locked on homing missiles. Black Widow diving off a bridge, swinging on a grappling hook and breaking into a run, pistol in hand as a car explodes behind her. In fact everything Widow does is great. She is tough with just a hint of vulnerability, smart, wicked sexy, funny, difficult to read yet sincere, burdened by guilt and desperate to alleviate it whilst knowing that she never will. Her interactions with Cap are both character revealing (on both sides) and a whole lot of fun. I'm amazed how a character I thought wasn't working at all in Iron Man 2 has gone on to become my favourite character in the Marvel cinematic universe.
Falcon is a worthy addition to the ensemble (and despite the film being called Captain America, it is pretty much an ensemble piece), whose work with veterans struggling to assimilate themselves back into the world fits perfectly with what Cap is going through himself. It's clear to see why the two of them so quickly become friends as they share an easy going rapport.
The other new character, and the one the film is named after, is also a success. The Winter Soldier is the flip side to Captain America's coin. Cap is a man. A man with a rock solid moral centre and sense of right and wrong (which makes his adventure into the morally murky world of espionage so compelling). He is not a weapon. And that's why his shield is such an important symbol. It says everything about the character. Captain America is a soldier, he's the soldier, but he doesn't use a gun. He uses a shield. He protects before he attacks. He is not a heartless weapon that imposes the will of one country over the world. The Winter Soldier is. His iconic look is his metal arm. Cap is a shield, the Winter Soldier is a fist. He has no moral centre, no principles, he is the super solider if you strip away the man inside. But what makes him the best antagonist since Loki is that he has personal ties to Cap. (SPOILER) The Winter Solider is Bucky Barnes, childhood friend of Cap who knew him back when he was just Steve Rogers to the rest of the world. Everything Cap held dear has been lost to time, made abundantly clear in Peggy Carter's brief yet heart breaking scene. But Bucky is here, now, in the present. And not only that, but he has gone through something extremely similar to what Cap is going through. But Bucky has been buried inside the Winter Soldier, entombed in steel and technology. It's clear why Cap would want to save Bucky from his brainwashed alter-ego. He's his friend. Cap is a man out of time, in a world that is strange and complex, but in Bucky he sees someone he recognises, and more importantly, understands. It's the personal connection that really sells this protagonist antagonist relationship, and makes it far more compelling than the standard.
(Side note: How cool was it to see Ed Brubaker, the writer who created the Winter Soldier in the comics, be cast as one of the scientists responsible for the Winter Soldier in the film)
Everything about this film works. The pace is lightning fast, but with enough breathing room for interesting character beats and arcs. The tone is handled perfectly, even in the final third where some people complained that the film goes to big and broad. Personally I found the escalation in the third act to be entirely keeping with what was set up in the first two. The action is big, inventive, loud, kinetic, and dynamic, yet never difficult to follow. It constantly showcases why we love these characters and want to see them again and again. At the end of Widow's arc she is about to head off alone into the unknown to try and find herself. I instantly wanted to watch that story. I never will as she'll be back in time for The Avengers Age of Ultron, but such is the strength of each of the characters that I could happily watch a stand alone film about any one of them. The tone was uniquely its own yet still felt a part of the established Marvel universe. It didn't feel strange that a man was walking around wearing the American flag, or that one of the characters could fly. When a character name dropped Bruce Banner, and Dr. Stephen Strange (nerdgasm!) it didn't feel cheap. The film felt like a vital piece of a larger whole, especially after the reveal (SPOILER AGAIN) S.H.I.E.L.D has actually been Hydra for decades, which will have huge ramifications on many of the upcoming Marvel films and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D television show.
Captain America The Winter Soldier may not have the stand up and cheer final third that The Avengers has, or the absolutely insane villain reveal that Iron Man 3 has, but it does feel like the most solid of the Marvel films. Everything it does it does right and it does well. It could just be the best of the bunch.
Closing random thoughts:
I've seen some people find it weird that Iron Man doesn't turn up in the film after Stark gets name dropped a couple of times, but it didn't bother me. What I was surprised about is that Hawkeye, someone actually employed by Shield, isn't in the film at all. I'm guessing he was on leave after the events of The Avengers.
In the final montage to show us where all of the characters ended up or are heading we see Maria Hill applying for a job, if not already working at Stark Industries. Setting up her role in The Avengers 2? We also see Brock Rumlow horribly burned and scarred but still alive, setting up his transformation into the comic book villain Crossbones for Cap 3?
The credits scene was cool. Our first look at Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. I had two thoughts here. First, I wonder if the role Baron Strucker has was originally intended for Red Skull before Hugo Weaving said he wouldn't return? My other thought was how are Scarlet Witch's powers going to work in the films. I've read a lot of comics and I still don't really get her powers. She can control probability with hexes or something. And magic. Her power levels seem to fluctuate, at one point she was powerful enough to change the whole of reality, wiping out the entire mutant race. I don't know how she'll work in the film. From the credits scene it looks like she's some sort of telekinetic or something. Also, Strucker seems to suggest that the twin's power comes from Hydra's experiments with Loki's staff, which I guess is how they're getting around the whole mutant thing. Anyway, cool stuff, I liked it.
So I was going to write a lengthy, structured review of Captain America The Winter Soldier where I talked about its surprisingly rich and relevant themes, and how those themes tied in perfectly with both character and plot. How it features the first Marvel villain since Loki that actually works on more than one level. And I was going to break the film down and really examine how well every part of this movie works.
But everyone else has done that already. And I'm presuming by now you've all seen it, so instead I'm just going to ramble on about how much fun this film is, bouncing from point to point like Cap's shield bounces from anonymous goon to anonymous goon. Structure be damned.
All that really needs to be said about Captain American The Winter Soldier is that it is Awesome with a capital A. The rest is just gravy.