"For The Longest Time I Just Wanted To Do What Was Right."
-Captain America / Steve Rogers
With Captain America: The Winter Soldier defeating The Lego Movie at the box office I've decided to write what I loved the most about the film and the above quote captures why perfectly. First off I should tell you that my favorite superheroes in comics are the ones that are near perfect for instance Cap, Superman, and Spider-Man are my favorites and it's mostly because of just how almost pure of heart they all are. Now I know a lot of people dislike these characters for those same reasons because they say this makes them bland. On the other hand I believe these characters are the most interesting because you see them live in a world filled with corruption and evil and you see them fight not just against physical evils but you see them fight for there ideals. This is exactly what the Winter Soldier gave us. They gave us a story with a lead who is infallible but rather than try to make him flawed (which seems to be the norm when characters like these are adapted) they merely made him struggle in a world filled with flaws and grey areas.
This was refreshing for me because there has been a lack (in my opinion) of characters who are almost perfect and instead it seems to me that every lead is flawed and far from perfect in an attempt to be "realistic". Instead in Cap 2 everyone on board keeps Cap the same they keep him as the same skinny man who had the greatness within him brought to the outside as well.
I also hope that this film will help inspire other films to not be afraid to portray a character as the archetypes they are rather than drag them through the mud to make them more "relatable".
Yet it wasn't just the filmakers ability to keep Cap's purity intact and still create an incredible movie it was also the themes they dealt with. One theme is quite simple and that is of friendship. Just take a loom at the ending where Bucky is whaling on Steve with his bionic arm telling him that he's his mission. Then when he has the chance to finish him Steve tells him that he is with him to the end of the line. This line uttered by Cap wasn't just to let Bucky know that he was his friend but also that he remembers the time that he himself said to him during his skinny Steve days and that they meant a lot for him to have his friend by him.
Then there is the theme of freedom vs, security. Not only did the film manage to send a message about national security in this day and age but they didn't without being heavy handed or one sided in the debate, For instance when Cap is shown the Project: Insight he get into a discussion with Fury and says a true Cap like quote " This isn't freedom this is fear" but rather than being on the nose the filmakers decide to address Fury's side of the argument by having him point out that not everything Cap and crew did in the greatest generation was all squeaky clean. Then throughout the film we follow Cap though this grey filled world until the climax when Cap and co. decide that though the price of freedom may be high it is a price that is worth paying.
These are all the things that make Captain America: The Winter Soldier my favorite comic book movie of all time. I simply love it all the action, acting, directing, dialogue and if I had to write a detailed analysis of everything I loved I physically wouldn't be capable of such a feat so instead I would just say I loved EVERYTHING!