Captain America: The Winter Soldier

One smart thing that Marvel and Disney are doing is creating a huge storyline that can be divided into smaller franchises found on TV or on the big screen. If you miss one film or one episode from one of the franchises however, you might be in the dark the next time you tune in or go to the movies. April 2014 saw a lot of change in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) mostly thanks to "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". As a result, this film is very important to see. I am also glad I waited to see the latest TV episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." until after I saw this film. There are story references to the 1970's conspiracy thrillers but I enjoyed more the good versus evil motif of World War II as seen in the first Captain America film. Because of the level of drama and story twists seen in "The Winter Soldier", the exact sense of fun we felt in other films such as "The Avengers" was missing. While the sequel is still entertaining after multiple viewings, it won't become better over time. Unlike me though, most of the world sees this movie as better than the original film.

The focus of this movie was the story so that is good but more specifically the surprises in the plot that take place. This made the film worth seeing but it will have lasting impact only as part of the MCU. There were some funny moments such as the only working system in Fury's car and Steve's list of things to catch up on. I liked that "I Love Lucy", "Star Wars", Nirvana and "Rocky" were included on it. It was fun to realize that the Berlin Wall went up and down during his time as a "Capsicle". Another moment that entertained me was how the Watergate complex was shown in the background of the shot when Cap gets on the elevator before being joined by others. That was some nice foreshadowing to the kind movie that we are about to witness. By means of the Internet and a deleted scene from "The Avengers", I heard that the character of Peggy was still alive. Finally, with this movie, Marvel makes this fact official so that is some nice resolution. One drastic style change from the first film that I noticed was with the cinematography. When I found out that Trent Opaloch from "District 9" was the cinematographer, I was not surprised. The use of handheld and the fast cuts in the editing during the fight sequences made the movie a tad hard to fully enjoy. The supercomputer underneath New Jersey is well designed and served as a great way to reveal a plot twist. Because of what other fans were speculating during the release of the first Cap movie, I learned ahead of time the identity of the Winter Soldier. This wasn't much of a spoiler though because comic book fans have known this fact for a while. I just hope it didn't drastically affect my first viewing of this film because that is the most important. I'll never know for sure. The design of the Winter Soldier was well done. With his mask on, he is unrecognizable and a new character. Once the whole mask is off, you can see the man he used to be. The ending of the film is much like that of "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World": bitter sweet. These films also leave you with a lot of questions and the good news is that the answers in future films led to happier & more resolving endings. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" had a nice conclusion thankfully. By the way, when "The Winter Soldier" mentioned Steven Strange for the first time in the MCU, I didn't catch it because I am not a comic book fan.

All of the returning cast members were good in their performances. Sam Wilson was a great addition and I am glad we got a few more subsequent films in the MCU with Falcon because he has become as enjoyable as the War Machine. Robert Redford did his job well but from the moment I saw his name attached to this film, I could tell what kind of character he was going to be in the end. The makeup that Hayley Atwell had on was good for its time. Her performance at least was perfect. I also want to give Toby Jones a shout out for his performance and I love the use of Garry Shandling's character. I was glad for his final appearance in this franchise as he passed away in 2016. I am embarrassed to say that I forgot about the traditional Stan Lee cameo until he showed up. He always gets a laugh because there usually is a sense of irony with his roles. The brief role that Gary Sinise has is perfect. This was the first MCU film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and thankfully, their subsequent films were better. Their future influence over the MCU is quite apparent.

The visual effects for "The Winter Soldier" received an Oscar nomination and that makes total sense by just looking at the climax. This was a good movie but not as great as other Marvel films. The first three films of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were either having trouble matching the glory of the film that is "The Avengers" or they are establishing something even better for later films. I am at least thankfully for the latter. Still, this show will be worth seeing and multiple times thereafter. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" may have been written by the same guys as the first Cap movie but I feel that people higher up are controlling the overall story. I know that the comics change things all the time but as a movie fan, I like continuity. All the previous films that have featured Captain America have been a fight of good versus evil. This time, things are complex and more dramatic.

3.5 Stars out of 5