When Captain America: The First Avenger was released in 2011, I felt like it was the best example of a comic book movie done right to that point. Grounding it in Captain America’s WWII roots and keeping the focus of the story in that time period lent it a weight that overshadowed the admitted silliness inherent in all comic book superhero films.
The combination of solid storytelling with the performance of Chris Evans, who surprised me after his more narcissistic portrayal as The Human Torch, made it easy to enjoy the movie for what it was. I was largely unfamiliar with the comic book character, but came away from the film with the opinion that it was one of the best, if not the best, superhero films I had seen to that point.
That opinion has not changed.
Over the last three years I have soured somewhat on superhero movies. I believe this has more to do with the fact that we have been inundated with these films than it does with the quality, although any weak entry into the canon, regardless of which company we are talking about, colors that opinion. That being said, I am happy to report that I continue to have a very high opinion of the Captain America franchise after viewing Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Strong performances by the principal actors, coupled with some nice story elements ensure the that over-the-top action sequences and implausible moments don’t detract from an enjoyable film experience.
In this second Captain-focused film, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is undergoing an existential crises as he continues to try to come to grips with a world whose values and sense of honor are so far removed from his own 1940’s sensibilities. When his latest mission, which pairs him with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, turns out to be marred by secrecy and accusations of foul play by the very organization he is meant to represent, S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers begins questioning whether active service is the direction he wants to take with his life.
Agency corruption and double-dealing come to the forefront as Nick Fury becomes a target for an old enemy organization and a highly effective, shadowy assassin, The Winter Solider, appears on the scene. Soon Captain America and Black Widow find themselves branded as enemies to S.H.I.E.L.D., and thus enemies to America, and Steve Rogers is forced to become the hero once more.
Chris Evans puts forth another praise-worthy performance as Captain America. He is very believable as a character with old fashioned values of honor and respect. Instead of being smug or superior, Evans’ Cap is a genuinely nice guy who is struggling to be the hero he knows he wants to be in a world whose sense of right and wrong is solidly gray. Additionally, Steve Rogers continues to feel the loss of his love, Peggy Carter, from whom he is now separated by the passage of time. There is just the right balance of angst and heroism to make Captain America an interesting character. Despite his incredible strength and impressive acrobatic shield-wielding skills, Captain America is a character who appears more human than super-human.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier also benefits from a beefier role for Scarlett Johansson. Instead of being a far-distant secondary character, Johansson’s Black Widow is given significant screen time, much of which is devoted to fleshing out her character as opposed to being focused on fight scenes. Don’t despair, action fans, there are still plenty of those and they are enjoyable in their own right. I am admittedly ignorant when it comes to the Marvel Universe. The majority of what I know about these characters is what has been revealed in the litany of films. This being the case, I appreciate the building up of the characters, especially when they are handled the way this film chooses to do it, integrating origin stories within a broader context as opposed to focusing solely on the origin elements. The writers chose to give Black Widow some depth of character and to reveal enough tantalizing detail to give viewers like me a better understanding of who the character is while leaving plenty of mystery for future films (and/or comic book reading). Johansson has proven to be a very solid choice of actress to bring Black Widow to life.
There are certainly things to complain about in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, if you want to take that route. Every comic book movie has its “oh, come on now!” moments. My approach has always been: tell me a good story and I will accept the implausible without scoffing (too much). Captain America: The Winter Soldier gives that good story. The special effects are everything you would expect them to be in 2014. The fight sequences are very engaging, in large part because the characters involved are arguably the most human of the super-humans. They are strong and agile and certainly more invulnerable than you or I, but their powers are not magical and as such they are more easy to relate to.
As with every comic book film there are fan service moments that will excite those who are more familiar with the history of these characters as told through decades of comic book storytelling. While many of these moments go over my head, they are not entirely lost on me as they stand out as intriguing story questions that I look to be answered in future film installments. Whenever and wherever you see the film, be sure to watch through the entirety of the credits as there is a mid-credit sequence and an end credit sequence.
I give Captain America: The Winter Soldier high marks. The film makers tie this story in with both the first Captain America film and more recent Marvel films while allowing it to stand solidly on its own. It satisfies in all the ways fans want a pre-summer popcorn flick to satisfy. If you like comic book films, this is a must see, and if you are somewhat jaded on the genre, Captain America: The Winter Soldier will bring you back to the fold.
I haven’t seen this, but I would imagine the edgy darkness of Black Widow would compliment the (what I would call) innocence of Captain America quite well. As a matter of fact, I believe a character such as hers would be vital to the success of the movie. I’m looking forward to seeing it 😀 Great review Carl.
You hit it right on the head, Kelly. They are great polar opposites as far as their life experiences and the foundations from which they make their choices. Their world views are so different and they compliment each other nicely.
I agree with Kelly – Black Widow’s edge and Steve’s innocence and old-fashioned values must act as a very interesting counterpoint. I’m a huge Natasha Romanov fan, and it’s very exciting Marvel has decided to flesh out her role. Thanks so much for the review!
You are welcome, Alison. I hope you get to see the film soon and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I’m looking forward to this a lot. I’ve never been a fan of Captain America – well, I guess I’m a fan of Evans’ Cap. The first movie managed to seem really sincere – like you said, Rogers is a genuinely nice guy, and his heroism is very clean, about things like being willing to fight for things you believe in, and sacrifice yourself for the guy next to you. I’m looking forward to the new one. In my fantasy universe there would have been time for a 1940s trilogy before moving him to the present.
Evans certainly is the reason I consider myself a fan at all, though I doubt I can seriously take on the “fan” moniker given that the films have not pushed me out to read any of the comics.
A 1940’s trilogy would have been fun.
Glad you liked this movie. We have seen only the Iron Man movies and want to go back and watch the rest of the movies in the Marvel Universe…
The Iron Man trilogy are among the best of the Marvel films, in my opinion, with Iron Man 3 being right on top of the list with these two Cap films.
Is no one going to talk about Sebastian Stan’s performance? I thought he was absolutely amazing, even though he had hardly any lines.
I thought he did a really nice job too. He has a good face for portraying emotions.
I loved CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER as much as you did. I gave it an “A” on my blog (yes, Patrick has it up and running again). Scarlett Johansson is terrific! Before the movie started, I watched a trailer to Scarlett Johansson’s LUCY, which opens in August. I’m counting the days!
I need to check out that trailer. Glad you liked it as well, George. Even happier that your site is now fixed.
We took 8 kids on Saturday night as part of Jessica’s birthday celebration. Everyone seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
Julie and I were pleased. It seemed to start a little slow and was somewhat confusing in the beginning. It cleared up nicely as things moved along. We didn’t feel it was as good as the first one, but these sequels rarely are anyway.
I would have liked a little more winter soldier action/story but it was still great. Captain America is still one of the best comic book characters to come to the big screen in a while.
Yes, second films can certainly suffer, though in the SFF realm I know of several second films that I actually like better, in large part because they’ve finally got the introductory stuff down and can get more into a story.
You guys had quite the crew at the theater!
I really enjoyed this one too. Kept me entertained throughout, and I liked the whole corruption storyline. Might even keep me watching Agents of Shield for a little while longer.
I’m way behind on Agents of Shield, but am now wanting to catch up to see how they tie this story line into Agents’ story line.
I just saw this movie and agree with your thoughts on it. You’re right, there have been so many comic book movies in the past few years. This summer there are about four more coming to the big screen.
There is so much material out there, it is easy to see why companies keep going back to the well to make more and more comic movies. The reality is the only reason I complain at all is that they all aren’t of the quality of a film like this. I’d be over the moon if all the writers and directors did this solid of a job putting the films together.
Great review! In honesty, I have found the first Captain America film to be a bit slow and not as engaging as some of the other Marvel comic movies. But your review makes me want to revisit that film, and to give Winter Soldier a try.
I am especially interested in the Black Widow character and learning more of her story. (blatantly crossing fingers in the hopes of a movie dedicated to her character).
I’m crossing my fingers with you!
My kids and I often see these movies opening day, often have Marvel marathons and in general geek out at the post credit special scenes. We just watched all the Marvel one-shots in the extras for several recent Marvel movies, a lot of fun – relevant to this movie was “Agent Carter”.
My son and I enjoyed this one a lot. I particularly like the character of Falcon (Sam Wilson) played by Anthony Mackie. As guys we like to see men of honor in these movies, and giving Captain America a friend was a nice touch with some fun one-liners. Considering the world in which Cap finds himself he needs friends and people to trust.
Nice to see extra air time to the Black Widow and Nick Fury characters.
Very fun that you can share all that with your kids.
Anthony Mackie was a great choice and he made Falcon a really engaging character. I liked that he was the modern-day version of the good, honorable guy to mirror Steve Rogers’ 1940’s good guy.
Going to see it this afternoon! Have high hopes after all the good things i’ve been hearing about it.
I’ll be curious as to your thoughts.