"CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" (2014) Review
If I have to be perfectly honest, I do not recall the initial reaction to many Marvel fans, when the studio first released the news of the upcoming release of the second Captain America film. I do recall various comments regarding the first one - 2011's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER". The comments for that film ranged from mediocre to box office disappointing. I found the latter opinion odd, considering that movie made a considerable profit at the box office. And besides . . . "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER" proved to be a favorite of mine from 2011.
It was not until the release of this second Captain America film was less than a month away, when I finally heard some excellent word-of-mouth about it. Some were even claiming that it was better than the 2012 blockbuster hit, "THE AVENGERS". Personally, I could not see how any comic book movie could top that. But I did look forward to seeing"CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" - especially after I learned that Robert Redford, of all people, had been cast in the film. I mean . . . honestly, can you imagine an actor like Redford appearing in a Marvel Comics movie? And yet . . . he appeared in this one. Either he was desperate for work, or he really liked Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely's screenplay.
"CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" begins two years after the events of "THE AVENGERS". Steve Rogers aka Captain America now works as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in Washington D.C. During an early morning jog, he meets and befriends an Army veteran named Sam Wilson, before he is summoned by Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow for a new mission. Steve, Natasha and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Agent Brock Rumlow are ordered to free hostages aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel from a group of mercenaries. During the mission, Steve discovers that Romanoff has another agenda - to extract data from the ship's computers for Director Nick Fury. When Rogers returns to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, to confront Fury, the latter briefs him on Project Insight, which consists of three Helicarriers linked to spy satellites and designed to preemptively eliminate threats. After failing to decrypt Romanoff's recovered data, Fury becomes suspicious about Insight and asks World Security Council member Alexander Pierce to delay the project.
Fury is later ambushed by assailants and a mysterious assassin named the Winter Soldier. After reaching Steve's apartment and giving the latter a flash drive of the information acquired by Natasha, Fury is gunned down by the Winter Soldier. Steve is summoned by Pierce to explain what happened between him and Fury. But Steve refuses to cooperate and is later declared a fugitive by Pierce and S.H.I.E.L.D. When Natasha helps him evade S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, she also becomes a fugitive. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discover that Steve's old World War II nemesis, HYDRA, had been infiltrating the agency for years. They seek sanctuary with Sam Wilson, who turns out to be a former U.S. Air Force pararescueman, trained for combat and the use of an EXO-7 "Falcon" wingpack. The trio sets out to learn more details about HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their agenda, before they can do something about it.
If I must be brutally honest, I feel that "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" is not only one of the best Marvel Comics movies I have ever seen, but also one of my top favorite comic book movies. It is superb. Some have claimed that it is better than "THE AVENGERS". I do not share that belief. I have yet to see a comic book movie that is better than the 2012 film. But this movie was fantastic. I could see why Robert Redford was willing to be cast in this film. I agree with many that "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" was reminiscent of the political thrillers released during the 1970s. But this particular film did more . . . it shook up the Marvel Movieverse in ways that no one saw coming. The revelation of HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly had a major impact on the ABC television series, "AGENTS OF MARVEL", which is a spin-off of the Marvel films. I also have to say a word about the fight sequences. There have been fight scenes from other Marvel movies and the TV series "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D." that I found admirable. But the fight scenes featured in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" - especially those between Steve and the brainwashed Bucky - were probably the best I have ever seen in a Marvel movie, let alone in recent years.
Many film critics and some moviegoers have commented on the movie's action sequences. To them, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" seemed to be a movie with a great deal of action sequences and very little dramatic moments. That was not the movie I saw. Mind you, Anthony and Joe Russo handled the movie's action sequences very well. Their work was aptly supported by Trent Opaloch's gorgeous cinematography, Jeffrey Ford's excellent editing and the exciting work from the visual effects team. I was especially impressed by the following sequences: the S.H.I.E.L.D. team's rescue of the hostages; HYDRA's attack upon Nick Fury on the streets of Washington D.C.; Steve, Natasha and Sam deal with a team of HYDRA agents led by the Winter Soldier; and especially the big finale in which the trio and Maria Hill attempted to stop HYDRA's plans to use the three newly constructed S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers.
But as I had earlier stated, I do not believe that "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" was all action and very little drama. The film featured some dramatic moments that not only brought out the best in the cast, but also struck me as very well written. There were a good deal of verbal confrontations in this film. And most of them seemed to feature the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury. I was especially impressed by the drama and the acting in scenes that featured Fury's two conversations with Steve - one regarding the helicarriers and the other about the future of S.H.I.E.L.D. I also enjoyed Fury's final confrontation with Alexander Pierce inside the Triskelion. I was also impressed by how the screenwriters and the Russo brothers managed to inject some very good drama in the middle of Steve's final fight against Bucky, while he tried to convince the latter to remember the past. Speaking of the past, this movie also featured a poignant moment that displayed the strength of Steve and Bucky's friendship in a late 1930s flashback regarding the death of Steve's mother. The movie also featured another friendship - the budding one between Steve and Sam. This was especially apparent in one poignant scene in which Steve and Sam discussed the latter's experiences in Afghanistan.But the best scene, as far as I am concerned, featured Steve's last conversation with a very elderly and dying Peggy Carter. That moment between the two former lovers seemed so sad that I found myself crying a little. How this particular scene managed to evade the memories of those who claimed that the movie was basically an action fest baffles me.
Was there anything about "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" that baffled me or turned me off? I found it hard to believe that Fury actually accepted Steve's rather ludicrous suggestion regarding the future of S.H.I.E.L.D. Why he did not laugh in the super soldier's face or told the latter that suggestion was dangerously naive is beyond me. Why did the movie make such a big deal about HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., when certain characters made it pretty obvious that it had infiltrated other government agencies . . . all over the world? And considering that Steve's personality was not suited for espionage, I am still wondering why Marvel - both in the comics and in the movies - would have him join S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place. And what happened to World Council Member Hawley in the movie's climax? The movie never explained.
I certainly had no problems with the performances featured in the movie. Once again, Chris Evans proved that he could be a first-rate dramatic actor in his portrayal of Steve Rogers. Although he injected a little more humor into his character - especially in the movie's first half hour - he did an excellent job of expressing Steve's continuing discomfort of being a man in the wrong time period, his penchant for making friends with people who are not Tony Stark, and his priggish nature. I should have known that since Evans, who can be a first-rate comedic actor, should also prove to be excellent in drama. He certainly proved it in his scene with Hayley Atwell, who reprise her role as former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Peggy Carter. And she was marvelous as the aging Peggy, who wavered between joy at being with Steve again, sadness that they are now far apart age wise, and suffering from Alzheimer's disease. But Evans' leading lady in this film proved to be Scarlett Johansson, who reprised her role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow. And as usual, she was fantastic. I do not know whether she did all of her stunts, but she certain looked good. And . . . as usual, Johansson did a great job in conveying the agent's ambiguous nature - especially in the film's first half hour. I was especially impressed by her chemistry with Evans in this film. Mind you, they did a good job of projecting a newly developed friendship in"THE AVENGERS". But in this film, there seemed to be an extra sexual charge between the two characters.
So far, Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in at least six Marvel films. Of the six, he has somewhat sizeable role in "IRON MAN 2", and major roles in both "THE AVENGERS" and "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER". He did such a marvelous job as the manipulative Fury in "THE AVENGERS" that I did not think he could repeat himself in portraying that aspect of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director's character. I was wrong. He not only did a great job in portraying Fury as manipulative as ever, but at the same time, conveyed Fury's own anger at being a victim of his mentor's betrayal. Speaking of which, a part of me still cannot imagine Robert Redford in a comic book movie. And I cannot help but wonder if he felt the same. I wonder who approached him - the people at Marvel or his agent? Nevertheless, I am glad he accepted the role of World Security Council Alexander Pierce. This is the first time I have seen Redford portray a genuine villain and he was great. His Pierce was intelligent, soft-spoken, friendly, manipulative as Fury, and cold-blooded. It is a pity that he did not portray similar roles in the past.
Anthony Mackie joined the cast as Steve's new friend, Army veteran Sam Wilson aka the Falcon. And like the rest of the cast, he gave a great performance. Mackie injected a good of down-to-earth sensibility to the story, along with some much-needed humor - especially in scenes in which Sam expressed annoyance at the machismo of both Steve and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Brock Rumlow. I was especially impressed in one scene in which Mackie's Sam recalled his time in Afghanistan and the death of a fellow Army comrade. Sebastian Stan reprised his role as James "Buchanan" Barnes, Steve's old childhood friend. Only his Bucky Barnes in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" is, like Steve, a man out of time. More importantly, he is a brainwashed amnesiac and super assassin known as the Winter Soldier. I have to give kudos to Stan for skillful portrayal this seemingly cold-blooded assassin, who seemed torn between his role as a HYDRA killer and a confused man haunted by memories of his friendship with Steve.
The movie also featured some solid supporting performances from Cobie Smulders, who portrayed Fury's no-nonsense second-in-command Maria Hill; Maximiliano Hernández as Agent Jasper Sitwell; Frank Grillo, who portrayed the cocky Brock Rumlow; Gary Shandling as Senator Stern, and the members of the World Security Council - Alan Dale, Chin Han, Bernard White and Jenny Agutter. By the way, many fans will be amazed to see Jenny Agutter kick butt in one particular scene. And for fans of "LOST", you might be able to spot Adetokumboh M'Cormack, who portrayed Mr. Eko's brother in the series, as one of the mercenaries who took control of the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship early in the movie.
There may have been a few things that left me feeling a bit uneasy in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER". But if I must be brutally honest, I think it is one of the best Marvel and comic book films I have ever seen . . . period. And one has to thank Kevin Fiege's excellent control of the Marvel films that centered on the Avengers Initiative, the marvelous screenplay scripted by Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, Anthony and Joseph Russo's superb direction and an excellent cast led by Chris Evans. Not only is this a superb film, but it managed to shake up the Marvel Movie Universe considerably.
