Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Producers: Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Stan Lee, et al.

Director: Antony Russo and Joe Russo

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, gunplay and action throughout

Runtime: 136 min

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comic

Captain America: The First Avenger was my least favorite movie of Phase 1 of Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe. I thought it missed with its tone, moved too slowly, and I felt like Captain America just wasn't much of a superhero. When the Russo brothers were announced as directors for the follow up I became even more skeptical. How could guys famous for Community (which I enjoy immensely) manage to pull off a successful sequel to a movie that I wasn't a fan of?

First, they picked up the pace. Part of this is being unburdened of the necessity to tell an origin story, Winter Soldier gets right to the action. The action sequences are leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor. The car chase is an adrenaline fueled joy ride, with bullets flying. The fight scenes are well choreographed and interesting, and Cap now feels super powered. He's powerful and fast, taking out henchmen just as effectively as his Avengers brethren and his shield is now not only protection but an amazing offensive weapon. Captain America now feels like he deserves the leadership role he's taken on.

The plot of the movie fits perfectly to what we know about Cap. Where our world today is filled with ambiguity and shades of gray, he sees right and wrong and stands up for what is morally right. In doing so he doesn't feel preachy, just doing what needs to be done, what every normal guy would do given his degree of power and skills. Robert Redford plays the best kind of villain, someone who's motivations we can understand, even if we don't agree with the means. He's doing what he feels like is best for the greater good, despite the horrible cost to get there. Black Widow plays a huge part in this movie and manages to be a great supporting character to Cap's quest, without falling into the tired cliche of damsel in distress. Falcon felt a little forced, with not quite enough time to develop him properly, hopefully he pops up again with a little more time to shine.

My one complaint is not necessarily of the movie itself, but the decision making process at Marvel. Please stop 'killing' your characters and bringing them back. I know it's a common occurrence in comics, but even in that medium it's a trend that has long since lost its emotional impact. Do you want to surprise me with a death? If so keep the character dead.

Conclusion: My favorite Marvel movie to date. Maybe it's not as full of popcorn movie moments as The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, but it is, in my mind, a more complete film. The truly amazing thing is that Marvel and the Russos took the franchise I was least interested in and turned it into something I can't wait to see more of.

Rating: 8.75/10