Captain America: The Winter Soldier

As a fan of the Marvel comics, Marvel Studio's Cinematic Universe and film in general, I was looking forward to Steve Roger's next adventure unfold on film following Chris Evan's great performances as Captain America in 'Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger' and 'Marvel's The Avengers'. To say that 'Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier' met my expectations is an understatement. This film is GREAT for fans of comic books, comic book movies, action adventure films, suspense thrillers and fantasy films with a sense of humor.The strength of Marvel Studios is that each film features a very unique character in a very specific genre who happen to inhabit a very distinctive universe and they've managed to pull off a magnificent sense of cohesion without tripping over their own cape.The film, handled very confidently by the Russo Brothers, is a love letter to the labyrinthine political thrillers of the 1970's while still managing to be a thoroughly modern big budget superhero blockbuster that in many ways surpasses the previous films in this series, including 'Marvel's The Avengers'. Robert Redford, star of 1976's 'All The President's Men', even pops up to lend credibility to the tone and genre this film is paying homage to.Two years have passed since Steve Rogers was thawed out from 70 years of ice and assembled the Avengers on Park Ave and 42nd Steet to successfully defend New York from an alien invasion. The Avengers have gone their separate ways and Steve Rogers, now working for S.H.I.E.L.D., struggles to figure out what to do with himself and where he fits in. Times have changed and is Steve Roger's moral compass, his values and ideals, as outdated as he feels at times in this new world?The film, for all the insanely orchestrated set pieces and explosions, still takes the time to explore the daily life of a thoughtful man strong enough to have saved the world in WW2 and still humble enough to not want a shred of recognition without throwing a wrench in the pacing. Steve tries his best to move forward in life but stills finds himself thinking back to what he lost and left behind in the 1940's. Visits to Smithsonian exhibits about his legendary battles against Hydra, the Nazi rogue science division, in WW2, are his chance to reminisce about old friends, brothers in arms and a first love, in one of several callbacks to 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' that fans of that film will find fun and heartbreaking in equal measures.The repercussions of the earth-shattering events of 'Marvel's The Avengers' are truly felt in this film and the global sense of paranoia and constant fear of attack is felt as the World Security Council debates the benefits of having the ability to take out threats before they happen. Loyal a (super) soldier as ever, Captain Steve Rogers has no issue taking orders from his superior officer Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), but has the wits, confidence in his beliefs and trust in his intuition to speak up when something doesn't feel right, reminding Fury that in the 1940's, punishment came AFTER the crime, a sly commentary in the real world's current War on Terror and the use of drones to execute targets remotely.Rogers senses that something is amiss and to reveal any more would be a disservice to the tightly paced, intricately woven script (written by Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely) that brings Captain America out of WW2 and firmly into the present in a film that feels more of Marvel's take on 'The Bourne Supremacy' than Marvel's take on 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.If you haven't seen any previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films, you won't be lost, but it GREATLY dimishes the impact of certain events in a film that is sure to DRASTICALLY affect the plot of Marvel films to follow.If you're a fan of superhero films or summer blockbusters, you'll love the explosive action, thrilling hand to hand combat, exciting supporting cast (including fellow Avengers) and if you're NOT a fan of these types of films, you'll love the fantastic acting, truly surprising plot twists, subtle social and political commentary and the attention given to Steve Rogers, the man and not Captain America, the superhero.Marvel Studios knocked this one out of the park, and Chris Evans carries the film as effortlessly as Steve Rogers carries his trusty shield. The acting is solid, the action is gritty and rough, and the plot rewards multiple viewings.Not just a solid action film, but a genuinely great film overall, I can go on and on about 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' so I'll stop and wrap things up by reminding you to, as always with Marvel Studios, STAY AFTER THE CREDITS ;)

I enjoyed this film in it's entirety. Besides being a wonderful movie on it's own, this is the first modern superhero flick where I can look at the main character and say "This IS Captain America", no other film has given me that feeling so completely. While Robert Downey looks and acts A LOT like Tony Stark, and Henry Cavil seems like the perfect actor to play Superman, the material they have been given to work with hasn't always been quite spot on to stay true to the characters they're playing, but I feel like this version of Cap could have stepped right out of the pages of a comic, they captured his character wonderfully.While some of the other second phase Marvel movies have been mediocre as films, I feel as if they have been putting more effort into capturing the basics of the Marvel Heros and bringing them to the screen, but no other film has done it so well. I may sound a bit redundant, but to me this key to a good superhero movie. I don't look to nitpick on random facts and minutiae, but I do always want to see a movie where they at least attempt to portray the basics of what makes the character who they are, rather than just putting out a film with a superhero's name in the title and a completely unrecognizable character making there way through the film.Iron Man 3 did a fairly good job of this, giving us a more well rounded and recognizable Tony Stark than we have seen before on the big screen, but they fell short on a few points, and the film seemed a bit lacking at times. Thor 2, while a decent film, didn't show me much in the way of character development, and while there were moments where I felt they captured Thor as a character well, I feel like they missed more often than not. I hate to sound like I'm nitpicking, but I can't really see Thor as a character NOT being a God, and in the films, they have gone out of there way to point out that the Asgardians are not Gods, it just annoys me a bit, and it makes the actions of the characters seem even less believable than if they were divine. In the comics, Odin can get away with being a massive dick BECAUSE he's the All Father, because he sees almost everything, and you can believe that he's acting and making choices on a wider scope than other characters, but in the films, lacking divinity, he just comes across as a bit of a tyrant, a wise tyrant, but a tyrant all the same. Hell, in the comics even Tony Stark, the man of science who believes everything is explainable, is convinced that the Asgardians are deities. The Winter Soldier though feels as if it could have come straight from the pages of any stand alone Cap story.Chris Evans does a wonderful job as Captain America, he really fits into the role, and it shows throughout the film. He looks like Cap, and he does a great job of making the character believable. The fight sequences were fantastic, super well choreographed, very technical, and the way they were filmed made you really FEEL every blow. I enjoyed Bucky aka the Winter Soldier, I think the actor cast to play him did a good job, but I feel like the character was a bit underused and could have been developed more, I'm hoping that will happen in future films though. Scarlet Johansson continues to succeed as Black Widow, I was surprised with how large her role was in this film, and she handled it really well, bringing more depth to the character than we have seen before. She did a great job humanizing and fleshing out Natasha in The Avengers, and now has taken the character even farther in The Winter Soldier.Marvel has done a great job of bringing these characters to the big screen and giving us stories that have a comic book feel. As a fan of the source materiel, I'm constantly amazed that we have been able to see all of this play out in films, it's like a dream come true, and I hope that this continues for a long time.