Have you seen C
aptain America: The Winter Soldier yet? Yes? Great! No? Then stop reading this right now and go see it. I'm not kidding. Go.
Since you are reading now, I'm assuming that you are back from the theater, giddy from all the superhero excellence. Congratulations, you've just seen the best superhero film at LEAST since
The Avengers. It may just be the best film in all the Marvel universe so far.
I think I'll go through the things that bugged me first, get them out of the way, then tell you why the movie rocks.
- Some of the humor was out of place. It fell flat because it just wasn't the right time for a joke.
- The overall plan of the bad guys was patently absurd. It involved guns, twisted evil morality, and math. The movie is better if you just pretend it makes sense.
- Can somebody PLEASE tell Hollywood to stop doing "shaky cam" when people are just sitting in a room and talking? Thanks, because that really bugs me.
- Once or twice the action got a tad bit too frantic, where it was tough to see what was going on at all.
- You mean that after the beating that dude took, and the fact that he was TRAPPED ON A BOAT, he still got away from Captain America?
- The thought process that seems to go like this: "Hmm, I'm facing insurmountable odds, and thousands if not millions of people will die if I fail. Should I call Iron Man, Hulk, and Hawkeye to help out? I mean, they do have a vested interest in defeating the bad guys too. Nah, I got this on my own." Iron Man 3 had this same issue; the only practical reason why the other Avengers were not helping was that this was Captain America 2, not The Avengers 2.
- Why did they have the compulsive need to tell me the latitude and longitude of every location? Does anyone else think that's just weird?
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| I know it's just concept art, but look at all the awesome! Look at it! |
Except for the absurd bad guy plan, these are rather small potato complaints. That's because this movie is about as great as a fan of Captain America is ever going to get. The action is intense and fun, showcasing the abilities of both Cap and the titular Winter Soldier -who just happens to be the best Marvel villain since Loki.
The action sequences are stunning. Especially after a certain point in the movie nothing feels "safe," and the action really feels dangerous. The car chases and wrecks and explosions all have a marvelous "real" feeling to them, something often lacking in our current world of CGI.
The supporting cast have a lot to do. Black Widow feels as deadly as always, Nick Fury gets a chance to show he also can cause serious damage, and Falcon gets to be thrilling and new. The titular Winter Soldier gets some great opportunities to demonstrate just how dangerous and deadly he is, and he left me wanting to see far more.
That's all fun stuff, but it's Cap that truly shines. I never did get that "wow, that's Captain America!" feeling from
The First Avenger. The Avengers helped Cap come into his own, so that was better for his character. But in this movie the Cap finally gets that "wow, that's Captain America!" feeling right. This is a guy who takes charge, who is not out of his league in any situation, who has an unfaltering moral compass, and who absolutely shows us why he deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's greatest superheros.
Ok, so the writing won't win any oscars, and the direction was good enough not to be noticed. Certain aspects of the plot were as predictable as clockwork. The acting was merely passable, though nobody expects more. The plot and storytelling are great, though as I mentioned the bad guy's plan is kinda over the top. And by the end everything didn't quite tie off as satisfyingly as I would have liked. But you know, all in all the complaints are small and lost in all the awesome.
This was a highly entertaining film, setting a new bar for greatness in superhero films. If Marvel keeps improving at this rate I can't wait to see what they have in store for
The Avengers 2.
Entertainment: 10/10
Artistic Value: 4/10
Technical Merit: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
