by Brian Wezowicz
I have to admit that I have been excited for this movie since before the first Captain America film came out. I am a big fan of Ed Brubaker's run of Captain America comics, which included a subplot involving the Winter Soldier... a nefarious Soviet super soldier with ties to Steve Rogers (Cap's real name). Brubaker brought a sense of grit and realism to Marvel's most vanilla superhero. So you can imagine the nerdgasm I had when the title to the sequel to the unexpectedly satisfying first entry in the Steve Rodgers saga included "The Winter Soldier."
This movie did not fail to meet my already heightened expectations. It is perhaps the most original, most unique chapter in Phase 2 (Post-Avengers) of Marvel's cinematic universe. Admittedly, Captain America is a tough sell (they had to add The First Avenger in order to distribute the first film internationally). How do you create a film that, on the surface, is so uber-patriotic in a world where the USA doesn't have many fans? I thought the first film excelled because it took us back to a simpler time. A time where everything was seemingly black and white, and we knew our enemies. Post World War II, there was a clear sense of good and evil with each corner of the globe fitting neatly into this dichotomy. This film, which like Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, picks up after the events of The Avengers. Captain America has gone back to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., and we meet him as he's getting ready to embark on yet another tedious rescue mission in a series of endless rescue missions. You can see doubt start to creep into his mind. He doesn't just blindly follow orders. But this film differs from the first in that the line between good and evil has blurred in the 70+ years since Cap was frozen in ice, and you can see that represented in Cap's actions.
One of the major questions of this movie (and with the Captain America character overall) is how can a pure soul with unscrupulous morals exist in modern society with all of its flaws and corruption? Well, he struggles to say the least. He doesn't have any friends (he jokes that all the members of his barbershop quartet are dead), and he doesn't really know what to do with himself outside of his hero duties. Black Widow (played by Scarlet Johansen, reprising her role) tries to get him to go out on dates when she's not helping him kick serious ass. Cap keeps a list of all the things he's missed in the last 7+ decades (Star Wars, Steve Jobs, etc.) and hopes to get to if he ever has any free time. You get the sense that he is married to his job, because that's the only thing that seems normal to him.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has changed since the events in The Avengers. Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson, with his most screen time to date... which is a great thing) has to deal with a new power structure. He must report to the Secretary in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alexander Pierce (played by Robert Redford, in a rare blockbuster appearance). Fury senses that the agency has been compromised. Before you you know it, he's attacked by the villainous Winter Soldier (in a thrilling car chase scene)... a foreign trained super assassin. Fury narrowly escapes and confides his beliefs in the only man he can trust, Captain America. Shortly after this, Cap is on the run and viewed as a traitor. He must piece all of the clues together to get to the bottom of this before it's too late. You see, S.H.I.E.L.D. has now become the largest weapons manufacturer in the world. They are creating weapons that will strike the enemy before the enemy can strike first. There are a lot of parallels to today's world and America's role as the world's police force. Captain America, along with his cohorts The Black Widow and The Falcon (played with charm by Anothony Mackey) is in a race against time before these weapons can be deployed in a preemptive strike.
What follows is a tense, fast paced political action thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Yeah, it stretched in parts, and the handheld camera work was a little too frenetic, but for my money this was a top notch thriller. It gives the original Iron Man movie a run for its money as the best in the Marvel cinematic universe.
I am giving this movie three and a half out of four stars. I had to dock it for its overuse of handheld cameras and for a few other minor infractions (like, why doesn't he have The Avengers on speed dial? I know it's a solo movie, but seems like a glaring fault of all these solo movies). My complaints are really minimal. I really enjoy how it contributes to the Marvel universe while also standing as its own film. Chris Evans gives the right amount of humor and confidence needed to play a modern Captain America. He's really grown on me. I groaned when he first was cast as Captain America, but he really embodies the fish out of water nature of the character without making him too cheesy.
Stay through the credits for two extra scenes. I won't spoil it, but they help set up next summer's superhero spectacular, The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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