Before trailers hit for the Super Soldier's second solo film, I was excited and hesitant at the same time. On one hand, it included the Winter Soldier, which is self-explanatory. On the other hand, it was being directed by the Russo brothers, who made "You, Me, and Dupree." I thought "Marvel's trusting these comedy guys with a serious film?" Then I started to see some footage, and it was getting me hyped. However, I was worried that this sequel may have been along the lines of the second Iron Man and Thor films, but I knew that unlike those films, Cap's sequel had more going for it: 1) It was building off something that was expected from the first film with Bucky. 2) SHIELD being involved would mean some major shit was gonna go down. And 3) It would lead into Avengers 2. Jump to a few weeks before the film hit the US and it was getting outstanding reviews saying it was even better than Avengers. Now after seeing it myself, I can safely say that in my opinion, that claim is true.
I really can't think of anything negative to say about the film. The Russo brothers pretty much nailed every aspect you'd expect from a film like this, it's no wonder they were asked back to direct the third Captain America film and that Marvel would set a release date for it before the second was even released. At the moment though, it shares the same release date for the Batman/Superman movie. I'm just saying, one of them is going to have to move, and I say Batman/Superman should, because not only did Marvel have the spot first but DC appears to need all the time they could get. Compare the reviews for "Man of Steel" and "Winter Soldier", and you would see that not everyone has been won over by our new big blue boy scout...the one with a cape that is.
Let me start with the characters and their interactions, and I think the film brought out the strongest performances in everyone compared to their past MCU appearances. Chris Evans was able to prove again that he makes an amazing Steve Rogers that can inspire hope and leadership in everyone, and I loved his partnerships with Falcon and Widow, not to mention an emotional meeting with an elderly Peggy Carter. One of the best parts in my opinion were when Steve and Natasha were undercover in the mall and acting kind of like a hipster couple, wearing glasses, hoodies and the like. It's needless to say that Samuel L. Jackson nails it once again as Nick Fury, plus he gets a little more action this time around, even though his death scene didn't really fool me. Come on, it's Nick Fury; the guy can't be killed that easily.
In some interviews, Sebastian Stan said he used Heath Ledger's Joker as inspiration for when he was the Winter Soldier. I didn't really see Joker in his performance, but Stan definitely performed well as the a ruthless brainwashed unstoppable killing machine. He didn't really say much, but he didn't need to. I only wish Marvel didn't spoil that he was Bucky in some previews and interviews. I mean, yeah you could look it up on Wikipedia, but some people do like to go in blind. This isn't the last we've seen of Bucky though, as it's been revealed Stan has a 9 picture deal with Marvel, which means he has 7 left. This means we'll see more development for him in the future, and once Chris Evans finishes his contract with Avengers 3, it's quite possible we'll see Bucky take over the mantle of his friend.
While Winter Soldier was in the film's title, he wasn't technically the main villain. No, that role went to Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, Fury's superior at SHIELD. I'll be honest, I, and a lot of people for that matter, thought he would turn out to be Red Skull. It wouldn't be hard to think that considering they had similar goals. Skull or not, Pierce definitely played his role well.
Cobie Smulders returns to play Maria Hill, Fury's "sidekick." Like in Avengers though, she doesn't get too much character insight, but she does get some good moments in the film's climax.
Now on to the action, and there was a lot of it. While the last Iron Man and Thor films had some spectacular special effects with battles involving high-tech armors and magical artifacts, Captain America kept things more down to Earth and realistic, featuring more hand-to-hand combat, gun fights, and car chases. One could argue that Iron Man is like Batman because of the gadgets, but Captain America could definitely give Bats a run for his enormous amount of money in a straight up fight. The choreography of the fights and chases in this film were great to watch and will definitely make you cringe at some moments; I think that's what lets you know how good a film is when you actually worry what will happen to the characters.
While I knew the film would feature some uprisings and infiltrators in SHIELD, there was one thing that I didn't expect: Arnim Zola's reappearance via a computer program and HYDRA's very slow and calculating rise in SHIELD to reach their goals. Hell, it was their ultimate plan that made me believe Pierce would have been Red Skull. Plus in an "Oh shit" moment for me, it's implied that Winter Soldier was responsible for Howard Stark's death. If Tony and Bucky ever have a scene together, that could be interesting if they decide to bring it up. Although there probably wouldn't really be any evidence of Bucky's involvement in Howard's death, and Bucky wouldn't even remember doing it unless he saw some. Still, there's some potential here.
I think what really makes this film so revered is that it is definitely contemporary with society's issues at the moment, particularly privacy. With all the news of the NSA, phone taps, and drones, it really isn't hard to see the Russos play off those fears in the film and how Cap would reject to them. Plus, it shows what would happen if someone got hold of that kind of power. People want to feel safe, but some attempts to ensure safety could actually lead to a lack of safety.
As with all Marvel films, "The Winter Soldier" gives us a tease of what's to come. There were two things that really stood out to me:
- Remember the scepter Loki used in "Avengers"? Well it turns out SHIELD kept it, and now HYDRA has it. The one thing that really stood out to me about the weapon was that the blue orb in the center. My idea since "Avengers" was that it would turn out to be an Infinity Stone, the Mind stone to be exact. I mean, there had to be a reason they focused in on it while everyone was arguing in that scene.
- We saw our first appearances of the Maximoff twins, Pietro and Wanda, better known by their codenames, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. While in the comics they are mutants and Magneto's children, due to Fox owning the X-Men film rights, Marvel cannot call them mutants or reference Magneto in their films. No, in the mid-credits scene, the twins are referred to as "Miracles." Now if Miracles are going to be the Mutants of the MCU, it makes me wonder if there will be more showing up in the future, and if that happens, will it lead to an X-Men like team since they can't use the real deal. While I didn't have the idea at first, it did hit me later on. Kids finding out they have abilities that are unexplainable and need to learn how to control them? Can anyone say Avengers Academy? Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
My now current ranking of MCU films:
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- The Avengers
- Iron Man 3
- Thor
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Iron Man
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man 2
- Thor: The Dark World
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