BOTTOM LINE:
Captain America trades up from the WWII genre to a 1970s-style conspiracy thriller, and the result is among the finest films yet accomplished by Marvel Studios, with Black Widow serving as a great co-lead with Captain America and Winter Soldier as a memorable villain..
THE REVIEW – MINIMAL SPOILERS
When Screen Junkies’ Honest Trailers series took on The Avengers 2 years ago, they described Captain America as “no one’s favorite character, but he just kind of has to be there.” At the time, that felt true to me. Captain America is the byproduct of a bygone era, punching out Hitler on the cover of his first ever comic book in 1940 a full year before we actually entered the war. He was exactly the type of character war-time audiences could embrace considering that his costume practically makes him a walking version of the American flag. Resurrected by Marvel in 1964 as a kind of unfrozen superhero, Cap would become a man out of time fighting for truth and justice in a world playing by a different set of rules. It’s rather telling that by 2008 Marvel thought the ideals preached by Captain America were so out of whack with the new world order that they killed him off. Sure, it was all just publicity, and he was back pretty quickly, but their point about questioning whether there was a place in the world for a Captain America wasn’t wrong.
Personally, I have no real history with the character. Not having become an actual comic book reader until recently, my first Captain America was the one played by Matt Sallinger in the notoriously atrocious 1990 film.
That left me immune to any interest in the character ever again. So, I actually skipped Captain America: The First Avenger when it was in theaters in 2011, catching it much later via rental. Sure, it was apparently better than expected, but what the heck did I care about Captain America at a time when America’s reputation outside its own borders was so low that Marvel had to advertise the film as simply The First Avenger in certain countries? We preferred our super heroes dark and brooding, not red, white, and blue and jingoistic.
However, director Joe Johnston proved me wrong, delivering exactly the type of old-fashioned, WWII movie Captain America needed, and there was something charming about First Avenger’s unabashed idealism landing smack dab in the age of cynicism. Sure, the film is a bit too heavy on montages, and the CGI for the pre-super soldier serum Steve Rogers doesn’t completely work. Plus, their last act is a tad lackluster. However, holding it altogether is Chris Evans’ admirably restrained lead performance alongside the perfectly spunky Haley Atwell as his love interest. It is a testament to their performances and the writing that Rogers’ closing descent into the ocean as he says his anguished but adorably resilient goodbyes to Peggy comes off as so utterly heartbreaking:
Now, Evans is back in Winter Soldier, after his detour getting to play some man-out-of-time beats as well as bicker with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in Avengers. Returning screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have pulled Evans’ Steve Rogers out of the WWII just with comic book Nazis terrain of First Avenger and into political/conspiracy thriller just with way more first fights in Winter Soldier. Gone is director Joe Johnston’s signature sepia tones replaced with a Paul Greengrass-like approach from new directors Joe and Anthony Russo (mostly known for their work directing Arrested Development and Community episodes). That means the nostalgic charm of First Avenger is most definitely gone, replaced by visceral action, and Captain America with his back up against the wall.
Or his back up against the wall of an elevator full of goons
Of course, Winter Soldier is more of a sequel to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, drawing upon our now collectively long histories with these characters and institutions, going back to the first mention of SHIELD in the first Iron Man. It also directly continues the events of The Avengers, picking up character arcs for Steve Rogers, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, and Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow that Joss Whedon started in Avengers. Heck, that council of world leaders Fury had to answer to in The Avengers is even back, receiving a much cooler visual representation this time around. So, early on when Rogers objects to a new Minority Report-esque but with lasers plan of SHIELD’s and an annoyed Fury insists, “It’s about past time you get with the program,” we know this is calling back to the seeds of distrust in SHIELD Tony Stark helped plant in Rogers in The Avengers.
The first third or so of Winter Soldier is mostly devoted to reminding us of these types of things while performing some expositional heavy lifting, such as establishing SHIELD’s plans to launch 3 hellicarriers to proactively snuff out of crime from the skies. We meet new characters like Robert Redford’s avuncular Alexander Pearce, and Anthonie Mackie’s charming Sam Wilson/Falcon, a clear Bucky Barnes surrogate for Rogers. We see Steve Rogers visit an elderly Peggy Carter, whom the Russos seem intent to shoot only in close-up as if to say, “That’s gorgeous Hayley Atwell under that make-up, but she totally looks like a 90-something old woman! Suck it, Prometheus!”
Bad old man make-up, Prometheus
As tipped off in all the trailers, the dividing line in the plot comes when Nick Fury is attacked fellow SHIELD agents in a car chase in downtown DC (or somewhere near there). From that point forward, the film’s conspiracy thriller inspirations demand that it turn into a game of forging alliances while figuring out who you can and cannot trust (Rogers aligns with Black Widow and new best bud Falcon), going on the run while the bad guys attack, and then finally recouping long enough to take the fight right back to the villains.
While this provides the film its narrative structure and glue, the conspiracy thriller aspect of Winter Soldier has perhaps been somewhat overblown by those promoting it. Yes, there is a conspiracy, and Robert Redford’s presence and performance very clearly means to conjure memories of Three Days of the Condor. Plus, the ultimate revelations shake not just Steve Rogers but the very foundation of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to its core. And, yes, the scenes of Rogers and Widow on the run together are beautifully realized and tense. However, Winter Soldier is an action movie before anything else, and it has maybe more of that to offer than you’d expect (and quite a bit of it taking place on city streets or highways for some reason). The Russos show their inexperience with this type of material,, cutting far more often than was necessary, and trying just a little too hard to ape the handheld conventions established by Paul Greengrass with his Bourne films. However, the action is still engaging, and brilliantly light on the CGI, favoring a Nolan-esque approach to using practical effects.
The actual conspiracy plot driving everything forward may not be the type to hold up to scrutiny upon repeat viewing (what the bad guys ultimately plan to do is some straight up comic book nonsense), but the actual story twists are masterfully delivered, and in one key instance based enough in real history as to carry an extra weight of immediacy. As the screenwriters explained elsewhere, “The world doesn’t change [Captain Ameirca] he changes the world. His A plot was ‘Do I belong here, is there a place in the world for me?’ He doesn’t doubt himself, he doubts where he’s woken up. To marry that character story with a political story that demands it – that’s where the conspiracy thriller comes in, making him not sure who to trust.”
The man changing the world, Steve Rogers, is again played to vanilla-flavored perfection by Chris Evans, who’s added a slight flair for self-deprecation to the character in this installment. For all of the hours of hard work he undoubtedly put into his action scenes, Evans’ highlight of the entire film likely comes in the form of an impromptu impassioned speech he delivers over a PA system, which is so heartfelt without feeling cloying or corny. Serving almost as co-lead is Scarlet Johannon’s Black Widow, easily granted her most interesting character treatment to date. She and Evans share an easy-going, flirtatious chemistry, with her amorality and his rigid morality complementing each other beautifully. Similar to Thor with his pomposity, Captain America needs someone around to help serve as a check on his idealism, and whereas Thor always has Loki now Cap has Black Widow, who is a far funnier presence in Winter Soldier than ever before.
Black Widow will return in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it’s not clear if she’ll be in Captain America 3 (maybe off to do her own movie)
Also stealing laughs is Mackie’s Falcon, whose back story parallels Rogers’ own. Mackie manages to make a man who can somehow fly via jet-propelled booster pack and wings look insanely cool while also usually getting the best lines.
Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier is difficult to discuss since his character’s identity is one big spoiler, but also because he is clearly to Winter Soldier what the Mandarin was to Iron Man 3: the comic book villain Marvel pushed in its advertising to distract us from who the real villain turns out to be in the actual film. As such, the Winter Soldier is a physically formidable presence, so confident of his prowess he adopts a slasher villain-like slow approach toward his prey, but he ultimately ends the film with his story just having truly begun.
Emily Van Kamp is around even less as Agent 13, a potential love interest for a future film being strong here but barely present. The real standout in the supporting cast is Robert Redford. The sheer weight of our cinematic memory attached to and respect for Redford instantly elevates everything around him.
The Russo brothers’ debut as action film directors is not a flawless one, and in my experience it actually took one full action scene before I adjusted to their rapid method of editing and unexpected occasional low angles, such as a shot of the road from the point of view of the front tire during a car chase. Once I adjusted, I never had any additional issue, although their method of panning from left to right during several dramatic scenes was initially jarring.
Henry Jackman (Captain Phillips, GI Joe: Retaliation) replaces Alan Silvestri as composer, but whereas Silvestri provided a very lush and period-perfect orchestral score Jackman is far more utilitarian.
There’s nothing as hummable as this in Winter Soldier:
Clearly, they got Silvestri to do an old-fashioned score for an old-fashioned movie like First Avenger, and Jackman to do something completely modern, with minimal instrumentation. The result, though, is Jackman provided an incredibly bland score, whose only memorable element is a signature, almost claustrophobic character theme which accompanies the Winter Soldier ala the memorable theme which went along with all of The Joker’s appearances in The Dark Knight.
As per usual, there are 2 extra scenes after the conclusion of the film, a mid-credits sequence setting up Avengers: Age of Ultron, and a post-credits shot checking in on a significant character from Winter Soldier. The mid-credits bit, directed by Joss Whedon, is essential, though utterly confusing to the comic book illiterate. The post-credits bit was originally written to be the last scene of the movie, and just got shuffled as the coda after the credits. It’s not worth sticking around for.
ROTTEN TOMATOES CURRENT CONSENSUS
“Suspenseful and politically astute, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a superior entry in the Avengers canon and is sure to thrill Marvel diehards.”
THE TRAILER
What did you think? Like it? Hate it? Let us know in the comments section.
Second Opinions
- Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (livingthegeeklife.wordpress.com)
- Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (lovepirate77.wordpress.com)
