By Hedge
Director: Anthony & Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders
(Review contains minor spoilers for the films opening, but none after that)
Following the events of The Avengers, roughly a year having passed since the Chitauri invasion of New York, Captain America – The Winter Soldier leaves behind the WW2 drama of the first Cap film and instead harkens back to the action spy thrillers of the 1970s. Steve Rogers, Captain America himself (Chris Evans) is living in DC and spends his time doing black ops for SHIELD. Teamed with Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and his own STRIKE team, they go about the world doing the jobs nobody wants to admit to.
“Cleaning up Fury’s messes” as it were.
It’s on one of these dark missions that the film begins. Cap, having befriended war vet Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is whisked away by Natasha to a ship in dire need of assistance. I’ll end the plot discussion here as it’s virtually impossible to say anything about the specific events of the film without spoiling the truly earth shattering twists and turns this movie presents. It’s something that needs to be experienced first hand, as the journey is filled with fast-paced action, brilliant dialog and frequent nods to the comic source material.
Returning from previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Evans, Johansson, Smulders, Stan, and Jackson are joined by newcomers Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford.
Mackie joins the team as Sam Wilson, the Falcon, a military veteran and “pilot” of an experimental wingsuit that offers more in the way of flare than it does practicality. In his role as Cap and Widow’s extra pair of hands, he replaces Hawkeye who does not appear in the movie at all. Instead Widow and Cap have become SHIELDs new go-team, and there is a genuine feeling to the relationship. They aren’t friends like Clint and Natasha but instead are colleagues trying to make the best of a work relationship; one hampered by the fact that one of the pair is a shady assassin with an even shadier past, and the other was born in 1918.
Redford is Alexander Pierce, a senior member of SHIELD and member of the World Security Council. Oddly, although Nick Fury is still SHIELDs Director, Pierce outranks him, appears on the WSC more frequently and has a bigger office. I wasn’t aware, personally that anybody outranked Fury within the walls of the Triskelion, but here he is in all his glory.
The bulk of the movie concerns a mythical killer for hire – The Winter Soldier – a sort of espionage boogeyman who has been referenced in military and intelligence community reports going back as far as the 1950s. Nobody has ever seen him and lived. Nobody knows his name. He’s considered a myth until he makes himself known to SHIELDs Director in what will surely go down as Marvel’s greatest car chase and one of the best in recent memory; both action packed and hilariously scripted.
It’s this marriage between snappy writing and well-paced action that gives CATWS its true strengths. Evans is masterful in his performance of Captain America, with the fight choreography done expertly well in a seamless blend of real world stunts and CGI. Widow gets a lot more screen time in this film, sharing the spotlight with Evans almost 1:1 and no longer being relegated to the second tier as she was in The Avengers (behind the heavyweights like Thor and Iron Man). Johansson is superb, kicking more ass than ever before. She’s charming as Natasha and deadly as Black Widow and she made me long for a solo film even more than previously.
Newcomer Mackie gets the second tier spot this time round, but still feels like a well fleshed out member of the world. His action scenes as Falcon are exhilarating to say the least. He joins up with new friend Cap without question, showing dedication throughout the movie.
The Winter Soldier though, is one of the greatest additions to the MCU in years. His personal arc, woven through the film with deft expertise, feels like the culmination of a great deal of care and effort. Even those of us who enter the film knowing The Winter Soldier’s identity will not be disappointed by both the lead up to that reveal, and where the story takes us from there on in.
The movie though is full of twists and turns and the events of the film will have far reaching consequences for all future Marvel Cinematic Universe entrants. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has already informed their audience that the next episode following CATWS’ release will deal with the fallout of the film’s finale, but so too will Avengers: Age of Ultron, the next Earth-based MCU film. While Guardians of the Galaxy is next on our screens, Age of Ultron will be where the effects of CATWS are truly felt, and personally I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds.
The action is stellar, the writing is snappy and the cast are all far above the benchmark set by earlier Marvel films. There’s some nice shout outs to the wider Marvel Universe, including mentions of Steven Strange and appearances by Arnim Zola and Crossbones. Pay attention too for a cameo by creator of The Winter Soldier, Ed Brubaker.
Overall CATWS is probably Marvel’s best yet. It’s smart and funny and full of action, and by having such wide implications for the future of the MCU it really sets itself apart from the standard sequel. This is another entry in the long game Marvel are playing; a single, multifaceted story that began with Iron Man all those years ago.
Make sure you stay til the very end of the credits as there are two excellent and important scenes – one mid-way and directed by Joss Whedon and one at the very end of the credits, which finishes the movie’s narrative arc perfectly. For some reason I still see people leaving the cinema before the credits are done.
Verdict: 10/10
Seriously, who leaves a Marvel film before the credits finish rolling? There’s always more.