Review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) by Nightreviews — 03 Apr 2014

The future sure has been quite a time for Captain America (Chris Evans). His first encounter with the modern world saw him running through Times Square, confused and scared. Next, he assembled with some other Superheroes to save the world from the disgruntled brother of a fellow Avenger. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Cap faces off against an internal threat and an organization that is just as powerful as S.H.I.E.L.D, as well as a familiar face and new adversary from his past. Life is rough for Cap. On top of everything, he is still trying to find a way to successfully assimilate himself into present day society. You think saving the world is hard? Try figuring out the internet, getting back on the dating scene, and making new friends at the age of ninety-five. Thankfully, there are only a few things Cap needs to get through the day; his trusty vibranium shield and his handy notepad with a slew of suggestions for catching up with the last seventy years, and Cap is ready to take on the world–or corrupt government organizations. Either or, Cap is always ready to save the day, even if he has to take a beating while doing it.

When I first became aware that the directing/producing brothers behind episodes of ’Community’ and You, Me and Dupree were going to be responsible for extending the Captain America canon, I may have gotten a little worried. Thinking that Joe and Anthony Russo were going to follow in the same footsteps as Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnson, focusing more on the comedy and special effects of the Superhero genre and less with the complex, unflinching patriotic mentality of America’s greatest super soldier, the Russo brothers sure proved me wrong. It’s movies like these that make happy to swallow my words and stand corrected, knowing that audience members are able trust that the television medium is one that can be used as an adequate platform towards advancing characters in film as well.

Substituting as much VFX work as possible for a very organic and old-school action approach, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is certainly the best Phase Two Marvel film so far, and may perhaps be the standard film to compete against in a post-Avengers film world, or at least up until the Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Always on a mission, it seems that Cap lives to work, not works to live. Especially since he has been in deep sleep for the last little while. While the United States government is surely getting the most out of their ridiculously expensive investment, the government trusts that their super solider is never compromised and his dedication and hard work to his country is never skewed. When a secret organization with similar interests to those of S.H.I.E.L.D threaten to kill twenty million people, Cap is sent to fight at sea, on land, and in the air. Accompanied by his trusty sidekick Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), the two seem to always be pitted within the same missions but always having ulterior motives. Commanded by their one-eyed superior Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), S.H.I.E.L.D must face off against their most ruthless enemy yet.

One of the biggest issues I will continue to have with Marvel’s stand-alone films from now on, is the fact that once conflict reaches a certain level of danger, like lets say a global level, I will always ask, “Where the heck are the Avengers? And if not the Avengers, where is Tony Stark? The Hulk? Someone? Anyone?” No problem could be too big for the super-powered team of freedom fighting Superheroes. This is one film where I questioned the presence of Tony Stark? Was he just waiting to see what Cap would do on the other side of the country while he sat at home on his couch?

Essentially, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a team effort in crime fighting, with Black Widow and Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) helping out are star-spangled Superhero this time around, Cap sure doesn’t seem to be without powerful friends. What was also refreshing was finally seeing Nick Fury get in on the action, providing the film with one of the best car chase scene Marvel ever assembled. One of the virtues of Captain America: The Winter Soldier stands by is the fact that, you don’t need to wear a mask to be a Superhero–which might explain why Cap always insists on removing his.

At times, the film may seem like Marvel’s take on Minority Report anticipating danger before it even happens, and upholding the idea of ‘peace’ for the sake of the world. But as the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D operations ironically points out, “peace is not an achievement, its a responsibility”. So when S.H.I.E.L.D is corrupted from the inside, right under their noses and Cap is left to face-off against a super-soldier baddie, later known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), the organization really has some explaining to do.