Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Director: The Russo Brothers

Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 136 minutes

I maintain a pretty controversial opinion that Iron Man 3 is the best film from Marvel Studio's Phase Two bunch of superhero films. It's an immensely underrated superhero film with some of the wittiest and tightest writing of any PG-13 superhero film to date. However, the dominant opinion points to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy as Phase Two's stand out features. Both films essentially represent the two sides of Marvel Studios: the dramatic and serious side (Cap) and the fun and adventurous side (Guardians). And while I enjoy a funny and adventurous film every now and then, I prefer a tonally serious and grounded action film like The Winter Soldier over a comedic romp through space. Therefore, I thought that I would give my two cents on this critically lauded blockbuster one year ahead of its sequel, the highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War.

Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger was a fun and innocent WWII flick that celebrated old adventure serials and pulpy storytelling. It was a predictable but enjoyable superhero film that didn't take any risks and succeeded at introducing Captain America to new audiences. The film is as basic and clear as they come, right down to its heroes and its villains. If Captain America is the hero, than the Red Skull is the villain. If the United States Army is good, than Hydra is bad. However, these clear as day villains and heroes are harder to spot in The Winter Soldier, a bleaker and politically charged sequel that brings Cap into the modern age.

Old friends become enemies.

Whereas The First Avenger was a pulpy WWII flick, The Winter Soldier is a full blown political thriller. It is a bold and mature sequel that takes elements from its predecessor and twists them into a story about trust, privacy, protection, friendship, and deception. From a purely thematic stand point, The Winter Soldier is richer than any Marvel film to date. The film also has a pretty solid palate of action, relying mostly upon practical action set pieces over the computer generated garbage that plagues modern day blockbusters. However, some awful camera work and a few poorly written and performed characters plague the film from the being the pitch perfect Marvel film that many die hard fan boys decry it to be. While I will never agree with the Marvel fan boys (and I am sort of one myself) that The Winter Soldier is the best Marvel film to date, I will admit that this could have been the best Marvel film to date if its technical merits and character work were greater.

We first meet Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in The Winter Soldier as he goes on a mission with S.H.I.E.L.D. to retrieve hostages and intel from rogue pirates. In an action scene straight out of Under Siege, Cap lays waste to an entire ship full of henchies, only to realize that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) lied to him about the mission's true intentions. After settling Rogers down, Fury reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. has developed a new array of helicarriers outfitted with large cannons that will be able to gun down any criminal on the planet from up in the air. While Steve believes that the helicarriers violate society's privacy, Fury argues that these helicarriers are the way of the future and necessary after the events of The Avengers.

Fury soon finds himself under attack by corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and police officers. When Cap arrives home later that day, he finds a bloody and beaten Fury who tells him that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised and that no one can be trusted. When Steve expresses his opinion on the matter with Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), the senior leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., he quickly finds himself to be public enemy number one in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s eyes. They believe that he is withholding information on Fury's assassination and want him taken down. However, the reality is that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been corrupted by former Hydra agents who infiltrated the organization in the 1950s. It is than up to Cap, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to take down the newly corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. and their deadly assassin, the Winter Soldier.

Scar Jo tries but fails.

Even though The Winter Soldier has a lot going on within its two hour run time, the film is thankfully focused and to the point. It's clear that the screenwriters and the Russo Brothers wanted to pay tribute to the political thrillers of the 1970s as much as possible. The Winter Soldier is very much in the vain of both Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men, two classic political thrillers that both happen to star Robert Redford. I must say that it was a masterstroke by Marvel to cast Robert Redford in the role of Alexander Pierce, the shadowy villain of the picture. The legendary Redford adds major acting cred to the film and helps round out the film's impressive cast.

The Winter Soldier is a fantastic story about political corruption and the old fashioned man, Steve, who stood his ground and fought against it. The sequel confronts themes of freedom versus fear and privacy versus protection in a story all too relevant to todays' society. Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. wishes to protect the citizens of Earth, it chooses to do so by creating large helicarriers that can snipe anyone in the world. However, these helicarriers can spy on anyone in the world, thereby eliminating the concept of privacy in order to ensure protection. While we don't have massive killer helicarriers in our skies, there is a problem concerning privacy and protection in relation to the NSA in our society. Therefore, The Winter Soldier rings true because its themes are relevant and its plot remotely realistic to today's day and age of government protection.

However, the Russo's were kind enough to also include a very powerful story about friendship amidst their gripping and dark political thriller. As fans know, Bucky, Steve's good friend, fell off a train and to his death during the events of The First Avenger. However, comic book geeks knew that Bucky's "demise" would only lead to his rebirth as the Winter Soldier, a cyborg-like assassin for hire who has done Hyrda's dirty work for decades. The Winter Soldier's inclusion in the sequel adds another layer of conflict to the film, that between Cap and his old brainwashed friend Bucky. Therefore, Steve must not only take down Hyrda, but also combat his old friend even though he loves him. It's a wonderful dynamic that adds further juiciness to the film's thematic meat and acts as a proper continuation of the events from The First Avenger.

Fury finally gets to kick ass after being wasted for several films.

Chris Evans is great as Steve Roger as usual. He carries all of boyish charms and good looks from the previous Marvel films into this sequel that forces his All American do-gooder character into his bleakest situation yet. The most refreshing performance in the film is actually Samuel L. Jackson's umpteenth turn as Nick Fury. While Fury has appeared in nearly every Marvel film to date, The Winter Soldier is the first film to finally make good use of his character beyond a walk on cameo. Fury gets an entire action sequence devoted to him and him alone to show off his bad ass chops and survivalist sensibilities. Every walk on cameo of Fury's since The Winter Soldier's release has done nothing but let me down after being exposed to the greatness of his character found here. Sebastian Stan and Robert Redford also do great work as the film's dual villains: one a confused and trouble killing machine and the other a shadowy and covert snake in the bushes. Other supporting highlights include Anthony Mackie as the lovable Falcon, Emily Van Camp as Cap's future love interest, George St. Pierre as a bad ass French kickboxer, and Frank Grillo as the future Crossbones.

Unfortunately, The Winter Soldier is nearly brought to a screeching halt by two of its female characters, Black Widow and Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). I am sorry people, but I think that Johansson and Smulders are two of the lamest and dullest actresses to put in such roles. The delivery of their "bad ass" lines is purely groan worthy and entirely stagey. Not a single line out of their mouths feels natural. I also can't stand the way that Black Widow takes time to be humorous during intense moments when Cap is nothing but flustered and frustrated. And Maria Hill might as well be the most useless character of them all. She adds nothing to the film and could have easily been excised from the picture altogether. 

I guess one could say the same about Anthony Mackie's turn as The Falcon, but I personally believe that his character has a more natural back and forth with Evans as opposed to either Johansson or Smulders. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I personally believe that both Johansson and Smulders come off as imitations of bad ass characters instead of the embodiment of said characters. Read my review for Dredd if you want to read more on this matter and how Olivia Thirlby's turn as a bad ass character in that film is infinitely more satisfying and natural than a moment of Johansson's forced nonsense. And if any feminists read this, understand that I am going after the actresses for their performing abilities, not their feminity. So please don't hate me, I'm trying my best not to offend.

The gang's all here fellas. 

The Winter Soldier delivers the greater kind of set pieces that one expects from a sequel. For the most part, The Winter Soldier contains a wealth of practically driven action scenes. Set pieces range from a fight upon a boat, to a car chase in a city, to a close quarters brawl in an elevator, to even a chase a top a freeway that leads into an intense one on one fight between Cap and the Winter Soldier. Despite the film's massive $150 million plus budget, these set pieces are made far better thanks to their small scale and grounded realism. 

Unfortunately, the Russo Bros. mess up the whole thing with some lousy camera work. The two rarely opt for clear wide shots and constantly either move or zoom their camera in on the action, rendering some fight scenes fairly incoherent. It's not Taken 3 bad, or even Taken 2 bad, but it's not great. The editing could have also been improved if less cuts were incorporated during the action sequences. There's nothing worse than tons of cuts and shaky camera work to disorientate and confuse the viewer.

The Russo Brothers also betray the film's mostly practical action pedigree with a lousy finale that relies almost entirely upon computer graphics. No Marvel Studios film can be made without a huge computer generated finale that runs for too long and lacks all tension or suspense. It's just a shame because the first two thirds of the film was on a roll with its practically driven action sequences. Unfortunately, the finale is a over long mess that does nothing but bore me. However, I do love the scene within the finale where the Winter Soldier lays waste to several S.H.I.E.L.D. pilots on a run away in an extremely brutal massacre.

Ah, the good old days.

I've struggled with contextualizing an opinion for The Winter Soldier for some time now. I gravely disliked the film upon my first viewing because of its ultra tame violence and shoddy camera work. However, I enjoyed the film far more the second time around because of how excellent its thematic and narrative substance was. This might be one of the few action films I have ever seen where the substance outweighs the style, a rarity in action cinema. 

As a sequel, The Winter Soldier is everything that you ask for. It ups the stakes and the set pieces, providing a larger scaled story with a greater sense of danger than its adventurous and fun predecessor. Unfortunately, the film features shoddy camera work, unnecessary computer graphics, and the ever present and always annoying Scarlett Johansson and Cobie Smulders. The Winter Soldier should earn a six or a seven out of 10 for these reasons. However, its themes and characters are so well written, that I can't help but bump up the film a few numbers. One of the best blockbusters of 2014 for certain.

Rating: 8/10 - A realistic and mature sequel that holds up despite a few flaws in the action department.

Franchise:
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, dir. Joe Johnston)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014, dir. The Russo Brothers)
Captain America: Civil War (2016, dir. The Russo Brothers)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Director: Joe Johnston

Cast: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 124 minutes

I grew up on superhero movies and loved them to death at a young age. My favorites were Spider-Man 1 and 2, The Punisher, Batman: The Movie, X-Men 1 and 2, and even turds like Fantastic Four and Daredevil. As I have grown up, my taste for action films has drifted towards gritty foreign action films and hard R American films. However, I still try to see every single superhero film that comes out because comic book superhero films and the books that they came from are ingrained into my childhood. One of my favorites of the last couple years is Captain America: The First Avenger. I have seen it far more times than Iron Man or The Avengers and consider it to be my favorite film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while I agree that it can't compare to masterful superhero films like Spider-Man 2, Iron Man, or The Dark Knight, I still consider it to be one of the most fun and rewatchable of the genre.

Small man, big ambition.

Captain America: The First Avenger introduces us to our hero and villain right off the bat. Our hero, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), is a small and weak young man who wants nothing more than to join the U.S. Army. Unfortunately, his small size and asthmatic issues prevent him from entering. Our villain, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), is a part of Hyrda, the technical division of the Nazis. He wants nothing more to harness the power of the Gods by using an ancient cube called the Tesarac. He uses this cube to craft an entire army of laser toting soldiers and high powered vehicles that he wishes to take over the world with.

When it seems that Steve won't get a shot at joining the army, a scientist named Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees the potential in him. He realizes that Steve is a kind hearted person even though he is a little guy. Therefore, he enlists Steve into the army and gives him a chance at becoming the first soldier to be injected with a Super Soldier Serum. The experiment is successful and Steve becomes a large muscle bound man. He eventually becomes Captain America, a symbol of the American way, and joins the fight overseas against Hyrda with his old pal Bucky (Sebastian Stan).

Captain America: The First Avenger separates itself from the rest of the superhero pack by taking place during WWII (much like The Rocketeer and the first act of Albert Pyun's Captain America). The film is also a throwback to the old adventure serials of the 40s and 50s when costumed heroes fought organized crime and evil villains. Captain America: The First Avenger is essentially a $140 million budgeted version of an old adventure serial. I'm sure a budget that big would blow filmmakers' minds back in the day. It's unfortunate that we don't get several movies of Captain America in WWII because there are plenty of adventures for the guy to have in the era. However, I'll take one WWII set Cap film over no WWII set Cap film.

"Each bond you buy is a bullet in your best guy's gun."

Joe Johnston is the perfect filmmaker to bring a story like this to the big screen. The film is essentially a bigger and better version of Johnston's underrated 1991 Disney film, The Rocketeer. Both films are based on comic books, feature down on their luck young men who discover something that turns them into a superhero, take place in Nazi-era WWII, and are heavily influenced by old adventure serials. Johnston also worked as an art director on Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Therefore, I think he knows a thing or two about crafting a fun and old fashioned action film. Besides, the Red Skull's massive airplane in the film looks awfully similar to the plane on the runway from Raiders. Maybe Johnston just wanted to give a nice homage to his past work.

Chris Evans is the heart and soul of this film. He gives a fantastic performance as the all American do-gooder Steve Rogers. Evans makes for a lovable Steve Rogers that anyone can get behind and root for. One of my favorite scenes of the film that defines why Rogers is such a great character is a quick moment that some may consider a throw away scene but for me is a defining moment in the film. Colonel Phillips and Erskine discuss whether Steve or another soldier are fit for the Super Soldier Serum. Phillips argues that the other soldier is big and strong while Erskine disagrees claiming that he is a bully in contrast to Steve's kindness and willingness to die for others. To see whose a better candidate, Phillips grabs a grenade and tosses it out towards the men as they perform jumping jacks. While everyone scatters, Steve rushes toward the grenade and throws himself on top of it. When Peggy Carter comes near him, Steve screams, "Get back!" Everyone quickly realizes that the grenade is a dummy when Steve asks, "Was that a test?" Phillips looks at Erskine and replies, "He's still skinny."

This is a very charming, important, and moving scene that defines why Steve is the man to become Captain America. Steve is willing to sacrifice himself to save anyone, including a soldier who has repeatedly bullied him during his training. This sacrificial attribute of Steve comes back into play in the final minutes of the film when Cap is put into a situation that potentially spells the end of humanity.

"Mr. Rogers! I have been expecting you."

The rest of the supporting case is all aces. From Sebastain Stan as Cap's good buddy Bucky, to Tommy Lee Jones as the hilarious colonel, to Stanley Tucci as the kind scientist who creates Cap, to Hayley Atwell as the love interest, to Dominic Cooper as Tony Stark's father, and to Hugo Weaving as the iconic Captain America villain, The Red Skull. Everybody is great in their roles and makes each character fun, memorable, or important to the plot (minus Cooper, he is there simply to connect Cap to the rest of the Marvel U films).

I especially want to praise the make up work for the Red Skull. He looks fantastic and I couldn't be happier with the outcome of his design. Comic book villains are adapted to the big screen in varying results all of the time (The Good: Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, The Joker in The Dark Knight, Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 / The Bad: Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, Bullseye in Daredevil). Fortunately, the Red Skull looks like he was literally lifted straight out of the comics. No liberties were taken here; Weaving is the Red Skull without a shadow of a doubt. The removing of Weaving's nose in post-production seals the deal.

Unfortunately, I do have some gripes with Johnston's Cap film. One of my biggest qualms with the film is its heavy reliance on green screens and computer generated effects. There are simply too many computer graphics for an adventure serial film set in WWII. These CG heavy moments pull the viewer out of the adventure and remind them that they are simply watching a contemporary imitation of the genre. It should be noted that some sets look practical and suit the setting fine. However, the film goes too far during scenes where interiors are entirely computer generated. It is especially notable during the fun montage when Cap fights off Hydra agents and tanks in entirely computer generated environments. The hanger inside of Schmidt's hideout also looks cartoony. It is unfortunate that the film looks like a video game in a few shots.

My favorite shot in the film.

Fortunately, most of the action scenes are pretty good for a PG-13 summer blockbuster. I am surprised that Captain America and the Red Skull both nab hefty kill counts of their own. The two best action sequences of the film are a gun fight inside of the Hyrda train and the final battle at Schmidt's hideout. I love any film that makes time for an action scene upon a train (Under Siege 2 anyone?). Seeing Cap and Bucky fight Hyrda agents side by side in a tight quarters shootout makes for a blast of an action scene.

The film also has a bizarre inconsistent attention to blood effects. While early action sequences feature fairly explicit amounts of blood, the latter half of the film's action is nearly devoid of blood. When a character gets shot early in the film, blood splatters out of their back. However, when a Hydra agent gets shot by bullets later on in the film, they simply fly back or fall over. This blood qualm of mine really pisses me off because it frustrates me that the world established in the film features such a bizarre inconsistency. A Hydra agent gets shot and no blood is shown, yet a Hydra agent falls through a propeller and gets chopped into gory nothingness! What gives?

The score by veteran composer Alan Silvestri is also spot on with the character and the time era. Silvestri's score helps give The First Avenger its heart and soul. Various triumphant and emotional tunes will have you cheering on Cap and weeping alongside him at the same time. The entire finale of the film is ripe with powerful and emotional themes.

Cap tries to cope with the fact that a Forever 21 is in the middle of Times Square.

Overall, Captain America: The First Avenger is a blast of a superhero film backed by a fun story, memorable characters, and entertaining action sequences. I think that Cap's first successful big screen outing (sorry Albert Pyun's 1990 Captain America) is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's greatest successes. The film is essentially one emotionally charged first hour and one action packed second hour. Add those up and what do you get? A pretty fun superhero flick that gives us some good 'ol WWII era action. The film also makes a nice compliment to Johnston's similar The Rocketeer. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10 - A solid, exciting, and romantic superhero film. Everyone is aces all around while the action is great in enough parts to make it worth watching.

Franchise:
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, dir. Joe Johnston)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014, dir. The Russo Brothers)
Captain America: Civil War (2016, dir. The Russo Brothers)