Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). With Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Scarlet Johansson as Black Widow, Robert Redford as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stan Lee making his usual cameo appearance, and a few other familiar faces from not only the previous movie but other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I'll admit: I wasn't exactly looking forward to this movie. I thought the first movie was kinda 'eh' and the previews and commercials for this second movie were also kinda 'eh'. It didn't look bad, just didn't look all that great. I was still plan on seeing it regardless, and went in with an open mind hoping that it wouldn't be as 'eh' as the first movie. And this is required viewing before going to see the next 'Avengers' movie next year, so if you plan on seeing 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' you might as well see this.
Okay, enough rambling. What did I think of the latest 'Captain America' movie? Simply put, for the most part I liked it. It's a bit different than any of the other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a few ways in that it's more of a political thriller than it is a superhero movie. Sure there are still action scenes (which are sometimes a bit brutal but still fun to watch and suspenseful), but without giving too much away it goes for more of a reflection on certain real life scandals plaguing a certain real life security agency in Washington. And in that regard it's handled very well and is actually quite tense. The special effects as usual are very good. The acting is also very good, and Stan Lee's cameo is fun as always. Chris Evans is once again good as the titular superhero, proving once again he's better as Captain America than when he was The Human Torch in the two 'Fantastic Four' movies. Scarlet Johansson's Black Widow actually gets to do more in this movie than she did in both 'Iron Man 2' and 'The Avengers' combined, so it's nice to actually learn a bit more about her character and her interactions with Captain America are usually fun. And Robert Redford and Samuel L. Jackson both appear to be having a lot of fun this movie.
And now for the negatives. And these are just kinda nitpicks. Sometimes, the quieter moments in the movie just kinda drag and feel 'eh'. And the movie itself is way too long, with maybe 15 or 20 minutes that could've been trimmed and still made for a very suspenseful, tense, action-packed superhero thriller. And you know...for being called 'The Winter Soldier', the Winter Soldier isn't in it all that much. He is a bit intimidating whenever he is onscreen but he's in it about as much as Batman was in 'The Dark Knight Rises'. So I would have preferred to have seen a bit more of the Winter Soldier in this, but oh well.
Once again, much like the other movies in Phase 2 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' has a different director, or in this particular case, directors. Taking over for Joe Johnston ('Jurassic Park III', 'The Rocketeer', the 'Wolfman' remake) is Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, who had previously directed episodes of "Community", "Arrested Development", and the 2006 Owen Wilson "comedy" 'You, Me and Dupree' (anyone remember that movie?). Even though their background is in comedy, they do perfectly fine with the action scenes in this movie, the overall political thriller tone that this movie has, and they perfectly carry on the overall dark tone that this movie and the other movies in Phase 2 have. I guess they're already signed on to direct 'Captain America 3' and I'm perfectly fine with that.
Now, how does it compare to the first movie? It is definitely an improvement over the 'meh' first movie. This has a better story, doesn't drag as much (kinda) and there is a lot more action. And honestly it's probably the most violent movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 'The Avengers'. As far as comparisons to the other movies in Phase 2, I did like this better than 'Thor: The Dark World' but I didn't like it as much as 'Iron Man 3'. At least Phase 2 is almost done and over with. Only have to deal with 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and then we'll finally get 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. I'd rather skip ahead to 'Avengers' but 'Guardians of the Galaxy' looks like it'll be fun.
'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' is overall a good, dark superhero political thriller with an interesting storyline, good acting and a lot of action but it does drag at times and it feels way too long.
TRAILERS
- 'The Amazing Spider-man 2' - well....at least this will be coming out next week so I can finally see it and not have to watch this trailer again.
- 'Godzilla' - Still looks AWESOME.
- 'Maleficent' - Still looks kinda creepy. As long as it's better than Disney's last live action reinvention of one of their classics ('Alice In Wonderland') than all will be well and I'll live happily ever after.
- 'Guardians of the Galaxy' - the next movie in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I had never heard of this comic book series or any of the characters before this movie was announced. But this trailer makes it look like it'll be a lot of fun and a bit more light hearted than the other movies in Phase 2, which tended to be dark in tone.
- 'Lucy' - Hmm....looks like if 'Limitless' was an action movie and had Scarlet Johansson in the lead. It's from the people who made 'Taken', so it could be good.
- 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' - The latest reboot of the titular heroes following 2007's 'TMNT'. It's been getting a lot of crap from the internet because Michael Bay is involved as a producer, but unlike the internet I don't really have any animosity towards a movie just because he's involved in some capacity. And honestly, this movie looks like it could go one of two ways: It could be pretty good and a lot of fun....or it could be extremely dumb.
- 'The Expendables 3' - This was only a brief, 30-second teaser that showed the main cast and not much else. The previous two movies were AWESOME so hopefully this one follows suit. Heck as long as there is gratuitous violence, blood, and plenty of explosions then it'll do just fine.
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