My Spoiler-Free Review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier CA2 picks up in real time after the events of The Avengers (about 2 years later). Cap, although becoming accustom to this future world, is struggling to find where he fits. To Cap the Blacks and Whites of Good and Bad are now just shades of Gray. The fact that Shield, whom Cap is now in service for, is holding more secrets than they care to share only adds to Caps uncertainty of his unending allegiance. But when Nick Fury finds himself in the midst of a secret cover-up that will rock Shield to its core, he knows theres truly only one man he can trust, if only that man will trust him in return. So, here we are. Our 9th Marvel Film, 3rd Phase 2 movie, and 2nd Captain America solo outing. To say that CA2 has a big legacy behind it would be quite the understatement. So far the Marvel Sequels have been a mixed bag. Weve had 2 Iron Man follow ups that were... not great, as well as another Thor flick which proved to be enjoyable (I actually prefer it to the first one), so where does CA2 fall? Well, instead of trying to pull a Marvel and have a huge reveal at the end, Im just gonna be open from the get go. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is THE BEST Marvel movie to date. *Mic drop* *pics mic back up* *dusts off mic and begins speaking again* Thats right! I said it! Out of all 9 Marvel film CA2 is the best. And that Includes The Avengers. Now please do not mistake what Im saying here. Is CA2 my personal favorite? Probably not, but maybe. Do I love it More than The Avengers? No, The Avengers was a once in a lifetime event that wont be matched (till May 6th 2016 when Batman/Superman comes out and destroys the universe out of sheer awesomeness). So then how can I say that CA2 is the BEST Marvel film? Well, lets dive into it shall we. The Actors. Anthony Mackie is the Best thing to happen to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Robert Downey Jr. *mic drop again* *okay, Ill stop with the mic drops* Within the first 3mins of this movie I was in love with Anthony Mackie. He has a certain natural charisma that you just cant fake. Hes awesome. And then when he dons his metal wings and becomes The Falcon, he becomes even better. I have not seen flight-action like this since Iron Man 1 (which, honestly, I think it Falcon rivals Iron Man in flight awesomeness). If he doesnt make it into Avengers 2 Im gonna really be let down. But one of his greatest strengths in this movie is his personal connection with Cap. (Sweetheart, I believe that this is the beginning of a beautiful bromance) Which brings me to Chris Evans. Chris Evans won me over back 3 years ago when I first watched the original Captain America. He made us fall in love with Little Steve (and was able to make us forget that he was 90% CGI). He gave the character an earnest quality that really makes Cap shine as the leader of the Avengers. Thankfully, Chris Evans is back in full swing. Hes just as awesome as the first time around. In this film he gets a bit more play with Scarlet Johansson as Black Widow and they go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly (they would be my favorite pairing in the flick if not for Anthony Mackie). ScarJo (I hate myself) has not had the best track record for character development in the MCU, which is mostly due to the fact that her character has only been seen in sequels to other bigger characters movies (Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and now CA2). So seeing her get to finally explore some of the other sides of Black Widow is truly a welcome. The running joke of her trying to setup Cap on a date never gets old. Nick Fury makes his 6th appearance in the MCU and hes just as B-A as always (Basically Awesome). In fact, I would say that this is truly the best Nick Fury weve had. He gets thrown head first into the action on a few occasions, and shows that even though hes in a Marvel movie, Sam Jackson dont need any (expletive deleted) super powers! Theres some new faces thrown in the mix, like Robert Redford who takes what could have been super generic and makes it awesome. Quite a few returning (non-Avengers) faces show up. I dont wanna give anything away, so Ill just say that they are great to see again and add more to the story than just simple window dressing. But seriously, this isnt Avengers 2 so dont be bummed when all those guys make zero appearances. The Action I like Jon Favreau. I LOVE Joss Whedon. But when it comes to action, the Russo Brothers have them beat by a mile. The action set pieces in this flick are some of the best of ANY superhero movie. When Cap kicks someone and they go flying, or when The Falcon opens his metal wings and takes off, it never EVER felt fake or cheesy. Add in The Winter Soldier and his bionic arm to the mix and youve got the best final showdown of the MCU. And even though Cap is like the most super-superhuman on the planet in this film, he never felt over-powerful. He was super and yet human at all times. It was a perfect balance. And whats great is that all the supporting characters get a chance to shine as well. The Story So this is where the film really earns its (stars and) stripes. Sadly, I cant really tell you anything about it though. I CAN say that the film is wrapped around a conspiracy that twists and turns throughout the film without ever getting too convoluted or confusing. The pay-offs are surface level great and amazingly awesome the deeper you go. This film changes everything you know about the MCU past, present and future (and now I have a better understanding as to why Agents of Shield has been holding back all season, but when they meet up with the CA2 timeline, its gonna get INSANE!). In no other film set in the MCU (short of Avengers) has there been such a strong connection to the other films. This movie finally does what Marvel has been trying to do for the past 9 films: Make a standalone feature that you can enjoy without prior knowledge of the MCU and at the same time give you deeper connections in the universe established in this mega franchise. So, how is Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Ill put it like this... If you havent watched it yet, stop reading this and go watch it right now! If you love any Marvel movie, go watch it. If you love action movies, political thrillers, mystery stories, buddy cop comedies, or basically any movie ever made, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. And dont wait for redbox or Netflix, go watch it on the BIG SCREEN in 3D (the 3D was really enjoyable btw, not underused, but not overused either). Grab your friends or go it alone and I promise youll have a great time. I give Captain America: The Winter Soldier a 5/5. I loved it (obviously)
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:42:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015