When you buy a tag for a Captain America movie you get laid what you ’re going to get : A ace - powered swell in blue doing unhinged things with a shield , busting hoi polloi in the jaw , and being very Americanny . Good news ! Captain America : The Winter Soldier excise those rub just ok .
Note : The followers contains some light spoiler .
Captain America picks up presently after the Avengers movie left off ( in fact , you canwatch the first 11 mo here ) ; he works for superspy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. now , but he ’s having doubt if being a superhero is right for him . It ’s the same outstanding mogul / not bad obligation trope that deal of superhero sequels chew through , but fortunately it does n’t get too hung up on it . There is much punching to do , and Winter Soldier does n’t make us wait long for it .
The first 11 minutes of Captain America 2 are a spate of fun — ticker here
Not to give too much off , but the master patch gadget driver is that something is rotten in S.H.I.E.L.D. But what ? Who ’s good ? Who ’s bad ? Who even knows anymore ? Trust no one . Unless they ’re attractive . These are also just good rules to last by in oecumenical .
While not everything about Winter Soldier makes the most logical horse sense ( this is a superhero motion-picture show , after all ) , the game at least contend not to spiral off into some murky tangent of intrigue ; there ’s no Dark Knight Rises dead - ends . It ’s a well - compose , linear tale that mostly stays on the rails .
That does n’t mean it ’s without some large thematic meat on its pearl . There are enough parallels between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the NSA ( well , mayhap just the one latitude of SPIES ) to make the theme of “ exemption versus security , ” and what lines should be drawn where , feel relevant to our current surveillance age . I would n’t call it a straight - up allegory , but it unquestionably make The Winter Soldier seem ever - so - somewhat ground in a recognizable reality .
The dialogue , however , is a tougher pill to live with . There are so many one - liners , zingers , and “ say - something - cool - then - trim back - to - the - next - sceners ” that after only 20 minutes or so you already feel like they ’ve outfox your head in . But whatever . Teenage / stoned / drunk people will enjoy these comical booky clichés . Besides , it ’s not really worse than any other comic ledger legal action movie ; it ’s just not any better .
Besides , you ’re going to this pic for the legal action , and the activity pretty much rules . It ’s particularly refreshing that all of the best scene that really wake you up are n’t the detailed CGI sequences ( though there are batch of those as well ) . It ’s the brutish , analog , kicking - and - punch melees that really come across . A plenty of military action film rely on fast cuts to obscure the fact that these actors do n’t really acknowledge how to contend . In contrast , the fight choreography in The Winter Soldier is excellent , and Chris Evans ( or his stunt double over , in some case ) sells the shit out of them .
The most compelling scenes , as you might expect , are the confrontations between Cap and his nominal metal - build up nemesis . There are a handful of them , and they ’re all great . Basically you ’ve got two evenly matches badasses just slugging it out . They are n’t these milled , balletic setting . They ’re mingy , and while near - invulnerability and invincible shields and arms obviously still require significant dangling of disbelief , they experience more literal than if mass were flying around and blasting lasers out of their eyes . It ’s the Pacific Rim effect : There ’s just something very satisfy about two super - powered things wailing on each other .
Cap does n’t just have Modern enemy ; he ’s start out a new acquaintance as well in the Falcon . As you might have guessed from the name , he is a dude who can flee , thanks to a badass , garden rocket - power offstage - suit . His successiveness are fun from action movie perspective , but they emphatically take a self-aggrandising leap to enjoy than the consecutive - up rock ’em sock ’em fights . The physics of his manoeuvre often do n’t add up , and while I was definitely harbor , it also need me out of the movie a bit .
Speaking of taken out of the movie , can we utter about the shield for a second ? Not S.H.I.E.L.D. , I mean Captain America ’s actual , literal shell . The one he can impeccably throw , and it will inevitably resile just where he wants it to go like he ’s the man ’s most magical snooker - role player . I ’m meritless , but along with all his physical powers did Captain America also somehow get imbued with a super - human understanding of physics and geometry ? I get that it ’s an important part of his identity in the comic , but certainly there ’s a way to wield it where it ’s not deployed to impossible gist in every situation . It ’s bump around in a world where so much else makes an dear effort to be comparatively ground .
In better intelligence , it ’s actually hard to ideate a more perfect worker to spiel the Cap’n than Evans . He ’s got that clean - cut , “ all I can do is speak the accuracy and do what ’s right , ” good - guy rope schtick down ice cold . As obnoxious as that could be ( a problem I ’ve always had with the comic Koran variant as well , so your mileage may depart ) , Evans wangle to remain likable in the role and you ’re never tempted to take root against him , unlike sure Spidermen we ’ve all stargaze would get a effective crotch - pound every now and then .
It was interesting to see Robert Redford as a heavy . His performance was strong , but it ’s just … he was the Natural , y’know ? Even when he ’s being bad you kind of want to give him a clinch . Samuel L. does his common Nick Fury thing , which still somehow has n’t get honest-to-god . Likewise Scarlett Johansson ’s Black Widow . Anthony Mackie is a super - sympathetic addition as the Falcon . Very human and definitely someone you take root for powerful away .
Still , for all of The Winter Soldier ’s strengths , I could n’t bring myself to love it . There ’s an impalpable joy that has got to issue forth across in a picture show like this , that does n’t here . It color too neatly between the occupation , leaving it without any dead on target , visceral surprisal . Even if you do n’t recognize what ’s go to hap next , you always kind of experience like you do . There ’s no edge - of - your - seat mo . It has its abbreviated bursts of joyousness , but before long it ’s back to take in itself just a few level too seriously . commemorate how fun The Avengers was ? This does n’t .
That ’s not to say it ’s defective . It is n’t . If you were a fan of the first movie ( and/or of the Marvel Universe in general ) I ’d definitely recommend it . It ’s just not go to convert your lifespan .
Bottom line : If you like Marvel superhero flicks , then you should in all likelihood see this movie . In fact , I ’d go as far as to say that it ’s a better , smarter movie than its harbinger . But if you were hop-skip for something that will ride out with you a little longer , you might be barking up the incorrect tentpole .
Captain America : The Winter Soldierwill be out in most U.S. cities April 4th .
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