By: Aly Hand
Okay, so let me start off by saying
I don’t normally review movies. Opinions
are a dime a dozen, and everyone has one.
That being said, I feel this one is actually worth talking about. My husband and I have had a long-standing
discussion over whether or not it’s worth having individual Marvel hero movies
after the introduction of The Avengers.
Both of us believe it doesn't exactly make sense to have a movie like
Iron Man 3, where there’s a big bad guy and lots of action, yet no one other
than Tony Stark is ever involved. You’d
think a terrorist like The Mandarin would show up on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar, but
apparently Nick Fury was too busy that day to bother sending Cap out to help.
Captain America: the Winter
Soldier is definitely a movie worth seeing in theaters. Even without any of the other Avengers (with
the exception of Black Widow), this movie manages to stand solidly on its
own. The story is engaging, the plot
progresses smoothly, and there’s plenty of action to feed the drooling
masses. I was a little nervous going in,
because whenever I see a run time of more than two hours, I wonder just how
much of the movie will be filler.
Sweeping landscape shots are very pretty and all, but I don’t need to
stare at New Zealand for ten minutes (looking at you, Hobbit.) The movie starts out with a simple character
interaction, something that shows off how much more advanced Cap is, yet still
paints him as a human being with a desire to be a part of society, to connect,
to make friends and right wrongs.
It progresses fairly quickly into
the action, without a lot of “woe is me; I’m so lonely” hand-wringing, which
was a relief. The banter between
characters is real and honest, and while it was relatively easy to pinpoint who the “bad guy” was, it took much
longer to learn why. The story never
dragged, and while the film could have been tightened up here and there it
never seemed like scenes were uncomfortably long. Action scenes were well-done, with the fighting
looking natural and realistic rather than staged. I will say there’s a scene towards the
beginning that seemed as though it was at risk of falling into the “you’re
beating me but I’m going to pull a victory out of thin air because I’m the
title character” trope, but it felt as though the director, producer, and
actors all realized it quickly enough to put a conclusive end to the fight
before it got there. There were times,
however, when the natural action progressed too quickly and too abruptly, and I
was left wondering what had happened.
While this is very realistic, it isn't necessarily the best choice for a
movie, simply because my expectations for a knock-down, dragged-out fight
weren't met. There was too much going on
and it was over too quickly for me to get my brain wrapped around what was
happening until it was over.
For all its positives, though,
there were some negatives as well. For
one, and without spoiling anything, when
I started thinking about it there were facets of the plot that just didn't make
sense. They relied on Nick Fury missing
some key intel, and I have a hard time believing it with how they've portrayed
the character. Also, what happens in the
movie is significant for the entire Marvel-verse, which makes me wonder how it
will affect other movies and the oft-maligned Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. In an effort to maintain a spoiler-free
review, I’m not going to say much more about this, but for those who believe
the movies should follow one of the already-established comic series cannons
the events of Winter Soldier will prove to be both nerd-gasmic and
disappointing.
The introduction of The Falcon was
done extremely well. At no point during
the movie did I see a character and say to myself, “well that’s obviously Falcon,
duh”. He also seemed very human,
understanding his limits and his capabilities without trying to promote himself
as ‘better’ than anyone else. At no
point did he try and compete with Cap for the role of leader or hero, and it
was a welcome thing to see. I would even
go so far as to say he was the best portrayed character of the film, because he
seemed to be someone who knew his capabilities and his limits, and how to work
within them, yet still come out looking like a badass.
Black Widow came out of the movie
more human, more reachable, and I have yet to decide if this is a good
direction for the character or not.
There are hints of a potential romance between her and Cap, as well as
between her and Hawkeye, and while she has always been portrayed as brutally
efficient, I could easily see her forming some kind of emotional attachment to
the people she fights with. At the same
time, that kind of emotion-driven interaction is very out of character for
Widow, who even in Winter Soldier is shown to be ruthless and focused on her
missions first. It’ll be interesting to
see how the character evolves from here, either as a more human, more loveable
Natasha or as a cold, calculating assassin in Black Widow.
Of everyone, though, the most
obvious growth as a character centers entirely around Cap. Not only do we see him trying to integrate
himself into a society he doesn't understand, and try to do it without
sacrificing his own values, but we also see him coping with his own personal
demons and confronting both the beautiful and the ugly of his personal
past. He has to integrate the life and
values of Steve Rogers with the duty and power of Captain America. He’s forced to realize his whole life is a
no-win scenario, and that there’s a knife waiting for him around every
corner. Okay, maybe not that bad. There’s a few scenes that emphasize not
everyone is out to kill Cap, and that maybe he has more friends than he thinks.
Overall, I would definitely
recommend Captain America: the Winter Soldier to fans of Marvel, fans of
action films, or just anyone looking for a good way to spend a couple hours. I wouldn't recommend it for very young
children, as the violence and occasional language might be too much for some
parents. Older children, like teenagers,
would likely enjoy it, and adults of all ages will find something to enjoy,
whether it’s the action or the story.
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