Captain America:
The Winter Soldier
(2014 review)

4 outta 5

With Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World spinning off from The Avengers, they can’t work without that chunk of the puzzle.  While Captain America: The Winter Soldier plays directly with leftover pieces of Avengers via the super-spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. it is actually more of a sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger.  That was a two-fisted World War II superhero classical adventure of clearly defined good vs. evil.   Winter Soldier trades that for grey and a complex plot with spectacular direction provided by Anthony and Joe Russo.   The movie throws a whole bunch at the audience and the twisty reveals will land depending on how deeply one is rooted in Marvel Cinematic Universe lore.  What is cool about Winter Soldier is that, much like how Iron Man 3 was a noir crime detective flick in a superhero outfit, this is a conspiracy thriller wherein things are resolved predominantly by punching and explosions. 

In the modern day, 1940s unfrozen superhero Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) is fighting for the peacekeeping force S.H.I.E.L.D. led by Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).  When Fury is attacked by the mysterious Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership falls to World Security Council member Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) who wants to hunt Cap down.  Hitting the road with super-spy Natasha Romanov aka Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) they uncover a conspiracy in the very heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. that harkens back to one of Cap’s earliest enemies from World War II.  Now with the help of the flying Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and loyal agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) Captain America and friends have to dismantle the organization they work for and confront the Winter Soldier who has a deep connection to Steve Rogers. 

The spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. is one of the core building blocks of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even spinning off its own “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” TV series.  Winter Soldier takes S.H.I.E.L.D. and flips it on its head, infesting an insidious corrosive element that ingeniously calls back to the first Captain America.  The conspiracy scheme is laid out in a super-creepy cameo by Toby Jones, reprising his First Avenger role as Zola and the ramifications change the makeup of the Marvel movie universe.   This should deeply affect the “Agents” TV series much like how in comics a crossover event has a trickle-down effect on the monthly books.  For a live-action series based on shakeup heavy Marvel comics, it’s very appropriate.  

There are a lot of characters here; sometimes Captain America seems to be a supporting player in his own movie.  Evans’ invests a generic good guy with an innocent soul, finding small moments of emotion and determination.  His sidekick is Johansson’s Widow and there are a lot of dramatic beats like when they find out that Fury has been attacked.   Evans and Johansson have good chemistry as partners in espionage such as a scene where they attempt to hide in public from bad guys.   Jackson’s Fury gets more to do than any of the films and he’s at the centre of a way awesome chase scene early on.  The twists with Fury are ingenious and Jackson gets to unload some righteous anger.  Mackie’s Falcon gets in some cool bits near the end when his character starts flying and is involved in some epic action scenes. 

It’s odd, but really cool, to see Robert Redford in a comic book movie and he gets to be slowly sinister as the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Minor villains include Frank Grillo as a nasty agent and MMA fighter Georges “Rush” St-Pierre playing a baddie who has a scrappy fist-fight with Captain America.   While the movie is named after The Winter Soldier, Stan isn’t in it much however his scenes have impact as he stomps around.   His best work comes when Winter Soldier starts to recall his history and you can see the conflict play across Stan’s face.

Tangled conspiracies abound in Winter Soldier which gives thematic depth and provides a dark mirror to the first film.  The characters are briefly sketched out (and you have to do your homework beforehand) but what keeps it humming is a propulsive sense of action as frequently someone gets punched or something explodes or somebody gets shot at.  The Russo Brothers stage action with lots of pop and cool little reveals.  A particular stand out is a crunchy brawl Cap has with an elevator full of guys with a slow build up towards an explosion of fists, kicks, and shield flinging and the button to the scene has Cap jumping out of a building!  The climactic battle is skillfully inter-cut between various ongoing action scenes and the payoff with Cap and Winter Soldier is surprisingly poignant.      

The Avengers is still the crown jewel of the Marvel movie efforts, with the original Iron Man a runner up for exuberance and ingenuity, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is very close.  The emotional foundation for this was built in other movies making Winter Soldier a great instalment in a serialized series.  It’s an action-packed pay-off that will keep your attention for the entire running time.  See it on the biggest screen possible.