Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 136 minutes
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson
KRS release
In 2011 Marvel released Captain America: The First Avenger, an excellent World War II film disguised as a superhero movie.
Now along comes the second picture in the Captain America franchise and the ninth film that ties together with the other Marvel Avengers movies.
More or less, this is a stand-alone feature that is an excellent Cold War thriller.
It is one of the strongest films in the Marvel Avengers films that comes complete with excellent characterisations, multiple plot layers and does not depend on the action sequences for its suspense element.
It also well reflects the level and intricacies modern comic books have achieved as a literary form.
Anthony and Joe Russo’s direction is well paced, tight and very much in control, with the build-up to the action sequences being very well handled. This was actually quite a surprise, considering that these two directors’ main background is in television comedies. However, the winning point for me is the atmosphere coupled with the characterisations that give this movie its resonance.
Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) has commissioned Project Insight: the building of three heli-carriers due to the battle that the Avengers had in New York. These are the ultimate weapons as they can shoot down danger from a safe distance while also analysing records and data to identify possible threats.
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), a friend of Pierce and Shield director, has his doubts about this project and wants Pierce to delay it.
This is a stand-alone feature that is an excellent Cold War thriller
He accepts but soon Fury ends up almost dead. His advice to Steve Rogers aka Captain America is not to trust anyone. His only allies seem to be Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), an ex-KGB agent trained by Fury, and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), an ex-paratrooper who is soon wearing a wing-like jet pack and flying around as The Falcon.
The nemesis in this picture is Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), an assassin who sports a metal arm and has over 50 years of crime up his sleeve, although he still looks young.
He is tied intricately to Rogers’s past and this will all come to the fore, shaking Captain America to his core.
By the end of the movie, I felt this is an updated version of the classic Three Days of the Condor (1975) with Redford’s presence proving this further.
The film weaves in and out between moral dilemmas, car chases and sky-high dogfights with panache and ease. This merging of political thriller with the tights and capes genre may have looked risky on paper but it seems very much in place on the big screen.
The character of Captain America/Steve Rogers, a man out of his time, representing ideals that for many are out of date, could well have been the dud in Marvel’s array of heroes, especially if presented with an over-the-top patriotic manner. However, in the space of three movies, Evans has made Captain America his own and the result is a hero, a man who everyone can relate to, American or not. He is the everyman in this array of super-powered heroes. Action wise, he is even more impressive than other characters, and his shield in particular is more than just a defensive tool.
Stan as the Winter Soldier is a powerhouse of a presence: he is almost like a modern terminator, and gives the film its drive and ambition. Other notable acting standouts come from Mackie, who is more than just a sidekick as The Falcon; Johannson continues to embed herself in the Black Widow character in a very strong manner; while Redford gives the film its gravitas in a simply excellent performance.
Propelled forward by Alan Silvestri’s musical score, this movie goes beyond being comic-bookish. Oh and as usual for a Marvel film, do not leave your seat before seeing the end credits.