SYNOPSIS: After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," in theaters April 4, finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy--the Winter Soldier.
THE GOOD: Like the first film, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier balances the threats of a real world with the extraordinary powers of super soldiers and ultra high tech weaponry. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have conjured up an intricate conspiracy thriller that jeopardizes the very fabric of SHIELD with Captain America, Nick Fury, Black Widow and The Falcon squarely in the line of fire. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo aptly keep the pace brisk with action while also taking a moment for the characters to reveal their inner dialogue and humanize them in way that the audience relates. The banter between them is light-hearted at times giving the heavy premise a chance to breath and relax before moving on to the next set piece. Oh and those set pieces are amazingly captured whether it's Fury's SUV being pummeled with bullets on city streets or The Falcon swooping and diving avoiding cannon fire in the sky the Russos, despite their sit-com pedigree, know how to get pulses racing and it does for most of two hours. The acting is superb, enlivening these characters with genuine emotions and humor throughout the roller coaster ride of a movie. Even the Winter Soldier is allowed to be conflicted. For a movie grounded in themes that affect the real world - surveillance, drones, politics, military power - it still provides a crowd pleasing superhero movie that doesn't disappoint.
THE BAD: Those set pieces are incredible. The action is intense and at times overwhelming. If you love action and special effects then this is the movie for you. Sometimes things can be too spectacular and your suspension of disbelief can whither among the fantastical stunts and destruction. It's almost CGI-porn. Not in Michael Bay's league but close. The movie has some surprises but also follows some tried and true tropes of political thrillers of the past. The whole "trust no one" motto is a no-brainer here.
VERDICT: Part Bourne Identity part Terminator, Captain America: The Winter Soldier offers the best of what Marvel Studios has to offer in an intriguing action-packed political thriller with more rousing scenes than even The Avengers. The cast gives the characters a soul as a conspiracy unravels and puts the world at risk. You won't find a more exciting movie this year.
"You hold a gun on everyone on Earth and call it protection. This isn't freedom, this is fear."
- Captain America
- Opens tomorrow, April 4, 2014
- 2 hr 8 min
- PG-13 | Gunplay, Action Throughout and Intense Sequences of Violence
- Cast: Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Frank Grillo, Robert Redford
Comments
Post a Comment