DAY 9
Captain America is
nobody’s favorite Avenger. While I loved his first solo outing, and while I
can defend his character development in The Avengers to the death, my opinion seemed to be that of the minority. With
the less than positive reactions to both Iron
Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World
the year before, people began to question whether Marvel could ever make
anything of the same caliber as The
Avengers. Certainly, if any movie was
going to take the mantle from The
Avengers, it was not going to be a Captain
America movie.
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| Sorry, Cap. Nothing personal. |
Then Captain America:
The Winter Soldier debuted. On April 4th, 2014, naysayers became
true believers. Nobody imagined that a movie so drastically different from its
predecessor would be considered one of the greatest releases in the franchise. With
great set pieces, amazing action, an emotional story, and even a few
interesting twists, Winter Soldier
represented the new paragon for Marvel quality, and proved that Marvel was
still capable of making fresh and exciting movies. It also proved that Captain
America could kick all sorts of ass.
What They Did Right
Falcon
In a world of mostly Caucasian superheroes, I am beyond
happy that Marvel decided to add Falcon to the roster. More importantly, Marvel
and Anthony Mackie did a great job bringing the character to life. In just a
handful of scenes, Mackie is able to create a three-dimensional character that
is an entertaining, earnest, trustworthy badass. While I wish that Falcon would
have gotten more screen time, it is evident that he is not a sidekick. Falcon
is Captain America’s partner, and I cannot wait to see him in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.
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| I don't know where my soul is. I don't know where my home is. |
Connectivity
As I stated back in the Iron Man 3 retrospective, each of the Marvel films following The Avengers had the challenge of
explaining why our heroes simply didn’t call each other when they needed help. Iron Man 3 handles this issue by giving
Stark severe anxiety issues and setting the film after the events of The Winter Soldier (surprising right?!).
Thor: The Dark World handled it by
keeping the Asgardian off world for the majority of the movie. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
doesn’t hide from what came before. Rather, Directors Anthony and Joe Russo
fully implement S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, the Battle of New York, and even another
Avenger in the form of Black Widow into Cap’s story. Even though Cap is
headlining, other characters in the MCU pop in and out in order to sell the
idea that everyone exists in the same world. It doesn’t feel like a separate
chapter in the hero’s story, but the logical next step in the hero’s evolution.
This is the first time since The Avengers
that the MCU truly feels like a cohesive world, really makes the flick feel
like you’re reading a comic book.
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| "This my be your movie, but I'm in charge, bitch." - Nick Fury |
The Villains
Bringing in Robert Redford to play Alexander Pierce was a
significant victory for Marvel. Redford is a guy who actually believed for what
Hydra stood for. He believed it was worth saving 7 billion people, at the cost
of 20 million. I mean, just sitting here writing this, it makes me wonder
whether or not we should have taken that deal… Redford does an excellent job of
grounding the inherent silliness of Hydra’s plan, and makes us really question
just how much freedom we should
sacrifice for security.
 |
| You think I'm playin'? Come at me, bro! |
Next, we come to the Winter Soldier himself, Bucky
Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Stan’s turn as the antagonist is heartbreaking. You
feel his sorrow as he tries, in vain, to remember who Steve Rogers is, and feel
his pain when he is put through electroshock therapy. In addition, the Winter
Soldier is probably the only really challenge Rogers has faced since the Red Skull. He is calculating,
brutal, and almost too quick for the good captain to handle. However, I
STRONGLY suggest watching Captain America:
The First Avenger before trying to understand Bucky. As much as I love his
presence on the screen, the impact of his return is lost if you can’t remember
who he is. While there are other villains like Frank Grillo’s Brock Rumlow and
Georges St. Pierre’s Batroc (the running joke of every Marvel Universe), the
two primary antagonists are what give this story much needed gravitas.
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| Again, not so good at the whole subtlety thing... |
The Action
Aside from the Helicarrier takedown in the third act, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
boasts some of the most realistic and brutal fight scenes in the MCU (outside
of Netflix's Daredevil). Granted, Cap kicks a
guy and he goes flying like he’s made of Styrofoam, but the choreography and
cinematography make is seem as though every hit is doing an incredible amount
of damage. People often point to the elevator scene or the Nick Fury getaway
sequence as the action highlights, but it is the highway battle that is really
the most impressive in the film. The resourcefulness of both Black Widow and
Falcon are on full display, and the final confrontation between Captain America
and Winter Soldier really shows the level of strategy and intelligence that
each one possesses. Once again, it’s not about who’s going to hit whom the
hardest. This is a battle for survival, and the smarter man will walk away as
victor.
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| As you can see, Rogers is using the hug-it-out approach. Violence isn't the answer, kids. |
The Price of Freedom
You know, we get a lot of these pre-planned, off the cuff
speeches in almost every action movie. Return
of the King, Independence Day, and Braveheart
probably spring into mind when the topic of “best speeches ever” come up. The
speech delivered by Steve Rogers in Winter
Soldier isn’t necessarily going to be joining the ranks of the
aforementioned titles, but it gets points for how it’s cut together. Rogers
explains that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., that he and his team are planning
on taking down the Helicarriers, and that if he’s the only one to lay down his
life for freedom, then so be it. The speech is undercut by several S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents giving their lives to try and stop the launch sequence that will kill
millions of people. This sequence really shows the audience how far these
agents are willing to go to do what is right, and proves that you don’t need
powers to be a hero.
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| But against a cyborg, it sure as shit helps. |
What They Did Wrong
Scar Jo
Y’all knew it was coming. While not nearly as bad as her
performance in Iron Man 2, Scarlett
Johansson (whose last name I'm not sure I'll ever spell correctly) is still one of the weakest aspects of the movie. We’re three
performances in so far, and I think I’ve finally figured out what her deal is.
See, Black Widow is written as a pretty funny character this time. She has some
pretty good one-liners and acts as an entertaining foil for Captain America. However,
none of her jokes land. On the contrary, most of her jokes fall flat, and Cap’s
reactions are what ultimately save the comedy beats.
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| "Anyone know where I can pick up a fossil?" - Black Widow "Oh god, please just stop!" - Everyone on the planet |
Johansson is so
preoccupied with trying to be sexy and sultry, that she can literally do
nothing else (unless it’s a physical scene where she doesn’t have to talk). We
are about to see Johansson’s fourth turn as the character, and I wish I could
say I was more excited. The comics keep us guessing as to whether Black Widow
will prove a valuable asset to the Avengers, or if she will betray them and
serve them up to the villains. The only mystery surrounding Johansson’s
performance is how she ever got this job.
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| Oh. . . right. |
Empire
This is less of a complaint about this specific movie, and
more of a slam against Marvel’s Phase II as a whole. Kevin Feige, the
mastermind behind the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, has said several times
that Phase II was supposed to be Marvel’s Empire
Strikes Back. For those that have not seen Star Wars (Seriously?! Still?! Didn’t you see that trailer?!) Empire Strikes Back is the second film
in the original trilogy, and is considered the best film in the saga. To
compare anything to Empire is to
evoke both excitement and skepticism from the nerd community. While I
appreciate the “losing a hand” moment in each of the Phase II flicks (Killian,
Thor, Bucky, Groot), I take issue with the whole “no closure” thing. Both Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier end
on cliffhangers that won’t be realized until next year (at the earliest). Winter Soldier ends with Rogers and
Wilson set on the path to find Bucky, but then, they are suddenly drawn into
fighting a giant robot army?
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| "When do we start?" - Falcon "Ask me again in a couple of movies." - Cap |
Not a huge problem, maybe, but I wish that these
movies offered satisfying conclusions. At this point, I feel like this
franchise is never going to end.
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| How the theaters are going to look after the Marvel Movie Marathon, 2020. |
Final Thoughts
Captain America: The
Winter Soldier debuted just over a year ago. As such, I don’t have the same
level of perspective on this flick that I do with the other movies. However,
with this film, it seemed as though Marvel had finally found a balance between
telling a hero’s story without being a slave to the extended universe. It
didn’t feel bogged down by unnecessary exposition like Iron Man 2, but also didn’t completely ignore the past events like
the other films in Phase II thus far. As it stands, Winter Soldier is the
strongest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is why it is awarded
the top spot on my list.
2. The Avengers
3. Iron Man 3
4. Iron Man
5.
6. Captain America: The First Avenger
7. Thor: The Dark World
8. Thor
9. Iron Man 2
10. The Incredible Hulk
With Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel proves that their movies can be more than just visually entertaining fluff. Then they release Guardians of the Galaxy and completely undercut themselves. But we’ll save that for next time.
END OF DAY 9
There’s only one movie left. If you have even the most basic
deductive reasoning skills, you should be able to figure out where it goes. I
look forward to your angry letters!
#bringbackjustinhammer
Be kind to each other.
-James
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