Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier — 2014

Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Cobie Smulders

Genre: Superhero, Action, Science Fiction

Captain America: The Winter Soldier reintroduces the eponymous super-soldier Steve Rogers with super-spy and co-Avenger, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, as they prevent the hostile takeover of government body S.H.I.E.L.D. by high-ranking operative Alexander Pierce and a ghost from the Captain's past, the Winter Soldier, alongside Director Nick Fury, ex-militant Sam Wilson and Commander Maria Hill.

There was a lot I expected from this movie, and for a major part, it did deliver.

I am a follower and admirer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having been with it through the, uh, disappointment that was Thor: The Dark World as well as the lesser known The Incredible Hulk (the one with Edward Norton). I also watch (rather obsessively, my mother would like to say) the in-universe TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that features prominent agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in a lead role and has had appearances from Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) in the past among others. Thus, I was heavily looking forward to Cap 2. AoS had provided a lot of background to this movie - with the reveal of the Clairvoyant being a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the AoS: Uprising trailer. And this was everything that had been promised - and even more, in some places.

There was light comedy in a lot of scenes which I appreciated heavily. Black Widow's recurring resolve to find the Cap a date were successful in getting a smile on everyone's faces. Speaking of - the acting was quite great, too. Chris Evans was charismatic and made his presence felt as always, especially in the largely anticipated elevator fight scene. That was probably one of the most memorable moments in the movie at large. I am not lying when I say that tears slid down my face in the most heart-breaking scene in any Marvel movie: an aged Peggy Carter, portrayed by a wonderful Hayley Atwell and the Captain at the hospital. The out-of-time romance, the affection gone wrong. I'm a sickler for that stuff, and this was probably the best variant of that story arc since the Doctor and River Song's out of sync meetings in Doctor Who. But I digress. The point is, this movie has such human portrayals of our superheroes and supporting characters that it deserves to be applauded.

Have I ever mentioned how good Scarlett Johansson really is as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow? Because she is. She is pretty damn good, and I'm not saying that because she kicks ass and is basically a badass female lead: Johansson is another actor giving the humanity to her character while maintaining her image for most part. Unlike, say, Caity Lotz in the DC TV show Arrow, there is so much to Natasha. She deserves her own movie, if not movie series.

Rounding up the cast: Anthony Mackie makes a brilliant Falcon. Sam Wilson and the Captain have some great chemistry, because Chris Evans and Mackie are splendid together. Forgetting the part where we're supposed to believe that Nick Fury is dead, Samuel L. Jackson had a lot of screentime and you can see him make the most of it. The one-eyed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is explored much more than in previous films and that makes a lot of difference.

Robert Redford is...decent. I'm not going to say amazing, because I did find myself rolling my eyes at his acting - which despite being good, was a tiny bit cliched. The reveal of him being the main villain was both expected from the minute he was introduced, and bland. Frank Grillo's role as a sidekick baddie was also pretty mediocre - I couldn't care less about him. Meh.

Watching Cobie Smulders as a no-nonsense spy in-charge of a whole branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. after watching her in the How I Met Your Mother finale was different. I am not a huge follower of HIMYM, let me tell you, but I really liked Smulder's acting in this. Maria Hill was another of the great female heroines in this alongside Agent 13/Kate/Sharon Carter - Revenge's Emily VanCamp in a small but delightful role.

Now, the negatives laced with some good aspects: firstly, SEBASTIAN STAN. Ring a bell? This dude was supposed to portray the MAJOR VILLAIN. Who is the movie named after, huh? Huh? 

The Winter Soldier is nothing more than a highly underused, predictable subplot. Sebastian Stan does a great job as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, yet I can't find myself forgiving the makers of the movie. Except for the scenes with the Captain, I can't say there was much to him. Huge disappointment there.

Secondly, I think with the objective of satisfying action movie fans, the Russo brothers put a liiitle bit too much of it in there. Fight scene, conclucion. Blink, flight scene, conclusion. That was most of the movie. It wasn't unmoving, but a lot of those scenes probably weren't required.

I loved the easter egg for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans that was the appearance of Maximilliano Hernandez as Jasper Sitwell. Yes, the guy who declared the Cap and Black Widow as fugitives has been in AoS and has been quite the butt of jokes there. So it was a welcome surprise for me, as well as a bit of relief on finding out that he was a baddie since I didn't like him very much.

Captain America: The Winter Solider was pretty much what everyone expected: imperfect, but pretty damn amazing. This leaves me looking forward to the future episodes of AoS, Guardians of the Galaxy in August, Avengers: Age of Ultron next year and of course, Captain America 3 in May 2016 (which I'm sure will feature the real and final end of HYDRA).

Overall rating: Four out of five stars (4/5)

Final comment: Must-watch.