Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America, AKA Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), is still adjusting to modernity after the time travel of the previous film. After completing a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), our patriotic hero is visited by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who has just escaped an attempt on his life, and urges Rogers to be careful and trust no one. He also hands him a flash drive, before running afoul of an assassin. It appears that someone has ordered a hit on Rogers too now, and an ambitious politician (played by Robert Redford!) and a seemingly unstoppable assassin who triggers memories of long ago in Rogers, appear to be behind it all. The assassin is dubbed The Winter Soldier, but the rest you’ll have to see for yourself. Frank Grillo and Aussie actor Callan Mulvey turn up as security/mercenaries for S.H.I.E.L.D. Emily VanCamp plays another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and Anthony Mackie turns up as former soldier Sam Wilson, AKA, The Falcon, AKA an actual African-American Marvel superhero…who plays sidekick to Captain (White) America here. Toby Jones, Cobie Smulders, Garry Shandling, and Hayley Atwill all reprise their roles from previous Marvel flicks, as does one other person whose identity and character will remain a secret here.

 

I didn’t like the previous “Captain America: The First Avenger”, because I felt like it was unmemorable, underused its cool-looking villain, had poor FX, and the title character didn’t seem superhero enough to me. It was a seriously bland film. Now comes this 2014 sequel from co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo (brothers who previously directed “You, Me, and Owen Wilson” plus TV shows like “Arrested Development”), and not only is it a huge improvement in just about every way, but it’s the only other film than “Thor: The Dark World” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” in the Marvel Comics film oeuvre that I’ve wholeheartedly enjoyed (I’m not counting the pre-“Avengers” era ones, but if I did, you could add “Blade” and the third “X-Men” film to the list). It might even be the best one so far. I still think Captain America proves to be a cooler superhero in theory than actuality, but at least in this one he’s far more of a superhero in nature than he was in the previous film when he was 90% propaganda public speaker/recruiter. And his shield to me renders him pretty damn ineffective in battle, it’s such a cumbersome and defensive weapon for such little benefit.

 

The film also brings up some really interesting ideas early on about military might and all the nostalgia stuff from Cap’n USA’s time-travel at the end of the first film. It’s weighty stuff and the best thing in the entire film is that we get to see an older Peggy Carter to make the ending of the first film not seem so offensive. It still pisses me off, but this is definitely a better and more interesting and thought-provoking film, whilst not neglecting what it needs to be as an adventure/action spectacle. It’s not flawless, mind you. Although the film is still very good-looking (I still say the Captain America suit is too dark, though), the shaky camerawork by Trent Opaloch is problematic (Opaloch is a three-time offender now after the zoom-happy “District 9” and shaky “Elysium”). Chris Evans is still wooden in the lead role (he seems distracted throughout), which leaves an empty hole at the centre, somewhat. Also, the big reveal of the identity of the “Winter Soldier” is underwhelming to the point that one might ask ‘Who was that guy again?’ were it not for the inclusion of flashbacks (suggesting that even the filmmakers realise it’s a bit lame).

 

However, there’s a lot to like here, the good far outweighs the bad. For instance, this is a rare modern comic book/superhero movie that seems to understand and navigate the tricky balance of treating this stuff seriously but also not forgetting to be comic book entertainment. It certainly starts off excitingly and hardly lets up throughout. Samuel L. Jackson and an especially well-used Robert Redford play this thing for serious drama, as it should be, but the film still delivers the action and enjoyment. It also has a supporting cast who more than pick up Evans’ slack. Scarlett Johansson is much better here than in “The Avengers” (It’s her best performance to date, unless you count “Her”), Jackson and Redford own their every scene, and Anthony Mackie is a lively presence on screen. The amusing thing about Jackson is that even in a comic book film he’s playing a guy who feels racially profiled by cops. I love it, and it leads to one of the better action sequences I’ve seen of late. It’s great to see Jackson’s Nick Fury getting amongst it, and even the shaky-cam doesn’t quite spoil the action fun here. Meanwhile, the casting of Redford brings up memories and themes from “Three Days of the Condor” and even “All the President’s Men”. Sure, you know the deal with his character before it’s revealed (another character has ‘surprise bad guy’ practically tattooed on their face from moment one), but he has a weighty presence in this that’s not only unusual and beneficial for this kind of thing, but surprising coming from, let’s face it, the more lightweight star from “The Sting” and “Butch Cassidy”. Paul Newman was always considered the actor, Redford the matinee idol, but he can also act when it’s his wont. I also need to single out Toby Jones, who is even better in this than he was in the previous “Captain America” film. He’s creepy, eccentric and wonderful…and yet sorta not in the film at all. You’ll know what I mean when you see the film. I’m not sure what’s going on with all these TV actresses turning up in the franchise (Kat Dennings, Cobie Smulders), but “Revenge” star Emily VanCamp in addition to having a distracting nose (Seriously, what’s with that? It’s not huge or anything, but you keep finding yourself staring at it for some reason), has only one facial expression the entire film: ‘Oops. I crapped my pants!’. Tell me I’m wrong, people. Speaking of weird faces, poor Garry Shandling looks like he had an allergic reaction to shellfish, and then the whale that seemingly swallowed Shandling afterwards seems to have had an allergic reaction to the allergic reaction that the shellfish Shandling ate in the first place, had to Shandling’s weird plastic surgery. Seriously, what the hell happened to him?

 

Although this film would be even more fun without the shaky-cam and a more committed actor than Chris Evans in the lead, this still proves to be one of the best comic book films of late. It’s interesting and thought-provoking, but crucially, still a lot of fun, even if it seems like everyone in the film is a top MMA fighter. This is the film “Iron Man” should’ve been, had it not gotten the balance completely wrong. I don’t normally like real geopolitics entering my comic book flicks, but if the entertainment and excitement are still there, I can put up with it, especially when it’s as interesting as this. Here we have a character taken out of the more naïve and innocent 1940s and transplanted to the modern era (or a comic book rendering of such), for a film that evokes memories of films from the cynical and questioning 1970s, a time of much political conspiracy, questioning, and falls from grace. It proves very interesting and clever stuff without seeming jarring or anachronistic for a film set long after the 1970s. Perhaps that says something about our current world.

 

I was truly pleasantly surprised by this one, and you need to see it if only to see Robert Redford playing his seeming polar opposite, and pulling it off rather well. Seriously, though, why is the “Captain America” suit so dark and borderline monochromatic? The guy’s called Captain America but seems ashamed of the red, white, and blue. The screenplay is by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley, who wrote the previous “Captain America” film, but also tellingly, “Thor: The Dark World”.

 

Rating: B-