The final Marvel movie/"Avengers sequel" to date that I missed at the cinema and have now finally caught up on via DVD. Essentially Captain America 2, this film takes the war-time, all-American hero of a bygone day and thrusts him well and truly into the modern Marvel era.
Without his team of Avengers, we see what life is like for Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) when he flies solo. In many senses - it is action packed! Honed and focused action sequences, thrilling political neo-drama, sparkling character chemistry and various intruiging and well executed Marvel themes and undercurrents make The Winter Soldier a very solid film in the Marvel canon, a very well received sequel and a great 2 hour watch.
I did enjoy the first Captain America of 2011; in many senses it was groundbreaking and gave something radically different compared to other Marvel action movies - offering a near-perfect blend of action and incredibly human emotive scenes, as well as being heavily genre orientated. But in the back of my mind whenever I watch it, there is always the sense that they were trying to get through it for the sake of it at times; like they just wanted to establish the origin of Captain America, draw it out into one long film, and then bounce him into the rosta of the Avengers. Now we see the Captain coming into his own in the modern world (though the process takes some struggle) which to me feels like what we were meant to see from the start; certainly it is what a major proportion of the character's comic book background is made of. From his first origin film, to development in the Avengers, to major development in this film, we also see Chris Evans come on leaps and bounds too. Slipping back into the essence of Captain America with ease,we now get to see him in this whole new host of situations and scenarios, the result of which he delivers upon very well.
Apart from Chris Evans and Captain America/Steve Rogers, we also get the welcome return and evolution of a few other familiar faces. The ever iconic Samuel L. Jackson returns as the ever iconic Nick Fury who, without giving too much away, by the end of the film goes on quite a ride character-wise himself. In terms of action, attitude and development, we see more of Jackson in all his glory as Fury then we have ever seen before, and I for one think that to be a brilliant thing. Scarlett Johansson returns as Cap's fellow Avenger Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow. Again we see a few new glimmers of development in what is clearly a multi-film character arc here, but we still see a development of this character's personality and backstory, as well as being reminded of her ability to kick ass like the best of them. Also as a brief aside, I credit the writers and producers for not simply turning the Black Widow into the girl who falls for the boy in this film. Obviously Scarlett Johansson is stunningly gorgeous and she is the main female lead in this film, but her character introduced in the Avengers is stuck to, and we do not just see her gazing into Cap's eyes for two hours. The result is originality and very watchable chemistry.
The other returning face comes in the form of the character the title of The Winter Soldier refers to. Sebastian Stan returns as the resurrected "Bucky" Barnes who has hence become the villainous Winter Soldier. Whilst this is a staple in the Captain America mythology, and a very important aspect to be covered in these films, the character itself fell quite flat for me; being one element in an otherwise quite original Marvel film that felt clichéd. I didn't really take to the character in the first film, I thought he was two one-dimensional and predictable, and I'm afraid (despite a radical revamp) the same can be said second time around.
Though not seen before, though also a staple in the Marvel/Avengers mythology is Sam Wilson, AKA the Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. A bit of backstory and a new action boost makes his a welcome new face.
One final casting note to mention. Cap 2 has a very deep and resonant undercurrent of the political, the secretive, and the scandal exposure. All elements in this film work to create this, but one more than most is Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce. This was a surprise bit of casting, but still a welcome one, as the moments where Redford tries to convey the two-sided Pierce fall a bit flat, but when his dark streak is revealed he excels in presenting it with subtle venom.
So yes, unlike for example the Thor sequel which also came post-Avengers, this film goes a bit beyond relying on old formula, and instead pushes the character and the universe in new and slightly unexpected directions, which such a film and such a sequel should do. Though at no point do we feel that this particular Marvel branch is running out of steam, I feel that this is certainly a better outing for the star-spangled hero, and bodes well for the next time we shall see these characters, which I am sure we are due to get... Avengers: Age of Ultron anyone?
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