Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Walt Disney Studios

The recipe for a Marvel films has always included humor and action. These two ingredients have always been the most noticeable of any of the others but they both seemed to be used in larger amounts each time the recipe is re-used. As of late, the humor and action have become not components in the final product but the final product. With Captain America: The Winter Soldier though, it appears that the people over at Marvel and Disney realized that the recipe needed tweaked a bit. Captain America: The Winter Soldier uses respectable plot points and characters to focus on the bigger picture rather than sticking with heavy slap stick comedy and mindless action sequences that past Marvel films have over utilized.

In his third go around, we first find Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America (Chris Evans) stationed in the nation’s capital, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Quickly into the film, Captain America is called to sea in an attempt to stop a group of pirates taking over a ship that belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D. While Rogers has his hands full, agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), also on board, is found downloading data from a computer on to a flash drive. After it becomes unclear what exactly the data that Romanoff acquired is, trust among everyone involved at S.H.I.E.L.D. becomes an issue, even with senior official Alexander Price (Robert Redford) and S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

With the first scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier featuring Steve Rogers using his enhanced physical abilities to pass Iraq war veteran Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as both are jogging around the National Monument in D.C., saying ‘On your left’ each time, I could not help but think that this was just going to be another attempt at being a full out comedy. I’m thrilled to say that I was wrong. In fact the ‘To your left’ joke actually pays off as it is properly referred to again later in the film. One of the problems with Iron Man 3 and especially Thor: The Dark World was that it seemed like weak humor was around every corner and that every other character was comic relief. This is not the case it with The Winter Soldier which is refreshing to say the least.

The Winter Soldier stays focused on being an action film, not a comedy. Never is the audience allowed to question the genre they are experiencing. The Winter Soldier does not rely solely on humor as its primary approach to entertaining but instead uses nicely constructed, interesting action sequences to keep the audience in. I’m not saying that past Marvel films have not featured respectable action scenes; it’s just that The Winter Soldier uses these same type of scenes to actually move the film forward.

Discipline when using humor is a plus when evaluating the value of The Winter Soldier but it is it’s character focus that makes it one of Marvels better entries. Take a second to think about what Captain America has to offer when to comes to characteristics and behaviors. Why it didn’t really dawn on me until I was watching The Winter Soldier, I’m not sure but Captain America/Steve Rogers has possibly the most interesting back story of any character currently being used in the Marvel saga. Of course, with Steve Rogers, you have a guy who has to live with the results of being genetically enhanced but also someone that has to adjust to a world he has been absent from for nearly 70 years. Life at age 95 (the age he says he is in the film) is either non-existent or at its end but not for Steve Rogers. His life is just beginning again. This is all briefly brought to light in a compelling moment with an elder Peggy Carter from the first film. Unfortunately, this issue that Rogers has to deal with is really not explored any more than this one scene.

The mystery that is given to other characters in the film is also noteworthy. The second title character, the Winter Soldier, involves plenty of mystique. Although, he is nothing special when it comes to villainous qualities, his back story allows him to be character to follow. It is continually hinted at that the past life of agent Natasha Romanoff is something that can be harmful if revealed so the fact that it is never truly explained gives the audience something to wonder about which is needed for the bigger picture.

What is that bigger picture? The bigger picture is the foundation plot for the Marvel film universe and unlike past Marvel films, it’s something that The Winter Soldier keeps in mind. This movie is about S.H.I.E.L.D. and how its future could be affected. This plot point is connected to themes from the first Captain America film which makes for a solid plot and works in the entire sagas favor. Also strengthening the plot is the focus on trust. Even though Nick Fury makes mention of it way too much, this theme adds a human element to an unrealistic concept.

One negative aspect regarding The Winter Soldier's plot is that sometimes it moves too quick while also packing a lot in causing for things to get a little muffled at times. This is small problem though as the more respectable aspects of the plot along with strong characters over shadow it. It is also because of these aspects that The Winter Soldier is so encouraging. Going in, it was easy to think that the mega successful Marvel Universe was just a sinking ship. The Winter Soldier not only assures that things are on the up but that the Marvel product can actually match the financial gain.

Grade: B+

Review written by Brad Shawgo. Visit his blog, ShawGoesToTheMovies, for more great film reviews and movie posts.

Published on 4/10/2014 5:49:38 PM