CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (9.5 out of 10) – Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (post-credits scene directed by Joss Whedon); written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely based on the graphic novel written by Ed Brubaker; starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Robert Redford; rated PG-13; in general release; running time: 136 minutes.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” takes place after the events of Marvel’s “The Avengers” and works hard to bring Steve Rogers into the modern world. Accordingly, he’s dealing with modern threats: massive security and surveillance, big data, striking preemptively. It’s a story that could only be told in a post-9/11 (and post Chitauri invasion of New York) world.
As he grows more and more uncomfortable with the nature of the day to day operations of SHIELD, Captain America is thrust into the middle of a murder mystery, pitting him against everyone he’s held as an ally or a friend.
From that point, Captain America has to decide who to trust and who might actually be the bad guy (or bad guys, as the case may be.) Eventually, he recruits Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) as the Falcon, as well as a couple of familiar faces from the rest of the Marvel films.
For fans of the Marvel Universe and the character of Captain America, this film is a home run. It takes all the best moments from the comic it’s based on and amplifies them. This is an emotional film for a person who loves the Universe. It would have been an easy choice for Marvel to simply skip ahead of the awkward “man out of time” phase for the character and keep him well-adjusted, but they took a harder and ultimately more rewarding path. The script is so carefully balanced on the origin of Captain America, where he’s from, what his roots are, that they spent far more time in the 1940s than I would have guessed possible.
For fans of classic cinema, this film becomes a grand slam home run. It’s steeped in the shades-of-gray world of 1970s surveillance cinema. One is instantly reminded of films like “The Conversation” and “All the President’s Men.” It’s easily compared to Sydney Pollack’s “3 Days of the Condor.” Sure, Robert Redford, a staple from that era of film (and in two of those films specifically) helps sell that, but the film stands on its own in that regard, with or without Redford. The film is an exploration of trust, friendship, and betrayal that not only illuminates the things that make us love all of these characters, but also keep us on the edge of our seats. It’s a classic style of filmmaking married with contemporary sensibilities and it works on a variety of levels.
And what of the titular Winter Soldier? Yes, he’s in the film, but manages to break the pattern of most super-hero movies, where the hero is so completely overshadowed by the new bad guy (see “The Dark Knight”) that the movie becomes all about the villain. The Winter Soldier’s background was as much front and center in the previous movie as the current, and it’s inextricably linked to our heroes, illuminated both characters in a way that didn’t give an edge to the villain and kept the spotlight on the emotional core of the film.
As much as I love Thor (he’s easily my favorite Marvel character (save for perhaps Moon Knight and Dr. Strange)), I think “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” might be the best and most mature of this batch of Marvel movies. It has a story full of twists and intrigue, an emotional center that catches you frequently off guard, and a bad guy that means something. Add to that some of the most iconic characters of the century and place them in some of the most dynamic action sequences since the finale of “Thor: The Dark World” and you have the recipe for a film that will last a long time as a pinnacle of the superhero genre.
I’m giving it a 9.5. The only reason it’s not a perfect 10 is for some moments of shaky CGI work that weren’t up to snuff and it was over far too quickly. That, and the second post-credits sequence was a little obvious. They should have switched their order.