Captain America: The Winter Soldier review

By: Peter Lewis

In the past three to four decades the American comic book has become much more respected from an artistic standpoint; despite this, the books tend to have a rough transition to the silver screen.  Comic adaptations on film have struggled in finding a true identity, in the sense of either capturing the escapism from the source material or being too serious and darker than the public’s perception of comics being children’s stories.  In the early 2000s, this became apparent as many comic adaptations were released to the cinema.  In 2002’s Spiderman, the film was much more serious in storytelling, but had dialogue that uncomfortably mirrored a 1950s comic.  With 2005’s Batman Begins, the comic film could easily be serious, gripping, and memorable, but at a slight cost to the humanity the comics possessed.  Yet, in 2008, Iron Man was released and did very well at doing all of the above and setting off the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Under the Marvel Studios brand with Disney, this has become the most notable series for being a guide for how to do a comic adaptation that stays true to its source material.

However, the main criticism of Iron Man centered on serious themes (a good example being Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Iron Man). The Marvel Cinematic Universe did, to an extent, hold back to keep family friendly while heavily focusing on action.  Critics also have pointed out that, compared to DC’s Dark Knight Trilogy, 2013’s Man of Steel, and even the Marvel imprint owned by 20^th Century Fox, X-Men, this film wasn’t as compelling with storytelling; in other words, many though DC and Fox had the surreal factor down, while Marvel Studios stuck to the safe basics.

I’m not going to agree or disagree with the criticism above, but I definitely see where the criticism has stemmed from.  With this, it was clear Marvel Studios wanted to change after 2012’s blockbuster and successful The Avengers film.  Last year, 2013, saw Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World take more chances, but still remain safe, especially at the climax of the films.  This time around, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the sequel to both 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger and 2012’s The Avengers, was the next film in the franchise to attempt to keep this new creative model going.  In many ways, Captain America: The Winter Soldier may have found a way to combine both escapism and the surreal much better than many had thought possible. 

Set two years after the events of The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier shows Captain Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, adjusting to the modern world around him from his most recent environment, 1940’s World War II United States.  The film wastes no time getting into the action and plot as Steve Rogers, Captain America, is sent on what seems to be a routine mission which turns into a conspiracy against SHIELD, the pseudo CIA of the Marvel Universe.  With this, Rogers becomes trapped between the agendas of Director Nick Fury, played by Samuel L Jackson and Alexander Pierce, played by Robert Redford.  Rogers is accompanied by allies Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson, Sam Wilson (“The Falcon”), played by Anthony Mackie, and Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders.  The group is forced into immediate action against the enemy known to SHIELD as the Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Shaw, and the forces tearing apart SHIELD as well as the values Rogers believes in.  

Be aware the plot is not as simple as it seems above; it’s short to avoid spoilers because the plot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier is very complex and has surprises and shocks all around.  It’s best to know that the film is Marvel Studios stepping up its game in a big way.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an incredible political thriller and comic adaptation and works very well. 

Acting here is great.  Evans, as he did in his previous films as Captain America, is nearly perfect and good at giving the character a new outlook, rather than being simple patriotic overload as the character had been in the past.  Evans provides a very likeable character with great value, showmanship, and morality.  Scarlett Johansson reprises her role of Black Widow for the third time and receives more deserved screen time for easily her best portrayal of the character yet.  Unlike her past two films, her character receives more background and is more utilized and Johansson handles the role very well.  Anthony Mackie debuts as the Falcon and, to his credit, does a very nice job for his first time in the Marvel Universe.  The Falcon, however, is noticeably absent for the film’s second act; when he does get screen time, he gives his character a good service and sets him up for future editions in the series.  Samuel L Jackson yet again plays Nick Fury and is a true force on screen.  While not doing what he usually does (yelling, swearing, and beating people), Jackson is still a great part of the series and here finally gets more screen time than past films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have given him.  Finally, Cobie Smulders reprises her role from The Avengers, but this time also gets more screen time and shows very good acting ability and a great development for her character.

As for Redford and Shaw, both depict their characters well and give the film a much needed plot challenge in the best way.  Alongside the cast and story, Redford and Shaw both shine and, with Evans and Johansson, steal the show.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduces new directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, who will be taking over the Captain America series.  I’ll admit I was skeptical of them taking over as their track record leading up to this was very minimal (and to me unimpressive), but the Russo brothers were incredible behind the camera.  They both took the source material and script extremely seriously and clearly worked hard to put out the best film.  They opted for more character study and story development than action.  When it is utilized, it’s very compelling and intense because their build up to it was great.  They both worked tremendously well with the writing from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Captain America: The Winter Soldier takes a more serious tone and slightly minimalizes the humor and action from past films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe imprints, but when it is put in it works very well.  Along with the golden boy and overseer of Marvel Studios, Producer Kevin Feige, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is easily at the top of the list in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, outdoing its predecessor and even 2008’s Iron Man.

Is the film perfect?  Nearly, but I did have two minor, and I mean very minor, complaints with the film.  For one, where Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were primarily centered around the characters, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a combination of a Captain America, The Avengers sequel and SHIELD sequel.  In the film’s defense, the first film was a set up for the Avengers and SHIELD storyline, so it makes sense for SHIELD to play a major role.  For the most part, I’d look more to the development of Captain America as a character and storyline.  Second, the film saves it major action for the climax, but ends up being typical Marvel Studios blockbuster action.  It works well, but for a film that felt fresh and new, it would have been nice to see something new done for the climax for a change. 

Overall though, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a fantastic and fresh film worth a view.  For Marvel and Disney, it’s a continuation of success and shows that they aren’t content with putting out the same story, but would rather continue to try to innovate for their cinematic universe to be one of the best in film history.  Without a doubt, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the best comic adaptations in recent memory and worthy of praise