Originally published in The Little Village, 4/15/14
Captain America returns for an engaging, tense and action packed thriller of a sequel in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The opening of the movie finds Captain America (Chris Evans) becoming more comfortable with life after his seven-decade stint as a human ice cube. He has an apartment, he’s thinking about asking his neighbor (Emily VanCamp) out on a date and he’s made a new friend, fellow soldier and para-rescue veteran Sam (Anthony Mackie) but he’s growing increasingly uneasy working for SHIELD with fellow Agent Natasha Romanoff (The Black Widow) (Scarlett Johansson).
His unease only grows when Nick Fury
(Samuel L. Jackson) shows him Project Insight- three new heli-carriers with
weapons arrays and a program that will track threats and eliminate them
pre-emptively. This doesn’t sit well
with the Captain, who begins to question his place and his role within SHIELD
when things like privacy and freedom are increasingly under threat from those
that he considered to be ‘the good guys.’
When Nick Fury is assassinated by a
mysterious masked assassin with a metal arm named The Winter Soldier (Sebastian
Stan), the Captain’s unease seems prescient- even as the Secretary of SHIELD,
Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) moves to initiate Project Insight, he finds
himself on the run with The Black Widow and his friend Sam (equipped with a
pair of mechanical wings to become The Falcon) trying to find out the secret of
The Winter Soldier and to root out enemies within SHIELD itself. Captain America soon finds himself haunted by
the ghosts of his past- both enemies and friends as like as he fights to save
SHIELD and prevent the destruction of everything he holds dear.
Marvel continues to set the standard
for ‘comic book movies’ and Captain America 2 is no exception. The directors, Joe and Anthony Russo bring
lots of experience in television to the picture and what results is a
pulse-pounding two and a half hour movie that moves and a break neck pace,
never feels slow and keeps the viewer rooted to their seat. But more importantly, having been freed of
the constraints of telling an origin story, they give all the characters room
to grow and change- especially Scarlett Johansson’s character, The Black
Widow.
The Black Widow has been floating in
the background of various Marvel movies dating back to Iron Man 2, but was given a more prominent role in The Avengers and moves into a lead role
here. Her back story has been hinted at
throughout in a frustrating, maddening way that leaves viewers wanting to know
more about her, but in this movie, she comes into her own. You can bet that it’s only a matter of time
before she gets a movie of her own.
If there is a concern about these loosely
connected movies, it’s that a viewer could be lost without watching the prior movies
first. That’s not necessarily the case-
it’s a big help, but the Russo Brothers conveniently have Captain America visit
a Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian, which fills new viewers in on the
events of the first Captain America and integrates it seamlessly into the movie
itself.
Overall: If actors with the pedigree of Robert Redford can
show up in comic book movies, maybe it’s time to start taking them
seriously. Captain America 2 has opened
the summer movie season with a bang- it’s one ride you won’t want to miss. Grade:
A+
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