Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

        2014 is one of the best years for the Marvel comics brand. Specifically, that year was the best for the MCU in general. No one would’ve thought just how well The Winter Soldier would be received by the diehard fans and the general audience. It was needed since The Dark World was okay and The First Avenger was a decent entry for Captain America. The sequel would be the standard of how to advance a character’s progression and shake up the cinematic universe. 

1. Man Out of Time

        Something about the movie opening always stuck with me. Aside from reintroducing Steve and his new friend Sam Wilson, it really showcases Rogers humbleness. Just the banter and Steve’s empathy for what Sam does in his downtime makes him interesting. Transition with what Cap and Natasha do as they work with SHIELD full time. Just how the initial action sequence is shot is the opposite of the prior Captain America was done. 

        Granted that one was a period piece, this one is now set in contemporary times with Rogers already acclimated to his surroundings. We follow him as he becomes embroiled with a conspiracy that involves Nick Fury. Soon, Cap must contend with a new threat dubbed the Winter Soldier, an assassin that is of equal strength as Rogers. There’s only so much to talk about this film since it was a gamechanger for not just the cinematic universe, but for comic book films in general.

        I can at least talk about Steve’s character arc. Just seeing how he’s strictly business and then confronting Natasha going against mission orders basically kick off his crisis of faith within his world. All of it comes through naturally as he talks to Fury. Seeing the new SHIELD initiative irks Steve the wrong way. It’s one of the themes of the movie where it deals with what’s right and wrong. Just seeing him go through questioning authority to the point where he takes it upon himself to figure out the conspiracy makes it personal for him.

        The fight scenes are one of the main highlights for the film. Since we see Cap sort of give a boxeresque fight scenes in his debut film and The Avengers, this film is a massive improvement. He does more with his shield and the fights are grounded to a ridiculous extent. Right down to the gun fights involving Fury and Cap’s friends are intense. It’s one thing where the action is frenetic but it’s readable where we know what’s going on despite the multiple cuts to different camera angles.  

        In the quiet moments of the film, I love the moment when we see Rogers explore the Smithsonian and see the exhibit that shows his contribution to the country. He doesn’t bask in it at all, and mostly just feels like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit. He’s sort of glum about it and makes the trip to see his love who’s suffering. All of it shows that everything that Steve knows and loves is slowly slipping away. It’s a small tease to the ensuing events that upend everything Steve believes in. 

        As I mentioned before, this is a personal film for Steve. And that’s the key thing for the film and why it’s successful. All of it affects Steve where everything that he knows was a façade and it’s his story. I’ll talk about the secondary villain, but what makes the film work is that we see a duality of what Steve would have become. Nick and Steve are the contrast of what Alexander Pierce and Winter Soldier are within SHIELD. And yes, I’ll talk about the twists in the next tab. 

2. The Winter Soldier

        Anybody who reads comic books practically knew that The Winter Soldier is Steve’s friend Bucky. I distinctly remember when watching the film in the theater with my dad. The moment when the mask falls off and Bucky reveals his face, some people in the audience gasped audibly. Dramatic irony is used so well in the film, it all boils over when Steve recognizes him and Bucky just gives him a deathly stare as he tries to kill him. 

        There really is no better way to have a Captain America movie but incorporating that storyline in the greater MCU. Just with his first introduction as a rogue assassin makes him a formidable threat and a scary one since we don’t know when he’ll pop up. That moment between Fury and Rogers in his apartment when Nick gets shot just makes him a top tier menace. More so when Steve chases and throws the shield, Bucky catches it and tosses it back. 

        Just that reveal was preempted by the twist that destroys everything that Steve knew. As Rogers and Romanoff go and uncover the conspiracy, they encounter one of Hydra’s scientists whose brain was digitized. The whole scene practically blew me away since I never thought that Hydra would come back. Hell, rewatching the moment when Fury was shot, one of the Agents asked if the shooter was identified. Giving away just how would they know it was a shooter.

        More so that SHIELD is Hydra scene makes the whole film even more personal for Rogers. I hate to harp on it again, but it’s the definite example of making a good sequel work within the context of the Cinematic Universe and to expand on the character. While the sequels that we’ve saw hinged on a past or on a world ender plot, basically making the story central for the character’s story. With The Winter Soldier, it’s the character who’s so important that it makes it more impactful.

        Just the presentation of Hydra slowly taking over and the scientist named Arnim Zola telling Steve that his actions were for nothing packed the punch. And with the grand scheme, it makes SHIELD’s initiative to assemble a team even more sketchy. Making them think that they can have a team to impose their will. More so that when we see Senator Stern return again, makes his initial appearance in Iron Man 2 even more questionable since he wanted the Iron Man suits. 

        Now, there’s a difference between making the movie better after the fact and growing the Cinematic Universe as a whole. The film doesn’t fix the problems that Iron Man 2 has or negate its problems. Expanding on the unused elements by putting them in a different situation and making it even more clear in the grand scheme makes it more impactful by putting it into context why it was explored. 

3. Legacy

        I think this was the point where there was a certain legitimacy to be had with comic book films. The film did well financially, and the Russo Brothers were tapped again to helm the next sequel and the subsequent Avengers films. More so that they used Robert Redford as an homage to the 70s film Three Days of the Condor. Not just his appearance alone, but using a legendary actor gave the film a leg up to be taken seriously. 

        I didn’t mention this before since the show isn’t part of the MCU canon, but I will now. Back in the mid-2010s, there was a show called Agents of SHIELD that aired on ABC. It prided itself on being connected to the movies. Ironic as it may seem that the folks at Marvel Studios were planning on dismantling SHIELD just before the show was going to take place. So much so, that Agents had a season shift that reflected from the movie. It would be a recurring thing where the Agents did their own thing but had to of course reference the films. Even though everything that they did wasn’t consequential to the MCU, due to it not being canon. 

4. Overall

        Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the best MCU films and the best comic book films of the 2010s. It finally gave Cap his legitimacy and breathed new life to the Cinematic Universe.