 |
| marvel-movies.wikia.com |
I was a
latecomer to the Avengers universe – I enjoyed the first Iron-Man at some point, and Joss Whedon’s involvement brought me to
the first Avengers, which was the
film that sent me on a crash course through the series. I caught up quickly, and I’ve since seen all
the post-Avengers offerings on their
opening weekends.
Well, I
literally just returned from the new Captain
America, and I’m terribly pleased.
It might be my favorite post-Avengers
movie of the bunch, I had an absolute blast.
Quick thumbnail – Capt. Steve Rogers has mostly adjusted to life in the
21st century after the growing pains of The Avengers, working hard as a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. man. However, factions within S.H.I.E.L.D. are
conspiring against him, and Cap finds himself on the run. As his investigation throws up specters from
his past, Cap is face with a venerable foe, a mythic assassin known as the Winter
Soldier.
It’s
hard not to love Cap, and Chris Evans is great as always. Though his character has gone on quite the
journey and he’s been more than a little disillusioned, it’s good to see that
his core values are still intact. Scarlett
Johansson’s Black Widow makes a stellar screen partner for him – she makes him
think a bit more critically, and he gives her something to trust in. Those two have terrific friend chemistry, and
I could watch them be fugitive investigators all day. Anthony Mackie fits seamlessly into Cap’s
world as Falcon (and the wings? Awesome,) and I like seeing more of
Cobie Smulders’s Maria Hill.
With
the Winter Soldier, Marvel might have finally found an adversary to rival
Loki. He’s used largely as a weapon in
this movie, but Sebastian Stan, who I’ve loved since Kings, is highly effective in his bigger character moments, and I
predict great things for the next Captain
America movie. Given the nature of
the character, he’s more than just a generic bad guy with eeeeevil ambitions – the whole thing is full of story
potential. Oh, and those scenes of the
Winter Soldier as a weapon are amazing;
such a BAMF, and it’s fantastic to see Cap go up against someone who can match
punches with him.
The
story plays like an old espionage thriller with superhero-action set
pieces. The character interactions are
fabulous, and there’s a nice balance of humor throughout (I especially like the
comments poking fun at Cap’s behind-the-times-ness re: pop culture and technology.) There are some topnotch fight scenes,
especially between Cap & co. and the Winter Soldier. However, I’m not all that impressed with the
camera work in the action sequences; it often feels too frenetic, which muddies
the scenes and makes it hard to tell what’s going on.
As is
the norm for these movies, we get two post-credit scenes, so stick around!
Warnings
Tons of
action violence and a few sexual references.
* * *
In other news, Game of Thrones is coming back tonight, and it's gonna be awesome - I can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment