Say goodbye to colorful, explosive, mindless, superheroes and say welcome to the new era of dark and gritty political thrillers starring the vilified Robert Redford.
The soon to be retired Chris Evans stars as Captain America for the time. And it is most definitely his best job yet. The mostly stoic hero has never been as relatable as he no longer feels like a roided out patriot (although he totally is a roided out patriot!) as he now feels like a man cursed by society to forever be an outcast.
Calling The Winter Soldier the best Marvel movie to date is a perfectly understandable opinion- although I do still prefer the original Iron Man just a tad more. It most definitely is the best directed (sorry Joss Whedon) Marvel movie as of right now. The Russo brothers- well known for their outstanding work on beloved sitcoms like Arrested Development and Community– show they have a true talent for movies.
Joss was given so many accolades as he managed such a star-studded cast brilliantly even in The Avengers. However the actual cinematography was weak and had no depth. This is not the case in The Winter Soldier in almost every shot means something and adds to the beauty of the film.
The rest of the beauty (that isn’t Chris Evans himself, calm down people) stems from the choreography and CGI during the more high-octane scenes. The first Captain America was ridiculed for its notoriously bad special effects. Lucky enough, Winter Soldier does wonders with its special effects budget. CGI is no longer the basis of the film as the core practical effects and stunt doubles make up the meat of the film.
And with this more realistic approach, both in action and story sequences, every blow strikes harder and ever boom rings louder than ever before. Only by slow, tension building, Bourne-esque storytelling does the action truly shine making every single scene memorable until the Marvel mandatory after credit sequence.
Winter Soldier may be a new approach to Marvel movies: the slow methodical pacing is normally left to Nolan with his Batman trilogy. But the Russo siblings introduce it to Marvel and its fan-base exceptionally.
The only weakness in the Winter Soldier is that, compared to past Marvel movies and with the exception of new-comer Anthony Mackie as Falcon, the comedic relief came off awkwardly more than a few times. The tone is much too serious to cope with Marvels iconic humor. I cannot lie, however, and say that I did not laugh at loud more than a few times over the two-hour runtime.
Other than a few minor inconveniences it is more than a worthy entry into the Marvel universe. Each character is portrayed by their actors beautifully. The story-telling is slow, but intelligent and the action is better than ever. Captain America 2 is a must see movie for any Marvel fan or if you’re fan of espionage thrillers and political intrigue as a whole.
One of the best Marvel and superhero movies to date. I haven’t had this much in a movie theatre in a very long time. The spring movie drought is finally over and the summer blockbusters have arrived.
