Duck Fox

Note: Spoilers for several Marvel movies will follow, but if you haven't watched Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World or any of the pre-Avengers movies by now then why are you even reading this? And if you haven't seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, well, same question, but also, this review is like 3 weeks late. Go see the movie. 


It's easy to be cynical when it comes to entering the theater in preparation of seeing a Marvel Cinematic Universe film these days. After all, Marvel's television and movie production arm has been hurrying out more and more films aiming to duplicate the massive payday that The Avengers turned out to be, but with a much foggier purpose than the titles that lead to that blockbuster. The "Phase I" films--as they are officially denoted by Marvel's own production office-- were quite clearly about building the team that was one of the most well known names in comic books. Each installment carried with it a purpose-- to explore the origin of a particular hero. Teasing future developments and tying the stories together through easter eggs and comic references was just a bonus to the larger film. Marvel's Phase 2 hasn't had much success constructing an overarching narrative for the heroes.

Sure, there's some teasing themes involving betrayal and mistakes of the past, but both Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were directionless epic action films. Iron Man 3's postcredits scene was less of an important setup and more of an inside joke, and though Thor 2's midcredits sequence gave a juicier tease of Guardians of the Galaxy, the films themselves barely connected with the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying foul because Tony Stark didn't call his g(o)od friend for back up (though his casual session with Bruce Banner was kind of weird, since if he could goof off with Banner why not give him a call for help to take down the Mandarin?), I'm just wondering why the most we've seen in the way of ramifications after the Mandarin blew up a city street and physics in the UK were sent into a tizzy is a couple of crossover episodes with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? It was almost like Marvel was backing away from the idea of a shared Universe, afraid that they'd hamper the path to Avengers: Age of Ultron by continuing to mix worlds.

Thankfully, Captain America: The Winter Soldier got back to what makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe so compelling, while telling an epic Captain America story at the same time.

Captain America is, to many, the ultimate hero. He's not only noble and kind and self sacrificing, he's also patriotic and humble. Oh, and his superpower isn't even that super, so if you worked really hard, you could sorta be close to being just like him one day! And, indeed, Steve Rogers himself is having to deal with the reality of his popularity, while also balancing his actual job as an operative for the increasingly more secretive agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. The movie doesn't make it clear whether Cap knows Coulson is alive, though by chip on his shoulder concerning the agency, I wouldn't be surprised if we found out definitively that he did not know of Coulson's magical trip to Tahiti. Naturally the first thing Cap is tasked with doing in the film is secure a S.H.I.E.L.D boat that has been highjacked by Batroc. Yes, you read that right, Batroc the leaper. And somehow the movie makes possibly lamest villain since Stilt-man... kinda badass. I love MCU reimaginings! Anyway, Cap hears that his mission is to save the hostages, but Black Widow is his backup, and she seems to have a different job completely.

The first really cool action sequence of the movie is Cap systemically taking down everyone on the ship. It is as amazing as anticipated. Let it be a note to Thor and Iron Man-- Cap don't need no fancy hammers or repulsor rays to take out highly armed baddies. This sequence is more or less an opportunity for Cap to be frank with Fury about his concerns on S.H.I.E.L.D. Concerns that mirror the ones soldiers in the real world probably have about our military. Fury provides stock answers about the need to have an agency like S.H.I.E.L.D-- secrecy and all-- so it can protect people. Cap's response is essentially questioning how much liberty people should give up for their security.

The question doesn't linger over the movie for too long, though, as soon Fury faces off against The Winter Soldier himself. There's little more that can be expounded upon with blatant spoilers, but suffice to say when the movie kicks into high gear, it really gets moving. The Winter Soldier has all the action movie scenes you expect-- explosions, Cap taking on dozens of guys in a crowded elevator, Black Widow putting guys to sleep with her legs (using martial arts moves, you pervs!), but it separates itself out from the popcorn thriller by being surprisingly topical.

When Captain America brings up his concerns over what is done in the name of the American people, it's a lot like the concerns of Obama's ongoing drone warfare or the NSA spying. And while the movie doesn't get too embroiled in representing the citizens reaction to events-- it is still a superhero summer blockbuster-- it should leave quite a few members of the audience nodding their heads in disagreement. Now if only we could actually vote Cap for president... Of course, the political edge behind the story would be meaningless if the main characters weren't of interest.

Chris Evans reprises his role as the handsome Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, and he brings a liveliness and playfulness to the role that is really unexpected by the way the character is usually depicted. Evans has definitely got the 1940's drawl down, though not so much the slang as the "lookie here, dahl" accent. Opposite him is the always lovely Scarlett Johansson, always swearing Samuel L. Jackson, and newcomer Anthony Mackie, playing one of my favorite superheroes ever-- The Falcon! Black Widow (Johansson) and Nick Fury (Jackson) should be pretty familiar by now, and each one plays their part. Widow is a little too overly concerned with Cap's romantic life, for my taste, but Johansson's deadpan delivery of the names of available women punctuating action scenes makes the gag work. The real surprise, though, is Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes. Though he's far more limited to flashbacks in this installment, he really creates an understanding for why Cap is the kind of man he is with that little bit of screentime.

But now you're probably wondering about all this "game change" nonsense and why I started this review with two paragraphs of how lame the other MCU Phase 2 films were for not incorporating the larger MCU. So what happens that makes the film more powerful than the other films in its phase? Well, I won't tell you here, but suffice to say: S.H.I.E.L.D is never going to be the same. The insidiousness that Captain America reveals involving the agency has a widespread affect on the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we're seeing those repercussions dealt with now on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Overall, the Captain America: The Winter Soldier explores some pretty powerful political themes. It's not exactly subtle with its parallelism, but the real draw of the movie is watching an iconic character tackle the problems we as Americans (if you're reading this as an American, of course-- sorry Canadians, no Alpha Flight just yet!) are either too fearful or too complacent to solve. Superhero films have always aimed to be more inspirational than education, and so it's nice to see a film that shoots for the stars and manages to reach the moon. Here's hoping Marvel's next trip lands us solidly in the galaxy.

9.0/10

• Great action scenes, intimate character moments, and a thriller espionage story with just enough twists to be understandable come together to form the best sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Scarlett Johansson have wonderful chemistry.
• Batroc was pretty cool. Like, for real!
• Crossbones (Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow)and Emily Thorne Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp) show up, too!...Which combined with info that Chris Evans is only doing three more Marvel movies... doesn't bode well for Captain America....

• Duck it? Okay buddy, which are you: a communist or a Nazi?!
• Scarlett Johansson just isn't as enjoyable as she is when she's a disembodied voice. 
• You're okay with being completely lost come next year around this time, or when watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.