Captain America: The Winter Soldier


JackFetch

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Verdict? It's sort of a six of one, half a dozen of the other situation. Compared with it's contemporaries Iron man 3 and Thor: The Dark World there are positives and negatives. It's definitely a good modern Cap movie, with heavy ties to continuity, a ton of action and way stronger villains than Iron Man in that there's a real range of them and their plan and threat level are pretty damn high, reminiscent of X2 in that regard. However it lacks the spark of a RDJ or Tom Hiddlestone to really put it over the edge as a top flight blockbuster. Cap is way more tied into a supporting cast and he's a good protagonist, but it lacked even the fun or humour of The First Avenger, the pulpiness is gone in favour of the superheroic take on the Bourne franchise. Oh, and in a move that is going to shock even me, I'm going to admit that ScarJo isn't very good in this. Which is shocking, because she's clearly very talented and whatnot but she's just not good in this kind of genre.

It's a good action film, a decent mystery and worth watching but it won't blow your mind much. However it once again does a great job moving the universe in new directions, the opposite way from Thor.

Oh, and there's both a mid and post credits scene tying into multiple upcoming movies, so stay for that.

Also, Jenny Agutter sighting which makes the Logans Run/American Werewolf fan in me happy.

Re minor note on a major Avenger

I guess Iron Man 3 is basically out of continuity then, unless this takes place before the events of that film. Clearly at this point Iron Man is not retired.

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Re minor note on a major Avenger

I guess Iron Man 3 is basically out of continuity then, unless this takes place before the events of that film. Clearly at this point Iron Man is not retired.

Could you elaborate? (In spoiler tags, obviously).

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Re minor note on a major Avenger

I guess Iron Man 3 is basically out of continuity then, unless this takes place before the events of that film. Clearly at this point Iron Man is not retired.

Could you elaborate? (In spoiler tags, obviously).

Fury calls in a favour in exchange for getting Iron Man to show up at that guy's kid's birthday party, and for drinks, not just a flyby.

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Re minor note on a major Avenger

I guess Iron Man 3 is basically out of continuity then, unless this takes place before the events of that film. Clearly at this point Iron Man is not retired.

Could you elaborate? (In spoiler tags, obviously).

Fury calls in a favour in exchange for getting Iron Man to show up at that guy's kid's birthday party, and for drinks, not just a flyby.

See, if memory serves, the dialogue asked for an appearence from Stark, not "Iron Man", so that could perfectly fit in with the post-Iron Man 3 Marvel Universe.

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See, if memory serves, the dialogue asked for an appearence from Stark, not "Iron Man", so that could perfectly fit in with the post-Iron Man 3 Marvel Universe.

Actually, it was very specifically "Iron Man." But that doesn't really mean anything in regards to IM3. Tony blew up his suits, but he himself says in his monologue at the end, "I am Iron Man." There's never any part in IM3 where Tony says, "that's it, I'm retired forever, no more suiting up ever ever ever."

Though if SHIELD were still dealing with the fallout of The Winter Soldier, that might explain why they didn't show up in IM3.

So, movie thoughts:

Good:

-YES. This is exactly what I wanted to see. Loved it.

-The action is insanely good, and there's a ton of it. Not as epic as The Avengers, but definitely more precise and brutal. My favorite action in a Marvel movie thus far.

-The Winter Soldier himself was rather brilliantly built up as a legitimate threat. During both of the big fights between him and Cap, I seriously doubted if Cap could win—which is insane, considering how amazingly badass Cap was made to be in this movie.

-Black Widow is a character I greatly disliked in Iron Man 2, and tolerated in The Avengers, but here I liked her a lot. Maybe it's the fact that Scarlett actually has more to do than just be a hot body and have one cool conversation with Loki. But this is the first time I've ever really enjoyed Scarlett as Black Widow, which is a good sign for the future.

-This is basically a SHIELD movie starring Captain America. Which works really well. I hope it gives Agents of SHIELD a how-to lesson as well.

-Speaking of Agents of SHIELD, it was neat to see some mild payoff from elements of that series in this movie. Agent Sitwell and the Triskelion being the two biggest. Also minor stuff like the fact that Fury's SUV apparently can fly, just like Lola.

-Falcon was pretty great. Really likable and really cool.

Less Good:

-Why didn't they bring in Black Widow's history with the Winter Soldier? It seemed like they were going in that direction multiple times.

-The plot, it seemed, kind of overtook the main emotional plot. The movie is called The Winter Soldier, yet Bucky is barely in the movie. But evidently that's the thrust of the next sequel. I almost feel that perhaps this movie shouldn't have been titled The Winter Soldier. Heck, if they'd managed to keep the Winter Soldier himself a secret, that would have been even better.

Random:

-The Triskelion is in Washington, DC, but it's gigantic. There's specifically a rule in DC about building height limits, for a plethora of reasons—everything from "preserving the open feel of the city" to ensuring that the Capitol building and Washington Monument are the tallest buildings in the city. So the Triskelion being that large is either blatantly wrong or a sign of SHIELD/Hydra being given too much importance. But I still thought it was weird.

-The bit where Cap steals a car and calls it "borrowing" is totally a reference to the 1990 Captain America movie where he does the exact same thing, in the most dickish way possible. I laughed and no one else in the theater understood why.

So yeah. Really liked the movie. It's up there in the top tier of Marvel movies for me, along with Cap 1, IM1, and Avengers.

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See, if memory serves, the dialogue asked for an appearence from Stark, not "Iron Man", so that could perfectly fit in with the post-Iron Man 3 Marvel Universe.

Actually, it was very specifically "Iron Man." But that doesn't really mean anything in regards to IM3. Tony blew up his suits, but he himself says in his monologue at the end, "I am Iron Man." There's never any part in IM3 where Tony says, "that's it, I'm retired forever, no more suiting up ever ever ever."

Though if SHIELD were still dealing with the fallout of The Winter Soldier, that might explain why they didn't show up in IM3.

So, movie thoughts:

Good:

-YES. This is exactly what I wanted to see. Loved it.

-The action is insanely good, and there's a ton of it. Not as epic as The Avengers, but definitely more precise and brutal. My favorite action in a Marvel movie thus far.

-The Winter Soldier himself was rather brilliantly built up as a legitimate threat. During both of the big fights between him and Cap, I seriously doubted if Cap could win—which is insane, considering how amazingly badass Cap was made to be in this movie.

-Black Widow is a character I greatly disliked in Iron Man 2, and tolerated in The Avengers, but here I liked her a lot. Maybe it's the fact that Scarlett actually has more to do than just be a hot body and have one cool conversation with Loki. But this is the first time I've ever really enjoyed Scarlett as Black Widow, which is a good sign for the future.

-This is basically a SHIELD movie starring Captain America. Which works really well. I hope it gives Agents of SHIELD a how-to lesson as well.

-Speaking of Agents of SHIELD, it was neat to see some mild payoff from elements of that series in this movie. Agent Sitwell and the Triskelion being the two biggest. Also minor stuff like the fact that Fury's SUV apparently can fly, just like Lola.

-Falcon was pretty great. Really likable and really cool.

Less Good:

-Why didn't they bring in Black Widow's history with the Winter Soldier? It seemed like they were going in that direction multiple times.

-The plot, it seemed, kind of overtook the main emotional plot. The movie is called The Winter Soldier, yet Bucky is barely in the movie. But evidently that's the thrust of the next sequel. I almost feel that perhaps this movie shouldn't have been titled The Winter Soldier. Heck, if they'd managed to keep the Winter Soldier himself a secret, that would have been even better.

Random:

-The Triskelion is in Washington, DC, but it's gigantic. There's specifically a rule in DC about building height limits, for a plethora of reasons—everything from "preserving the open feel of the city" to ensuring that the Capitol building and Washington Monument are the tallest buildings in the city. So the Triskelion being that large is either blatantly wrong or a sign of SHIELD/Hydra being given too much importance. But I still thought it was weird.

-The bit where Cap steals a car and calls it "borrowing" is totally a reference to the 1990 Captain America movie where he does the exact same thing, in the most dickish way possible. I laughed and no one else in the theater understood why.

So yeah. Really liked the movie. It's up there in the top tier of Marvel movies for me, along with Cap 1, IM1, and Avengers.

I agree with everything you said, except for Cap 1 being one of the best Marvel films. It's alright, but it was just missing something.

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I agree that's a problem. X2 works but it's not as good as the rest of the film. Unbreakable doesn't drop in quality, in fact more than most it's success hinges on it's third act execution. Constantine's third act works well, as does that of Kick Ass. And I know you won't agree, but Avengers final battle is stellar. I mean, big cgi fights usually do nothing for me but Avengers is great. It's like the anti-Phantom Menace, 4-5 different things going on but the tones all line up and the stakes aren't diminished for any particular player by means of stature or adding comedy.

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There are exceptions. Avengers final battle is good, not great, but it's better than most of the rest of the movie. I would agree it gets better once it finally stops with the "nerds arguing" dialogue.

I'd disagree with Constantine getting better, but its third act is pretty good.

You're absolutely right about Unbreakable. I often don't think about that in terms of superhero movies because it is so good.

Anyway, regarding Winter Soldier, I'm taking the boys tomorrow afternoon and can't wait.

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EASILY Marvel's best movie. It's the first time I gave a shit about Fury. Falcon was awesome. Black Widow was awesome. Every moment Winter Soldier was on screen was a fucking delight.

anyone notice Fury's tombstone?

Edit: in fact, my one complaint is not enough Batroc.

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