Hello all and welcome to the Spoiler-laden "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" review here at The Comic Shop!
For the purposes of this review I will be speaking mainly about the character development that I have seen out of this movie and "Iron Man 3" that will lead to where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going in and after "Avengers: Age of Ultron".
As we know from the events of the Cap sequel SHIELD as we know it is no more. This makes it much more incumbent upon Earth's Mightiest Heroes to defend and avenge the earth. Shell-head and Cap are the two central figures in this film universe & in Avengers history in general. While Thor is important as well I would argue that his last film entry is a self-contained story that had a beginning, middle, and end.
Cap & Iron Man have a lot in common when you really consider their history. Cap wanted to make the world a better place he was scientifically altered to become a living weapon and an unstoppable force. Tony Stark wanted to make the world a better place so he engineered a suit that helped him to become a living weapon and an unstoppable force.
Furthermore in the film franchises both of these characters have come back from the dead in a manner of speaking. Cap was frozen for decades and then thawed to become a man out of time and a hero for a new generation. Tony made a sacrifice play to end the Chitauri invasion.
The two heroes reacted to these events very differently. In "Iron Man 3" we saw Tony Stark inch further and further away from his Iron Man persona over the course of the film. We even saw him develop an intelligence source that allowed him to not be in the suit at all for it to run. This says to me that he no longer has the desire to be put in a position to make a sacrifice. If the reports are accurate Tony will take over as Ultron's creator in the "Avengers" sequel, and if that is true this would make absolute sense.
In "The Winter Soldier" we saw Steve Rogers throw himself further and further into his mission. It was quite noticeable that the status quo love angle was not shoehorned into the plot of the movie, and I found that refreshing. It also shows where Cap's mental state is in the cinematic universe. While Black Widow tried repeatedly to get Cap to open up and go out socially he denied the opportunity again and again. To me, this shows that while he is open to understanding this world he finds himself in he's not entirely ready to assimilate and become a part of it. I think a big part of this is because he has shown time and time again that he is more than willing to make the sacrifice, as he attempted to yet again in "The Winter Soldier". This give's Rogers a lot of places to go in future Captain America films, because we have yet to see him assimilate.
This stark contrast between the characters should also serve to further the underlying animus that is almost standard for these two legacy Avengers.
I will definitely say that I appreciated that there was not a ton of melodrama in "The Winter Soldier". As I noted there was no real romantic interest to speak of which again I found really refreshing. The main source of overt drama was the final climactic scene with Cap trying to save his life-long friend through allowing Bucky to beat him to a pulp, but it was an effective way to end the film.
As a fan of the Winter Soldier character I am looking forward to the journey that Sebastian Stan is going to take from brain-washed assasin to a hero in his own right.
That's all for now...I'm sure I will add more after my second viewing but these are my main thoughts right now.
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