Hello all and welcome to the 04/08/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
To avoid spoilers for the hottest April movie release of all-time I will mainly talk about the performances, and direction of the film in this review.
To start it is hard to believe that the Russo brothers have never directed an action film before. The majority of their previous directorial work was on comedy tv shows ("Arrested Development" & "Community") and comedy movies like "You, Me, and Dupree". While they do have a fair amount of humor in "The Winter Soldier", which at this point is the norm for Marvel films their action direction is absolutely stellar. The movie is filled with tightly-cut, waist-up, fast moving action and it rarely takes a break for anything other than bare minimum exposition.
Chris Evans really has a stranglehold on the Steve Rogers character. He is equal parts heroic, comedic, and is the type of go-for-it-all leader that will inspire.
Anthony Mackie brings a lot of youthful exuberance, loyalty, and humor to his role as The Falcon. This was a star making performance for Mackie, and I could totally see him in the lead in his own future Marvel film.
Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow gets the ultimate respect from the Russo's in this appearance for the character. Instead of being reduced to eye candy or a scared helpless woman as we have seen at moments in her previous appearances ("Iron Man 2" & "The Avengers"). This Black Widow is a fully functioning ass kicker who can hold her own with the other heroes. In this portrayal I feel that the Russo's have set the template for the most effective use of super heroines. I, for one, would much rather see a Ronda Rousey-style ass kicker than another damsel in distress. For that reason I applaud what the Russo's accomplished in this movie.
My only complaint on a base level is that there was not enough Winter Soldier in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". For sharing the title he is not in it much and says even less. Part of that is by design, but I still could've done with a few more minutes of Winter Soldier screen time.
While the first entry "Captain America: The First Avenger" was a WWII movie that had a superhero in it this entry is a spy-thriller that also happens to be a superhero movie. As with the original it successfully captures the essence of the chosen genre and serves to further the development of the title character.
Overall I have to say this is one of my favorite superhero movies to date. I hesitantly place it in the company of "The Dark Knight" and "Spider-man 2" at the top of my list.
For more discussion check out my next entry where I will get into spoiler territory and I will tie it together with "Iron Man 3" to talk about how the stage is now set for "Avengers: Age of Ultron".
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