Review: Captain America – The Winter Soldier

Posted on 10 April, 2014

For Steve Rogers, awakening after decades of suspended animation involves more than catching up on pop culture; it also means that this old school idealist must face a world of subtler threats and difficult moral complexities. When Rogers acts on Nick Fury’s warning to trust no one in S.H.I.E.L.D., he is branded as a traitor by the organisation. Now a fugitive, Captain America must get to the bottom of this deadly mystery with the help of the Black Widow and his new friend, The Falcon. However, the battle will be costly, with Rogers finding enemies where he least expects them. imdb

Steve Rogers is made of a truer blue than Superman – he never lies, he is not conflicted, he does the right thing always, he is a clear thinking leader and if he wanted to kiss a girl he would, he’s just waiting for the right one.

This should have been a simple, connect-the-dots superhero film – find the baddies, sock ‘em, lock ‘em in gaol and rock the suit. Without messing your ‘do.

Instead it is the most astoundingly physical action movie I’ve seen this year. Regardless of padding and stand-ins, some of those scenes had to have HURT. They look amazing – I found myself actually flinching at times, even on the edge of my seat – me, the jaded superhero fan, cynically existing in a post-Loki world.

Everyone looks like they could kill you too – the Cap, the Winter Soldier and Falcon (Anthony Mackie, who just gets more interesting with every film) are *ahem* very buff and Scarlett Johansson is their fighting equal (and just a little ahead in the quick quip department). Samuel L. Jackson always looks like he could kill you. There are tough soldiers, tough stunts and Callan Mulvey – again! Is he trying to star in every movie that comes out this year?

Even so, it is more than just action, there is a political thriller nestling amongst the spandex and Robert Redford there to give it gravitas. The twists are pretty pretzel-like but very cool. Too much though for the young gentleman sitting near me – his big brother and mum and dad enjoyed the movie whilst he tried out every step in the aisle as a seat and the worked on his ‘0 to 60’ standing start down in the lower section of the cinema. So perhaps not a school holiday outing for the younger kids.

Action, political machinations – but wait, there’s more. It is also a character study. The Cap was clearly the leader in the Avengers, once Tony Stark agreed. He was a man with a definite mission and great hair. Here he is finding his way in a world that’s not his own, keeping a list of the things he needs to catch up on (that includes Skippy the bush kangaroo and Steve Irwin) and trying to work out who he is and what he should be. He is also a soldier whose closest comrades are all dead, far too resonant in our real world.

The scenes by an old lady’s bedside almost had me in tears. But I don’t want to give away any more than that – try to avoid the internet and see the film without knowing any spoilers about the Winter Soldier too.

Three movies rolled into one – no wonder it took two directors, the Russo brothers, to make it. They have had practice with complications, they made the very funny Community.

Even though it is the Cap’s story, the others, particularly Nick Fury and the Black Widow, get some great hero set pieces and character development. The whole thing is just a great night out at the movies.

Stan Lee makes his now traditional cameo and there are not one but TWO easter eggs amongst the credits – don’t leave until the house lights come up!

Footnote: I have just found out that Steve Rogers’ list of things to catch up on varies for each country the film is released in – well played production team, well played.