Marvel delivers one of their best yet with the new Captain America

After the cataclysmic events in New York that occurred in “The Avengers” we find Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Chris Evans), living a relatively quiet life in Washington, D.C. Cap is still working with Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and S.H.I.E.L.D. but is quickly becoming very disillusioned at the politics behind doing so. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes a central figure in unravelling a web of lies, deceit and intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk that leaves the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) as the only S.H.E.I.L.D. ally he can trust. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow must enlist the help of a new hero, the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to help take down a menacing force that is much grander in scope than even Cap could have predicted.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is easily one of the best films that the current Marvel universe has produced. With ramifications and repercussions that will play out over many Marvel movies to come, Winter Soldier features a brilliant script that incorporates many nods towards the comic crowd while remaining easily accessible to regular audiences as well. The film takes a more espionage/thriller slant this time around, but with some extremely successful and impressive fight sequences, think “Manchurian Candidate” meets “The Raid”. This time around Cap’s fighting style has emerged as a fusion of MMA and Parkour that is highly effective and dangerous looking at the same time.  This is a particularly more lethal looking Captain America this time around, which is reflective of Cap living in the modern world and perhaps hanging/working around Black Widow more often.

Getting too much farther into the plot and script of this story will spoil major plot points of the film and its impact on the Marvel universe, the same could be said for the main characters as well. Evans, Johansson, Jackson and Cobie Smulders have all had multiple films now to grow accustomed to their roles and they easily slip back into the skin of their alter egos. Mackie proves to be a good addition to the film as he is finally playing a character that he can adjust comfortably to. But the most welcome addition to the cast comes in the form of the stellar Robert Redford. Redford seems to really have been captivated by the character of Alexander Pierce as he takes the character over and delivers a very strong performance.

Everything about the film seems to work extremely well. The effects work is solid, the performances are great and the fight scenes are fantastic. In particular the siege on the freighter by Cap and the tactical assault team at the beginning of the film is shot expertly and ends with a great fight between Captain America and baddie Georges Batroc (Georges St. Pierre). The relatively untested Russo brothers (known mainly for their work on Community) show a surprisingly adept hand at directing action behind the camera.

With Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel has taken a massive step towards the next part of their epic storyline and has set up Avengers: The Age of Ultron with many unanswered and burning questions. The lead up to next summer’s blockbuster should prove to be enlightening as to how certain storylines will develop and with Marvel set to go to the far reaches of space with their next effort, August’s Guardians of the Galaxy, who knows how things will all come together. It certainly has left the series in a more interesting position than before the film.

Till Next Time

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