Some big movie was coming out this weekend…. what was it? Oh yeah! Dom Hemingway with Jude Law! Wait… that’s not the one I was thinking about. The one I was thinking of is a precursor to the summer blockbusters and Marvels next big movie. Oh! Of course! Stan Lee’s new cameo is out. You may also know this movie as: Captain America: The Winter Solder.
Warning: This review was written on the assumption that you’ve seen The Avengers and the first Captain America movie. If you haven’t seen those movies then don’t read this. Also, go get checked by a doctor because you might be dead inside. Don’t worry though. There are no Captain America 2 spoilers. I promise.
This movie has been on my radar since before the trailer even dropped and for one reason. Marvel has been upping it’s game recently and I think it’s all in an attempt to make amends for subjecting us to 2003’s Hulk and for Fantastic Four 2. Have I made it clear enough how much I hated Fantastic Four 2? I’ve only mentioned it in two other blogs.
So let’s bring you up to speed. Not counting cameos, The Avengers was the last time Captain America graced the silver screen. When last we left him he had helped save the world from Loki and before that had stopped Hydra and help bring WWII to an end by defeating Hydra and the Red Skull. Now Cap’ finds himself up against The Winter Solder. So how’d he do?
I’m not going to give a synopsis of the plot since trailers and ads are all over the place. Instead I’m going to dive right into it. I quite liked Captain America 2. The movie did a good job expanding on Steve Rogers as a person and dealt with some issues that were both believable and interesting. The story well written (for the most part) and some of the more obscure Marvel heroes and villains got screen time. Black Widow actually had a good role so my initial suspicion of her being placed in there just to have a second Avenger in the movie, was wrong.
The acting was solid. I wasn’t blown away by anyone but I was fine with that. Everyone is already familiar with the big 3 (Evans, Johansson, and Jackson) but the new comers to the Marvel universe earned their place in the new era of comic book movies. Robert Redford does what he always does; be fantastic. Anthony Mackie (Falcon) brought life and charisma to a character that I had originally thought was only there to move the plot along. I now know that Falcon was put into the movie for a reason, and that’s to be a total bad ass. I’d love to mention some of the other actors or characters that did a good job, but I promised there’d be no spoilers
If you, my dear readers, are anything like me then you’ll see a lot of the ending coming. But that’s no fault of the movie, per say. These characters are so familiar that certain “big reveals” were really just confirmations of what I already knew. Even my friend Darren saw lots of it coming and while he’s a very knowledgeable man, comic books aren’t his strong point. That being said, the predictability didn’t take away from the movie at all. In fact, there was one thing that honestly surprised me and it thrilled me to death. I love being surprised and one of the big twists made me love the movie even more. I wish I could tell you. I want to tell you. But I won’t because I’m not an a-hole.
I felt like I’ve spent a lot of time gushing over the movie, but I do have a few honest gripes. The first is that the trailers spoiled one of the big reveals. So I urge you to not watch anymore trailers until you see the movie just in case you haven’t picked up on it yet. Let’s just say that something happened in the movie that was supposed to lead up to a plot twist later on. However, a few of the trailers showed a scene that couldn’t have happened unless *insert spoiler here* happened first. So when the reveal came I wasn’t shocked in the slightest.
The second big gripe I have with the movie is that once the action starts, the growth of Steve Roger’s character seems to halt. Even Black Widow was showing layers I’ve never seen before, but once the explosions started going off, that was all thrown out. I think it was a sloppy mistake by the writers, plain and simple. Explosions and character growth are not mutually exclusive.
Allow me to wrap this longer than usual review up with a nice little bow. Captain America: The Winter Solder was a pleasure to watch and it was well worth the price of a ticket and concession stand prices. I highly recommend this movie not only because it’s very good, but also it’s a great way to get pumped for the summer blockbuster season. Also, there are two stingers for this movie. But you all should already know that you don’t leave a Marvel movie until the credits are done rolling.
Captain America: The Winter Solder gets a 9 out of 11.
