NOTE: I'm changing my perfect score to 10 rather than five, as it allows me more flexibility in my scoring.
When Marvel Studios made Captain America: The First Avenger a few years ago, they did a rather curious thing: they launched a film franchise using a story format they could not possibly hope to repeat in future installments. They set that film during World War II, drawing on period films like Raiders of the Lost Ark for narrative inspiration. They even hired Joe Johnston, who had previously directed a period comic-book film in The Rocketeer, to infuse the film with that old-fashioned sensibility. Then, they ended the film in the present day, thus ensuring that any future films would not be able to draw on that particular narrative well except perhaps for the odd flashback. Then, of course, Cap appeared in the global box-office phenomenon The Avengers, and there was simply no turning back.
For the sequel to The First Avenger, therefore, Marvel had to do something completely different, and with the new film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, they have not only done that, but they've given audiences arguably their some of their finest work yet, even when compared to films as well-loved as The Avengers and the first Iron Man. Brothers Anthony and Joe Russo take over the director's reins from Joe Johnston this time around.
Even though The First Avenger screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely return for scripting duties, what they've turned in here manages to both be faithful to Marvel canon and yet a huge departure in tone not just from the first movie but from every other Marvel movie that's come before it.
Two years after the events of The Avengers, Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans) works as an operative of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D. for short. His first mission in the film has him sneaking aboard a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. cargo ship to rescue the hostages from the dastardly Algerian pirate Batroc (Georges St. Pierre) and his crew together with fellow operatives Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo). It turns, out, however, that while Cap's mission was to rescue the hostages, apparently the Black Widow was on a slightly different errand for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who, when confronted by Cap, reveals S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grand plan: they intend to launch three fully-armed Helicarriers into the sky, in a perpetual, sub-orbital patrol. The idea is to have S.H.I.E.L.D.'s guns trained on all potential threats at all times, a preemptive mindset with which Cap vehemently disagrees. As it turns out, Fury has his own misgivings, which he expresses to his superior, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford).
Things then take a turn for the deadly as a mysterious assassin named the Winter Soldier shows up, and it's up to Cap and his allies, including the Black Widow and veterans' counselor Sam Wilson a.k.a. the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to stop him and the sinister forces behind him.
This movie has often been compared to political thrillers from the 1970s not only by critics but by the directors themselves, who cite Three Days of the Condor, which starred Redford himself, as a direct inspiration. Personally, I've never seen any of those movies, though I saw a number of similarities between this film and political thrillers of more recent vintage, specifically the Bourne movies of Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass. Like those films, this one tackles the evils of the military industrial complex, and wears its anti-establishment colors on its red, white and blue sleeves. The good news for me is that I am a huge fan of the first three Bourne films (the ones that actually featured the character of Jason Bourne), and this film has actually captured much of what was great about those films as far as political commentary goes.
Also, like the Bourne series of films, this film has generous helpings of bone-crushing action sequences, easily on par with anything those films had to offer and head and shoulders above anything that's been seen in a superhero movie to date. This was extremely gratifying to see onscreen because I have been longing for some proper fight choreography in a superhero movie since Bryan Singer and his writers decided that Wolverine was completely ignorant in martial arts when they made the X-Men movies. It always bothered me that an ordinary spy/assassin like Jason Bourne had much more impressive fighting skills than a killing machine like Wolverine and comic-book martial arts experts like Batman and Daredevil.
This particular film answers that particular gripe of mine: movie-Captain America makes movie-Batman (yes, the one played by Christian Bale) look like he's fighting underwater, movie-Daredevil look like he's doing an interpretative dance, and movie-Wolverine look like a complete idiot. Heck, THIS Cap could probably take down all three of them at the same time, considering what he did to a dozen guys in an elevator. Oh, and yes, I am fairly convinced that this Cap could also kick Jason Bourne's ass.
There's much more to the film than chop-sockey scenes, though. Evans is no Robert Downey, Jr., but he really has made the role of Steve Rogers his own through some truly earnest acting which is, as it was in the first film, premised on the fact that at heart, under all the muscle and fighting skills, Steve Rogers is still a 95-pound weakling who just wants to do the right thing. This movie is also notable for being Johansson's breakthrough in terms of her Black Widow character, who appeared rather expansively in The Avengers but whose character was not explored very much. The good news is that Johansson is very much up to the challenge; she finally expands her character beyond diminutive badass to someone who is actually vulnerable, especially when she finds out that she did not necessarily enjoy the trust of someone important to her. Similarly, Jackson's Nick Fury gets to do more than glower and spout out one-liners; much of the plot hinges on the things he does or that happen to him. Perhaps one drawback to this is that for the first time since he sauntered onto the post-credits scene in Iron Man, Jackson really is starting to look a bit old for the role. Still, this is one for which he will be remembered well; I exhort eagle-eyed fans to catch the "Pulp Fiction" reference in the film.
The new additions to the cast also help Marvel raise their game; Redford is a perfect casting choice as Pierce, which is about all I can say without spoiling anything. He isn't slumming it or passing on through for a paycheck; he genuinely sinks his teeth into this material and it is utterly gratifying to watch, much like watching Anthony Hopkins bellow his lines as Odin was in the first Thor movie. Ditto for Anthony Mackie, who reportedly pursued the role of Sam Wilson quite aggressively. He looks like he's having an absolute blast as the character, especially when he straps on the character's signature wings, which get a truly awesome cinematic touch-up.
There have been gripes about the allegedly generic finale with copious explosions and computer-generated mayhem, but while it's admittedly easy for the fanboy in me to forgive such climaxes, I think it's also worth pointing out that there was some narrative precedent for the eventual climax; the foundation for what happened in the end was laid fairly early in the script. Not only that, but we would have been robbed of some incredible flying sequences featuring the Falcon had the end not played out as it did. Finally, by the time the climax rolled around, the filmmakers had already given the audience plenty of incredibly gritty, somewhat more grounded action sequences, like the extended gun battle in the streets of Washington D.C. which has drawn comparisons to the nigh-iconic shootout in Michael Mann's Heat.
I had actually thought that Marvel Studios would be taking it easy this year, content to let their "lesser" properties make some decent coin while preparing to take no prisoners next year with The Avengers: Age of Ultron. With this film, however, easily the best of "Phase 2" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel had made it clear that they have no intention of taking a break from giving their fans some of the very best movies based on these characters they could possibly hope to see.
8.8/10
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