Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Throwback Review)

Captain America is my favorite movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's exciting, clever, brilliantly scripted and wonderfully shot. I love the perfect changes it made to the universe to make the silliness actually work. I loved the interpretation by the entire cast, especially Chris Evans and Toby Jones. But there's no way that the sequel could be handled in the same method of story telling, the appreciative nod to WWII propaganda films. So what was the approach?

It was far more subtle than the first film, but this new movie takes on a pseudo spy thriller vibe. It's a lot less action, and a lot more revelation. But that's not to say there's no action. When it's there, it's exciting and vibrant. I couldn't help but in my mind appreciate it in the way I appreciate the action in The Raid. It's not all that dissimilar, amazingly enough. It's just as brutal, a similar lack of use of blood until it's necessary, letting his failures really ring through as failures, highlighting his humanity. 

But the film really serves as commentary for American surveillance. A necessary and poignant topic for a film today, and more importantly, perhaps setting up its own style the way the first based itself on propaganda film. 

Again, everyone in this film is great. This time, particular shout outs go to Sebastian Stan for his quiet, thoughtful performance as the films pseudo villain part anti hero. He was angry, but confused, dark but not by choice. It was a dynamic that I hadn't really seen from a character of this genre before, and it worked incredibly well. We also welcomed Anthony Mackie, who's role wasn't as significant as anticipated, but who had a great performance and energy on screen nonetheless. Not to mention a pretty damn cool trick. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier succeeds at surpassing its successor in so many ways. It brings an updated story poignant to todays current events to the minds of many viewers. Its cast only improves on their already fantastic performances, and the script only becomes more mature with its new themes and material. The action is just as campy, but also more organic and feels more real. This movie was a pleasure to watch.

Rank - 5/5