If you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier – I should warn you that there may be spoilers… I don’t mean to do that but sometimes I can’t help myself. If you are worried, come back and read this when you have seen it. It opened today. In the meantime, go read about Camping or Chocolate or Comfort Zones… other things that start with the letter C.
If you are still here, I assume you are ok with a spoiler or two. I don’t mean to, but invariably I will spill something and then you’ll be mad at me and that would be bad.
So a few weeks ago a friend asked me which of the Phase 1 movies was my favorite. I couldn’t answer because I hadn’t seen Captain America and while I would initial list Iron Man as my Fave, I wasn’t sure if that was because Iron Man or because Robert Downey Jr. Ladies – ya’ll know what I’m talking about here, right?
When I was invited to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, my friend insisted that watch the first one in advance (twist my arm) and boy am I glad he did. Had my friend not shared Captain America with me, I would have missed so many of the Easter eggs that Marvel is famous for including… little nods to the true fans… and that is part of the fun of these movies. Tell me I’m not alone in this… If you haven’t seen the first Captain America, it’s not going to kill you to jump ahead… but you will miss out.
“After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.”
Now, I suppose I should just throw this out there, in my humble opinion, this might very well be the best of the Marvel movies put out so far. I know a few cinema snobs that may disagree but they don’t read my blog so they don’t get a vote here. I have no idea how they are going to top this one but from the opening credits, the tension in the theater was palpable but more than that, there were emotions and intricacies that you have to experience to understand. A few seats to my left there was another patron who was quite literally on the edge of her seat throughout 90% of the movie. Yes. It was that intense. And by intense, I do mean awesome. You know those moments in the theater when it is so quiet you can’t even hear anyone chewing on the popcorn or slurping their coke? So quiet you realize you even forgot to breathe? That happened a time or two.
But it’s not just the action – it’s the chemistry between characters and the energy they give to their performance that draws you in.
What did I love about this movie? EVERY STINKIN THING. Seriously. I loved the characters (and there were a lot!) From Captain America and Black Widow and Nick Fury and Falcon and Agent 13 (Emily Thorne from Revenge… took me way too long to remember what I watched her in…) and Alexander Pierce… and The Winter Soldier.
Love the character or hate them, Marvel draws you in with the character development and even with a huge (in my opinion) cast, I didn’t feel like any of them were under developed. Maybe the acting was elevated BECAUSE of the huge cast. I mean Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johannson… plus Robin Scherbatsky uh… I mean Cobie Smulders… {Ok, she’s not a powerhouse actress but who could resist a HIMYM reference} –
they could literally read the phone book and I’d shell out money for popcorn.
The action was intense and gripping like I’d expect.
Stan Lee of COURSE makes a cameo and this one might be my favorite of them all.
The references to the other Avengers was not missed either – my favorite being the Iron Man references – once when talking about an upgrade Tony Stark made to the Helicarriers having had an “up close and personal look” at the engines and the second when Alexander Pierce (Redford) tells Nick Fury (Jackson) that in exchange for a favor, Fury has to promise Iron Man will be the entertainment for Pierce’s niece’s birthday and “Not just a flyby… He’s got to mingle” I may have laughed a but too hard at that… Sorry Helen.
There’s also a Hulk reference but you have to see that one for yourself.
There are references to love interests and villains and foreshadowing for Captain America III but my absolute FAVORITE nod was the tombstone. I’m not sharing but I was pleased to report the raucous laughter from my group at the showing… my friend who went to see it at a different time and place was disappointed that more people didn’t catch it.
I KNOW I missed so much though that I *may* have to go see it again… maybe in IMAX 3D… All I know is that if you haven’t yet made plans for this weekend, Captain America: The Winter Soldier should absolutely be on them. Great for a date night or family fun (uh… for my family… if you have younger kids, this may be a bad option) Marvel again delivers and raises the bar. Oh – and everyone knows to stay past the credits right? If not, you must be new to the Marvel empire…
So… if you HAVE seen it, what did you think? If not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Loved it! It was super fun, fast paced, and there were some good jokes. And action… I love explosions. Definitely worth seeing. It was much better than I expected. And now I really need to watch the first one.