If Skyfall was the
closest to Christopher Nolan’s James Bond we’ll ever get, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the Marvel film that most
clearly embraces that Nolan-level realism and its accompanying political
significance. For this reviewer, that’s a
good thing – melding the financially successful Marvel method of filmmaking
with the style of the most creatively successful comic book films (the “Dark Knight” trilogy) means a film that is considerably darker than Thor: The Dark World or even the retro
fun of Captain America: The First Avenger
but one that is no less compelling.The Winter Soldier stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, the country’s leading super-soldier coming to terms with the world after being thawed out from 70 years on ice. Captain America is partnered with Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), but he’s growing suspicious of the secrets she and SHIELD are keeping. After ghost-story assassin The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) attacks SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Cap faces life on the run from Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), a SHIELD exec who’s convinced Cap is keeping secrets of his own.
Taking its cue from Ed Brubaker’s immensely popular run on the character, The Winter Soldier runs in its own direction without adhering slavishly to the source material. There are a ton of fun shout-outs to the comics, but Winter Soldier continues the Marvel process of realigning classic stories for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here SHIELD plays a much larger role than in the comics (which, really, I can’t recommend highly enough), opening a gateway to very exciting territory once Avengers: Age of Ultron rolls around.
On that note, one senses that the film suffers just the tiniest bit – as did the first Captain America film – from establishing plotlines for use further down the road, be it in Avengers: Age of Ultron or a third Captain America movie. The difference between this and Prometheus (still the gold standard for audience frustration), though, is that Winter Soldier gestures toward future installments in the “to be continued” tradition of comics without failing to resolve its own central issues. There’s one significant plot thread that doesn’t quite wrap up as neatly as it ought to – you’ll know it when you see it, since it’s right at the end – which I think is to the film’s detriment, as it deprives two members of the cast from having a very emotionally charged moment.
That’s all in the film we didn’t get, though (and, I’m sure, in the sequel we will). The film we did get is anchored by another convincing performance by Evans as the soldier out of time, wrestling with fish-out-of-water issues and the more standard superheroic fare. Meanwhile, Johansson continues to become a better actress after getting stronger material in The Avengers, and newcomer Anthony Mackie is a welcome addition as The Falcon. The action sequences stand out as being first-rate, especially in a power-packed franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe; driven by Henry Jackman’s killer score, the shoot-em-ups and explosions crackle off the screen, especially in 3D.
I mentioned the tone at the top of this review, because it seems to be what sets Winter Soldier apart from its forerunners. The humor here is certainly more restrained, surprisingly so considering that directors Anthony and Joe Russo are perhaps best known for their work on sitcoms like Arrested Development and Community. But rather than paint the comedy broadly as in Thor: The Dark World, Winter Soldier opts for a more restrained tone in line with the conspiracy thriller genre to make a shrewd political point about the tradeoff between security and freedom. It’s this venture into more substantial terrain that indicates, I hope, a shift in Marvel’s approach. While some of the other Marvel films have been criticized for being insubstantial or mere teasers for future films – not from me, mind you, I love these things, even Iron Man 2 – Winter Soldier’s willingness to tackle pressing issues in current events might mark a sea change toward greater cultural relevance beyond merely making a literal ton of money.
As long as these movies keep being as entertaining as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, make mine Marvel. (At least, until Batman vs. Superman lands.)
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