Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2014 for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, maybe the most important film thematically in the run-up to Civil War.
- The fall of SHIELD.
Thinking in terms of narrative developments in the unfolding MCU, SHIELD has
been a constant presence, helping to assemble the Avengers, monitor and assist
their respective endeavors, and police the world. With Winter Soldier, all that falls apart – SHIELD has always already
been Hydra, and those ambitions of world protection have been revealed to be
naught but hollow. It’s an exceedingly bold move, and it reorients the world of
the Avengers to suggest to them that they might now be earth’s last line of
defense. We’ll still see assists from Nick Fury here and there, but we don’t
have a faceless government agency ostensibly serving good.
- What about Agents of SHIELD? I remember being a
little disappointed with the first season of Agents of SHIELD, in part because it felt divorced from the MCU and
perhaps overly procedural, despite the mystery of Phil Coulson’s post-Avengers resurrection (long story short,
alien DNA mixed with shady science). But I can recall the booster shot of
enthusiasm for the show after seeing SHIELD fall in Winter Soldier and musing, “Well, how’s that going to affect Agents?” It’s transmedia storytelling at
its finest that the show beats lined up perfectly with the film – Jasper
Sitwell leaves Agents to board a boat
on Tuesday, he’s in Winter Soldier on
Friday, and next Tuesday’s episode hits the dead center of Winter Soldier. It makes me all the more excited for any possible
tie-ins with Civil War.
- Who the hell is
Bucky? We all knew Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) didn’t die in The First Avenger, but I certainly
didn’t expect him to resurface quite so soon. The film introduces this shadow
narrative of Bucky’s cryogenic life as the Winter Soldier, reshaping the
century for Hydra from behind the scenes. He’s been scooped and hollowed out,
reprogrammed within an inch of his life. The conclusion to Winter Soldier suggests that he’s regaining his memory – but is he?
How much of Bucky is still in there? And the question of Bucky’s allegiances
will be front and center in Civil War.
Who is this guy, really, and can he be trusted? (Trailers suggest Cap says yes,
Iron Man nay.)
- It’s Cap’s world; we
all just tear it down. Major kudos to Chris Evans for nailing the part of
Captain America to the wall – you really feel for Cap as a man out of time in
this one, maybe more than we did in The
Avengers, as he struggles to adjust to losing his generation but still have
time to find a date (hat-tip to “neighbor” Sharon Carter [Emily VanCamp],
returning for Civil War). But I’m
much more heartbroken by the realization that Cap’s narrative arc has been a
series of losing everything he has – first, his time and world at the end of The First Avenger, then his sense of the
fabric of reality in The Avengers,
and now losing his best friend a second time when he recognizes that Bucky
might not be the kind of man you save. And with Civil War foreboding the loss of the friendship of at least half the
Avengers, poor Steve Rogers just can’t catch a break.
- Really, though, I just love this movie. I’ve made no bones about the fact that Winter Soldier is my #1 favorite MCU film, and it’s probably my #2 superhero film of all time (just behind Fant4stic). It’s airtight, clips along without a wasted moment, kills it on sound editing, and creates a wonderful trio between Cap, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson at her most endearing), and fan-favorite newcomer Falcon (Anthony Mackie, who steals the film wholesale). The Russo brothers at the helm of this and Civil War portends magnificent things for the fate of the MCU, and I couldn’t be more excited that they’re at the helm of Avengers: Infinity War. If anyone can balance spectacle, narrative, character, and fun, Winter Soldier is the smoking gun for the Russos.
1 comment:
It would have been so easy for this movie to go completely dark, as it's a darker and strongly allegorical story. But what's great is that on top of the really cool, game-changing plot, not only does Cap keep his unapologetic, unironic righteousness, but it works. It's a strong retort to the post-Dark Knight superhero landscape, the way this movie says no, heroes need not become evil or lose their soul to take down the bad guys, even in an ambiguous world where you don't know who to trust.
The best one so far, easily. I enjoyed the films that have followed this one, but this was the last truly great Marvel movie (cautiously optimistic for Civil War). My only complaint is that so far, the whole SHIELD-as-Hydra revelation may not get to reach its full potential. I haven't seen much of Agents of SHIELD, but it hasn't really been utilized in the movies yet.
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