I have had a terrible cold, hence the delay. I am aiming from here on out to create a platform for a comic book I am also aiming to launch.
This movie is actually a move close to my heart, and I’m sure everyone and their mother (or Hydra) has seen a review of this movie. And I just gave it away!
A little story for you first. In the 7th grade, I needed to do a project to create my own superhero. I chose a superhero by the name of “Miss America” to create. Hilarious, because I’d become the biggest Captain America fangirl some amount of years later (hopefully this review won’t be too skewed).
Let me start off by saying I watched this movie without actually being into superheroes at the time. I mean, I was, but I was only into Batman. Captain America was still a corny blonde guy who was the epitome of The Man (TM) society has the perfect idea of. Society has it’s ideas of what is right and wrong too, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier turned it on it’s head.
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| Without messing up that perfectly done blonde hair of his. |
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But let’s face it – this is a comic character that even a fan admitted to me has died in the comic books more than the amount of years he has been alive (in The Winter Soldier, he’s 98). Things got dreary for Captain America. Yeah, we get it, democracy. Now shut up and let the big shots take over, kid from Brooklyn.
Then Joe Johnston came along and showed us how epic he could be in The First Avenger. But, even that movie had a bit of a historical tone that overtook it. It was sort of like Titanic – we all know Hitler happened, we all know World War II happened, and we all know science played some role in World War II (as evidenced by Einstein and the Manhattan project, although that is quite obviously not related to the Nazis quite as much).
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| I don’t blame Iron Man for not taking him seriously. |
But then we met Bucky. And the obvious political nature about The Winter Soldier, which very few movies do effectively. A superhero commonly regarded as “Good Guy Cap” suddenly seemed to strike very political and dividing conversations once formerly in that ridiculous star-spangled suit of his. Suddenly the dancing girls of The First Avenger became girls who you didn’t know and didn’t know where they stood. Suddenly you started looking at Nick Fury and whoever Robert Redford’s character is named 5 different ways. Everything seemed to have a double meaning, including Bucky.
Bucky, in every way, regardless of your opinion of him (hailing Hydra, and all that) is in itself a debate. He is the perfect example of a good guy-gone-terrorist, regardless if you attribute that to Hydra taking him or not. It’s a debate in Congress even now if we should allow people who have joined terrorist groups to remain citizens of the United States. Although it had the obvious political tones of surveillance, that was a tone overlooked. It was overlooked that Cap refused to kill Bucky, still believing he is inherently good, while Falcon seemed to basically question Cap’s sanity and if he was still experiencing brain freeze. The same rings true for people who join such societies and groups. Can they be like Bucky? Or are they a Robert Redford? (hopefully not because Redford is hideous… and then they need an awesome Black Widow to knock them out). Everyone noted the obvious political tone of surveillance – it really is not hard to catch. But that is looking at the bigger picture of the terrorist – Hydra. What about individuals? What about Bucky?
Bucky in of himself is something I can respect, just like Cap did. He treated Bucky as an individual. Black Widow treated him as just some nut who hides in the shadows (like real life Slenderman), Falcon treated him like an actual nut, and Captain America treated him like a person.
But what about everyone else? Everything else?
Now, remember, I went into this movie without even knowing who Bucky was because I did not see The First Avenger until after The Winter Soldier. That said, the only real confusing part was when Cap just suddenly showed up and looked lovingly at a woman so much older than him, but then you realize that was his past love and it’s suddenly a little less weird. Unlike many people, I don’t think that scene did Peggy any justice. I don’t really know how you give a 90-something-year-old justice, but I just felt it was cheesy and it could’ve been executed better. It felt as though Steve Rogers was visiting his grandma as opposed to his ex-lover, but then again, I don’t have any experience there (thankfully), so I wouldn’t know any more than you do. But otherwise, the plot was obviously fantastic for a superhero newbie to follow it so effectively, aside from having a mild heart attack at the “Let’s-All-Slam-Into-Nick Fury’s-Car” scene (which as terrifying as it was, was awesome).
And I will admit, the violence and action was completely paced, in between the weaving of Captain America’s humanity. Yeah, he was frozen and all, but oh my God, date the nurse!
I have watched superhero movies before and after this movie, and I will say, nothing has struck a cord like this one and how the Captain was portrayed. I’ve seen both DC and Marvel, and never has anyone seemed so human about themselves and other people. Batman was always trying to rescue people because he is the goddamn Batman. Superman rescues people because he has super-senses and super-strength and does super-things. Iron Man is cocky and Thor talks like Shakespeare, and the Hulk turns into the violent version of the Green Giant vegetable guy. But Captain America came off like that kid from Brooklyn. Captain America came off like that really awkward kid who doesn’t have much experience with girls. Captain America came off as that guy who is so caught up in work, he forgets how to interact (despite his stellar good looks).
And dating the nurse brings me to my next point.
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| Yeah, so, I LOVE her now. |
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Marvel.
You did it.
At first, I thought Black Widow was a bit too much of a sidekick to Captain America and seemingly the very stereotypical second in command girl who occasionally needed the guy to save her ass. But then I realized something.
Nick Fury admits she has her own mission when she goes with Steve Rogers. They start off almost bickering (as a result of all that “compartmentalization”), and then eventually team up. Black Widow uses her own set of superhero skills, and I don’t just mean being a master of martial arts. She is cunning. She makes up for Captain Awkwardness’ awkwardness. He doesn’t know what to do when the corrupt SHIELD agents are in the mall, so Black Widow does the logical thing.
You know, kisses him, to make everyone uncomfortable.
She adds a certain aspect to the film that just is unmatched by any female role I have ever watched. And to those who say that she needed to be rescued by Cap a good few times: Well, she asks if he would trust her to save his life, and he says absolutely yes. They are in every respect a team, and then she goes on her own way, knocking the crap out of Robert Redford, who on his own is a good enough villain without needing any powers to make you at least somewhat afraid of him. He managed to infiltrate something meant to protect America. He had The Winter Soldier in his house and asked him if he wanted milk. Does he seem like the kind of guy who just want’s milk? I am just saying. The score for The Winter Soldier is absolutely amazing, by the way, and it is good enough to give you chills when you see that metal arm come onto the screen, as with all of the soundtracks in general. The movie quality itself was utterly fantastic, and it didn’t look cheap.
But then, you know, there’s that third team member… what is his name?
Oh yeah, that guy who had like, 4 minutes of screen time in his actual costume.
I kid Falcon’s screen time, but I do feel as though he was a bit underused in the main “Destroy ALL the Helicarriers!” main scene. I think even when he went down they could have done him a bit more justice (although, he is funny). I just.. I don’t know. It felt lacking to me with Falcon. I can only hope they use him a bit more in the next film (if at all), because he felt like a guy we just got to know, and then, oh shit… his wing is broken. Well, there goes that. Overall, though, he was an awesome addition to Captain America and thrusted a little known superhero into the national and international spotlight.
It’s filled with humanity, twists and turns, and starts the conversation in the present day. Captain America finally takes us through real America and the real issues we face. But the question remains: What would Cap do?
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