TIME FOR JUSTICE AND EAGLES!
That's right, it's time to review Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier! Which is a movie I've been waiting impatiently for since the first movie about Steve Rogers. And especially since I saw The Avengers. So I was practically buzzing with anticipation when my mum and me sat down in the movie theatre last Thursday night.
Movie Concept Art - Marvel Studios
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
The story of Captain America 2 takes place two years after the events of The Avengers and Steve Rogers now lives in Washington, D.C. and continues to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but struggles to adapt to contemporary society.
Some terrible events transpires and a special S.H.I.E.L.D agent is killed. Now Captain America alongside his new friend, war veteran Sam Wilson (aka the Falcon) and his fellow agent Natasha Romanoff have to work together to figure out who is out to get them and battle a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.
One of the things I love most about this movie is that it doesn't step around the whole "Man Out Of Time" thing, because a huge part of what makes Steve Rogers Steve Rogers, is that fact. He is not like other men around these times, but he is not like other men back from his own time. He is everything good about mankind, he has a natural sense of leadership, and a pure power of will that he uses for good. Which is one of the many reasons Cap is one of my favourite Avengers. Chris Evans, the actor who portrays Rogers, said "He's gone from the '40s to today; he comes from a world where people were a little more trusting, the threats not as deep. Now, it's harder to tell who's right and wrong. Actions you take to protect people from threats could compromise liberties and privacy. That's tough for Steve to swallow."[*]. And he is so right. And that is one of the main themes in this movie. Who to trust. Because in the end, is the only person you can trust yourself? Giving other people your trust is a great risk these days, which is something Rogers learns the hard way. But as I was saying, I loved that they didn't just gloss over his trouble with the modern world. And they didn't skip over his first love Miss Peggy Carter and her current situation. She was an important part of Steve's "old" life, and a link to his past. So even if it was only a 5 minute (heartbreaking) scene, it was very important to show it.
Another great thing about this movie (there is a lot of great things about this movie) is Black Widow and the fact that they actually gave her the screen time she so rightfully deserves. And hopefully this will make the Film Studio realise that a Black Widow solo movie (about her origin) could easily be done and successful. Actress Scarlett Johansson, who plays Romaoff, delivers a emotionally resonant Black Widow this time around, and we get to know the character more. And because she has a bigger role than in her former movies, Johansson gets to show us what an amazing choice she was for this role. She’s far more interesting because we get insight into the “why” when it comes to her choice to switch sides (she used to be a KGB agent) and to live a life full of duplicity, and we see more nuance to the emotional toll this has taken on her while she still ultimately prefers those choices and stands by them. There’s also some particularly cool tension surrounding just how much she can be trusted to keep breaking the rules on behalf of superheroes who presume far too much about her friendship and her loyalties — she seems to want to do the right thing, but she’s made different choices in the past and her conception of “the right thing” these days is more often than not as gray as her boss’ worldview.
One of the things I love most about this movie is that it doesn't step around the whole "Man Out Of Time" thing, because a huge part of what makes Steve Rogers Steve Rogers, is that fact. He is not like other men around these times, but he is not like other men back from his own time. He is everything good about mankind, he has a natural sense of leadership, and a pure power of will that he uses for good. Which is one of the many reasons Cap is one of my favourite Avengers. Chris Evans, the actor who portrays Rogers, said "He's gone from the '40s to today; he comes from a world where people were a little more trusting, the threats not as deep. Now, it's harder to tell who's right and wrong. Actions you take to protect people from threats could compromise liberties and privacy. That's tough for Steve to swallow."[*]. And he is so right. And that is one of the main themes in this movie. Who to trust. Because in the end, is the only person you can trust yourself? Giving other people your trust is a great risk these days, which is something Rogers learns the hard way. But as I was saying, I loved that they didn't just gloss over his trouble with the modern world. And they didn't skip over his first love Miss Peggy Carter and her current situation. She was an important part of Steve's "old" life, and a link to his past. So even if it was only a 5 minute (heartbreaking) scene, it was very important to show it.
Another great thing about this movie (there is a lot of great things about this movie) is Black Widow and the fact that they actually gave her the screen time she so rightfully deserves. And hopefully this will make the Film Studio realise that a Black Widow solo movie (about her origin) could easily be done and successful. Actress Scarlett Johansson, who plays Romaoff, delivers a emotionally resonant Black Widow this time around, and we get to know the character more. And because she has a bigger role than in her former movies, Johansson gets to show us what an amazing choice she was for this role. She’s far more interesting because we get insight into the “why” when it comes to her choice to switch sides (she used to be a KGB agent) and to live a life full of duplicity, and we see more nuance to the emotional toll this has taken on her while she still ultimately prefers those choices and stands by them. There’s also some particularly cool tension surrounding just how much she can be trusted to keep breaking the rules on behalf of superheroes who presume far too much about her friendship and her loyalties — she seems to want to do the right thing, but she’s made different choices in the past and her conception of “the right thing” these days is more often than not as gray as her boss’ worldview.
One of the things I'm not gonna dive into about this movie is the Winter Soldier himself. Because I won't be able to without crying. Because it's too damn painful. It's been pailful since The First Avenger. Also just want to give a shout out to the Revenge Goddess herself, Emily VanCamp, who plays a minor role (that might come back) of Agent 13, who in the comics was an on/off again girlfriend of Steve Rogers.
To wrap up this post, I will say that the movie has a great pace, or at least I thought it did. Sometimes my opinion on movie pacing is so far off from everybody else's. There’s just enough ups and downs on the storyline and action to give it a feel of natural flow on events, which is great.
I will say that this is not really a super hero movie, like the X-men or Batman movies. It’s more of an action thriller movie that happens to have super heroes in it.
Also the events in this movie is making me hella excited for the new episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. Which is also a show you should go watch if you are a Marvel fan.
I'm gonna go now, and leave you with a tv spot, that really makes me want to see the movie again.
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