Captain America- The Winter Soldier

Well the Marvel Avenger’s universe, of film, has their newest addition with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This is the comic book version of a Tom Clancy novel, and it totally works!

The story is pretty damn descent. It really did feel like a cooler version of every Tom Clancy novel. You just substitute helicarriers instead of a Russian sub. Throw in a metal armed bad dude instead of Sean Bean and the I.R.A. You replace James Earl Jones for Robert Redford or Samuel Jackson. Instead of cocaine running you install stolen government secrets. It really felt like a Captain America story, not just an action movie with Cap in it. Sure he could have just been running around punching Red Skull and his quasi-Nazi flunkies around, but instead we get something much better!

The crux of the film is the standard S.H.I.E.L.D business of spy shenanigans, not knowing who to trust, secrets, lies, goon squads, military operations and etc. etc. etc.
Along the way the Winter Soldier arrives and starts mucking about in his own bad-ass way. Captain America has to stop him, figure out who is running the show, do some ass kicking, throw a shield, jump around, dodges, ducks, dips, dives and….dodges (sorry Dodgeball was on the other night). All this while also trying not to get distracted by his side kick the yummy Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson).

BUT WAIT!!!! THERE IS MORE!!!

We also get Falcon to team up with the Captain. I was never a huge fan of him and his red/white flying suit. They did a great job with Falcon. The suit looked way better than I expected. He didn’t come off as a lame-o sidekick. Even the action sequences with Falcon were all crazy flying fastness. That is what I expect and what I received. Now if only Warmachine had teamed-up with Iron Man the same way.

Hell, here we even get one of the lamest Marvel villains get a great makeover. Armin Zola is a Z-list bad guy in the comics. Seriously I think he barley beats M.O.D.O.K and the Red Ghost in the race to be the lamest villain. Here they actually give him purpose. Hell, it shocked me that he was in this and wasn’t a pile-o suck like in the comics!

If there is a complaint it was that the Winter Soldier, was a bit of a rush job. I kind of expect this since it was second movie, and look for him to be a big deal in the third Captain America outing. We get a taste of him and that is really it. There are a lot of questions left unanswered, but that is for the next film right? His look was spot on as was his ability to be bad-ass! His story arc was alright, but there could have been a little more exposition for the non-comic crowd. Still, it was cool to get him on screen and wrecking stuff.

There are also a lot of great bits and pieces in here too. Jenny Agutter getting some on-screen time again. Look! There is Charles Whitmore! Batroc the Leaper!!!! Crossbones to appear in the future? There is a Steven Strange name drop! The mid credit sequence is great! Gary Shandling is back, and looking god awful!

The X-men films have shit the bed after X-men 2. The Spider-man films have been rebooted. The Fantastic Four movies were anything but that. The remaining Marvel Universe of films is well…..non-existent. However, the Avenger-verse of films continues to nail it! The Winter Soldier is another great addition to that world of films. It tells a tight story, but it is also another piece in the Avenger’s 2 puzzle. How awesome is that? Very!