Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Review

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The Winter Soldier follows Steve, Natasha, and Sam Wilson, who uncover a plot by Hydra to infiltrate SHIELD, while also fighting a mysterious assassin on another front.

This time around, Captain America trades in the hope and heroism of his first outing, with a modern day political thriller, quite literally swapping one war for another. Up to this point, the MCU has had some dark moments, but this, as a whole, is a much darker, bleaker film that is shrouded in conspiracy and moral ambiguity. Cap being a man out of time, the concept provided is actually really complex but was pulled off to near perfection, blending nonstop action with a strong linear story, with lots of great callbacks to the first movie to give it a deep emotional connection. I loved Steve’s growth as a man, showing a more human side to the soldier we get through most of Avengers, while also becoming a bonafide badass. The addition of Sam was also a nice touch, with his character being a grounded, realist in all the madness.

Hydra takes the reigns again as the primary villains, but it’s the inclusion of the Winter Soldier—Bucky—which really give this some stakes. The friend turned evil narrative has been done to death but it works so well here. He’s an extremely proficient fighter and I’d say for the first time, Steve has actually met his match (and even loses to an extent, which is a tall order). I guess in retrospect and context, their relationship is much deeper now but even so, it’s a really well thought out twist that makes for some really heart-pounding scenes.

We get one of the better casts for a Marvel solo flick, starring Frank Grillo, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and Chris Evans. Evans showed a lot of growth as Steve here and even in the face of certain death, stayed true to his character, giving an emotional and physical power to his character in moving away from blind patriotism.

The Winter Soldier, directed by the Russo Brothers, is a call back to classic political thrillers that skillfully combines both action and story, and adapts Cap for the modern era.

9/10