Now Playing: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, and I’m not sure why.  Last Sunday, we went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier in IMAX 3D (if you’re going to do to 3D, poppets, take it from this veteran: only bother if it’s in IMAX).  This is the second Captain America movie (and I must have not liked Cap; The First Avenger very much at all, as I didn’t even bother to review it) and the ninth Avengers movie in the series.  We should be getting tired of these by now, but they just seem to be getting better and better.

Case in point: TWS is really good.  I mean, really good. Yes, yes – action sequences, special effects, yaddayadda is all good. Pretty great, actually.  Especially on that crisp IMAX 3D screen.  But that’s to be expected.  What makes this one really good is script and, yes, acting.  I really felt for the Captain (something I was missing in the first one) and the Big Bad is the kind of antagonist I like: many shades of grey*. There are so many spoilers if I try to talk about this topic, so I’ll expound below.

Needless to say, it’s a good movie.  4 out of 5 stars.
*I hate that the phrase “shades of grey” has been co-opted by mediocre erotica.

Spoilers!



I think one of the reasons I really enjoyed this movie is the lack of a forced “love interest” for the Cap.  Instead, it focussed much more intently on the love shared between friends and brothers-in-arms.  The feeling and emotion were quite shocking; and Sebastian Stan! He was amazing, for a guy who played half the move with a mask.  His struggle to remember and yet reject the actual memories was compelling.  The movie was about loss, despair, and struggling through it all.

You don’t have to have watched all nine Avenger movies, but I do recommend watching the first one for context.  This one may just be my favourite movie (though Loki still has my heart).