Captain America:
The Winter Soldier
At multiple points in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,”
the newest installment in Marvel Studios’ expanding superhero universe,
characters justify their actions with explanations akin to, “Out with the old,
in with the new.” It’s something that Captain America, a.k.a. Steve Rogers,
deals with as he acclimates to the current state of modern warfare. He’s a
bright colored model plopped into a grey world that challenges his steadfast
resolve as the stakes, both personal and broad, are raised higher than ever for
him.
The eponymous hero, still figuratively frozen in his 1940s
ideals, struggles to comprehend agency S.H.I.E.L.D.’s overzealous measures
taken to ensure national security in the wake of New York City’s alien invasion
from “The Avengers.” With leader Nick Fury and partner Natasha Romanoff
engaging in secrecy behind his back, Rogers feels that his trust has been
betrayed. But when a mysterious assassin, known only as The Winter Soldier, and
hostile forces from the past threaten to upend the entire establishment, Rogers
must figure out where his true loyalties lie when nothing is as it seems.
Much like with “Iron Man 3,” “The Winter Soldier” shows a
side of Marvel willing to inject real world themes into its stories of
super-powered beings. The actions of S.H.I.E.L.D. act as a mirror image of the
current United States political landscape where paranoia runs rampant and drone
armies are being built up. This doesn’t sit well with Steve Rogers, who comes
from a time when America put faith in its people without having to monitor
every action being they take.
The Winter Soldier himself, with strength and agility that
matches the Captain, represents that corrupted side of America, even as he’s
underserved within the plot. He’s a man that has lost sight of who he once was,
and the relentlessness of his pursuit leaves little in its wake when the paths
of him and Captain America cross. The fight sequences in “The Winter Soldier”
carry a level of intensity unmatched by any other Marvel entry that sells the
danger our heroes experience by grounding the action in the (relative) real
world. Only in the climax do the special effects take over, but that hardly
matters when the film has so successfully attached us to these characters.
Anthony and Joe Russo’s past in television (“Arrested
Development” and “Community”) no doubt informs their work as directors here as
they give equal due to the character relationships amidst the conflict. Everything
is deftly balanced with new characters such as Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and
Robert Redford’s Alexander Pierce making strong impressions even as old
standbys like Natasha and Fury are able to become the fully fleshed out
characters they never quite were before.
And at the center of everything is Chris Evans` Steve
Rogers, whose understated performance carries the weariness of a man still
trying to find his place in this world he still doesn’t quite understand. Evans
finds the heart and light touch in a hero who doesn’t have the bluster of Thor
or jest of Tony Stark, making him arguably the most endearing of Marvel’s super
lineup. He’s also got the most emotional baggage too, especially once he learns
the truth about the Winter Soldier and everything he thought he was fighting
for.
Even with the grave circumstances at hand, the Russo’s
remember that this is a comic book movie first and foremost and embrace that
sensibility when appropriate. Evans, Mackie, and Scarlett Johansson have an
easygoing chemistry between them with lighthearted quips to break the tension
when appropriate. The directing duo and returning “Captain America: The First
Avenger” screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely carefully weave
in references to other Marvel characters in ways that feel organic to the
established world, some of which alter perceptions of events in previous films.
With shattering changes for these characters and
implications for where their story leads them next, there’s the sense of a new
dawn for the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward. The testing of limits has
made their bonds even stronger as they venture off into the new world. Yet in
it’s final scenes (both in the main film and the second of two post-credits
scenes), “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” also presents a yearning to
rediscover the past and reclaim a heroic ideal that has faded over time.
Thankfully Captain America, the quintessential Man Out of Time, is here to keep
that ideal beating strong and insuppressible.
