Interesting story, fun characters, awesome action…why can’t all movies have a good helping of this? Before Avengers, I’d gone to the movies simply looking for a fun ride. I wanted only to be entertained. If the movie did that, I didn’t think it was a waste of money. Then Avengers came along and showed us what a superhero movie was supposed to be. Now, we have Captain America 2 and it didn’t disappoint.
According to ICv2:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the big winner at the weekend box office as it kicked off the summer movie season a month early with an estimated $96.2 million, a new box office record for April. Overseas the film, which opened in a number of markets last weekend, has already earned $207. 1 million, which is more that the first Captain America movie made during its entire run outside of North America. In fact, The Winter Soldier, which powered the total of the top 12 box office films to a massive 26.5% gain over the same weekend last year when the Evil Dead remake bowed to $25.7 million, should end up surpassing the entire total of Captain America: The First Avenger($370.6 million) by this time next week. Read more here
Captain America: The Winter Soldier lived up to the hype. Summer movie season starts early! It was much better than the first one. They even added a little mystery to it. The action was epic, but it didn’t take over the story. There was enough of it to keep to movie going at a nice pace. It didn’t rely on action. It had the snappy dialogue of Avengers. In one scene, Black Widow had kicked someone off the roof. Seconds later, she was giving Captain America dating advice. Awesome. That opening scene between Rogers and Sam Wilson (Falcon) was too funny.
Rogers (Captain America) and Romanoff (Black Widow) spent most of the movie together. Most of the time, it was fun having them interact. Other times, they were looking deeply into each other’s eyes. I was going, “Nonono.” I haven’t read the comic, so I have no idea what happens between Rogers and Romanoff, but I didn’t want any mushy-ness in this movie. At least, not between them. Again, the movie didn’t disappoint. It had a good balance of serious scenes for all the characters. We got some good character development.
It’s nice to have kickass female characters in movies where the emphasis is not on how sexy they are. Yes, I know, Back Widow is wearing a skin tight one piece, but if I remember correctly, she only wore that once at the beginning of the movie. These Marvel movies have been good at portraying strong women.
Because Captain America is working for S.H.I.E.L.D, we got to see more of the inner workings of that organization. They have some cool toys. I love the tech in this movie.
The organization is like a character. It can come off as slightly diabolical, but there were some parts at the end where the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the ones that didn’t have a big role in this movie, had some heroic moments. Still don’t know what to make of Nick Fury. That is one complex character.
Speaking of shield, Captain America spent the entire movie battling all types of weapons with only a shield. It was believable…and epic. It was fun seeing him battle the Winter Soldier. Those were the only times his shield wasn’t as effective. The Winter Soldier was a maniac. That guy made a mess out of Captain America. I like movies where the good guy gets beat up a bit. Makes them more believable. I won’t tell you about the Winter Soldier. It’ll ruin the movie, but I liked how Captain America handled him in the end. When characters are put into that situation, they can become annoying. Captain America wasn’t.
Now for the new character, Falcon. No complains here. Like I said, I’m not familiar with the comic books. I can’t say how well the movie portrayed him compared to the original. When I saw him in the trailer, I had no idea what he did. He was a fun addition. I liked his character. He had depth. He didn’t have any super powers. He had a pair of awesome wings. It was fun watching him fly. He could hold his own in a battle against S.H.I.E.L.D agents and bad guys.
It’s amazing how this movie could have so many characters and not have one who stood well above the rest. Even those characters who didn’t have a big role were memorable. Falcon had a major role by the way.
As you know, I have a thing for 3D movies. There are two type of 3D movies. The ones like Resident Evil where things are being thrown at you and the ones like Avatar which adds depth. With the second one, you don’t feel like you’re watching a movie, but rather you’re in the movie watching the scenes play out. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the second kind. It added depth. It was well done. If you can afford to see it 3D, I say go for it. You won’t be disappointed.
I’m wondering, how the events in this movie will play out in Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For those who don’t know, that’s a TV show about S.H.I.E.L.D. They did an episode about the clean-up after what happened in Thor: The Dark World. That was really cool. Sif was also in one the episodes. I can’t wait to see how the TV show plays along with the movie. So far, characters from Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D haven’t appeared in the movies… well besides Coulson, but he hasn’t been in the movies since the show started. Wonder if he’ll make an appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I can’t wait for a big Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D /Marvel movie crossover. I hope they do it!
I like how Marvel is playing with storytelling. It’s literally Marvel Universe on the big screen. I’ve read enough Marvel comic to know the stories don’t happen in a vacuum. Event from one series can effect another series. Characters from one series are mentioned or show up in another series. It’s cool to see this play out in the movies and on TV.
