Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Cinematography:
Trent OpalochCast:
Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Emily VanCamp, Robert Redford (more)VOD (4)
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After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier. (official distributor synopsis)
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Just as Three Days of the Condor and The Parallax View were responses to Watergate, the second Captain America can be seen as a Hollywood interpretation of the events surrounding WikiLeaks and the NSA. What Steve Rogers has in common with the protagonists of those films by Pollack and Pakula is that he doesn’t know what’s going on around him or who he can trust, thanks to which the filmmakers can further develop the “fish out of water” motif without copying The Avengers (where the new age was the main source of Rogers’s confusion). Besides the inwardly focused disillusionment of those 1970s thrillers, recalled through the iconography of Washington, the casting of Redford and the music, this new Marvel flick contains a bit of the Cold War conservatism of movies – such Rambo (especially the first and third instalments) and Rocky (which The Winter Soldier recalls at least with the filming of the opening run) – that championed direct physical action over data analysis. Again, just as in the first, intentionally old-fashioned Captain America, the traditionalist protagonist takes on references to films with a different value base than that on which contemporary society stands. However, those values are not so clear. Only the final third of the film is unambiguous. With regard to the protagonist’s application of straightforward military logic, the restoration of calm does not involve diplomatic negotiation, but large-scale action that becomes less clear the more the characters go at each other (raw firefights in the streets in the style of Heat thus replace fights in which the action is created solely by editing, music and sound rather than by movement). The spy games with a touch of paranoia after the originator of the “contagion” has been revealed – with the use of black-and-white framing similar to that used today by the Russian media to justify the annexation of Crimea – can come across as hypocrisy in a film that outwardly express unease about a cynical system while actually defending its ideology. However, this reading is at least partially called into doubt by the closing repudiation of some of the old structures. At the stylistic level, I enjoyed the smooth (perhaps even too smooth) transition from brisk political thriller to conservative superhero adventure and I take it as evidence of the effort to not rely solely on the guaranteed teenage target group, but to also appeal to new viewers. And the film appeals to female viewers more imaginatively than other comic-book adaptations. Not even one of the three female characters has an identity derived from a male character (though there is a romantic subplot, there is no time to develop it), there is no sexualisation of the female body and all of the heroines are as comparably independent and courageous as their male counterparts. In summary, I don’t think that The Winter Soldier (whose titular character, incidentally, wouldn’t even have to be in the film and doesn’t have much of an impact on the plot) was such a safe bet as it may have seemed and or could have afforded to be. 85%
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The environment and era are changing, forgetting any idealism in terms of genre, moving from a number of surprising twists – and yet it's still number one. In the lead role remains a dedicated heartthrob, who you can't help but root for, and if I had to jump into any war, let it be the one where this guy is standing by my side. He is capable of clarifying the shadows of the past, lighting up the thickening future, and, in collaboration with the amazing Black Widow and the lovable Falcon, delivering lines in one continuous sequence against the backdrop of perfect action. Many may find plenty of mistakes in this comic book world, but I will not join them. A sixth five-star Marvel film in a row is no coincidence.
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The second Captain America, reasonably moved to the “present”, is more serious and filled with more physical action. It takes place predominantly in the streets (cars and shootings) and it’s nice that the movie’s best scene is dominated by Samuel L. Jackson. However, the conspiracy plot is unsurprising and becomes chaotic in the second half. The initial diversity of the action-scene settings also disappears in the second half. And the action scenes are not helped much by being finished with contrived twists (anyone can be rescued from anywhere at the last moment). However, the audience will be kept on their toes with respect to the identity of the intriguing villain until the end. And the villain’s shared past with the Captain saves the plot. As a spectacular comic book blockbuster that you can watch with your brain turned off, it’s not bad.
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First of all, interpreting the first half of Captain America through the prism of the espionage genre requires a relatively high degree of tolerance for the reckless and simply transparent twists, but which, I’m afraid, also leads to disappointment about halfway through, when inevitability comes to the fore and the Captain reminds us that he can hardly break the Avenger’s rules (in a way, the IM3 twist is much more subversive, but it somehow fits into the humorous style). In other words, for me, this film maintains a stable level of simplicity. To perceive it as a subversive and overlapping moment, when the symbol of American war propaganda plays out on the aggressiveness and unscrupulousness of US foreign policy, requires a certain degree of leniency. The true and authentic values are not particularly endangered, because the main character carries them from beginning to end. In this respect, Marvel films do not test the integrity of their heroes much and they bend the world to their image (no one is going to tell me that not only is contemporary America troubled by the snooping of citizens and "leaks", but also by the problem of internal enemies and denazification). But no more criticism. This is truly a superstructure that one can / does not have to build. Otherwise, the Captain ticks off the Marvel blockbuster box par excellence. The film has the best directed action of the entire Avengers series (great kinetics and physical contact surprisingly survive without opacity and 3D glasses). In his muscular version of Grandpa Simpson, Chris Evans still finds enough fragility and goodness, the supporting characters have their "careful magnetism" and this time the storytelling does not suffer from overlong exposition. Although it makes it difficult for me to get emotionally hooked on it, I still have a good time. Definitely one of the three best Avenger films. [75%] P.S. Out of competition: isn't the Marvel Universe a little too divergent and unmanageable? Terrifying destructive objects levitate in the air, and one wonders ... where the hell is Tony Stark?
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For Marvel, good. I’m usually not a fan of this colourful conglomerate of comic book superheroes, but The Winter Soldier is (unlike its predecessor) a solid action blockbuster that entertained me a lot. The theme is relatively interesting and stimulating, though Marvel’s habit of “not going too deep” can make it frustrating at times with how superficially and simply the political, philosophical and technical aspects of the of the script are presented. But, as a summer blockbuster for the masses, it works fine. So, as I say, for Marvel, good. Next, on the umpteenth episode of your favourite series…
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