Friday, April 4, 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I guess that hot streak that Marvel was on had to come to an end sooner or later. And given the title, I suppose it's fitting enough for such a hot streak to come to an end with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Bad joking aside, I honestly never would have expected the end to come with this movie, a movie that I was super hyped for due to how much I loved the first one. Well, this one didn't meet the hype, to say the least, and I'm disappointed to report that it's actually one of the weakest entries to come out of all these Avengers flicks to date.

Don't get me wrong, the movie isn't terrible. Certainly not as bad as Iron Man 2, at least. And all throughout, there's lots of little moments that really shine, mostly when things calm down and the focus shifts to smaller character interactions. Seeing Scarlett Johansson's character pushing Cap's buttons was pretty delightful, and the Cap's jabs he exchanges with newcomer the Falcon were among this movie's highlights. But outside a bit of fun dialogue in such moments, the rest of this thing isn't nearly so great.

In comparison, there's a moment involving Peggy, Cap's girlfriend from the first movie, that just feels completely forced and out of place. And, is it just me, or did the holographic council meeting give anyone else vibes of the Jedi Council? I dunno, not that it's necessarily a knock against the movie, but that did just sorta stand out to me. And taking that plus the plethora of Star Wars nods in Thor: The Dark World under consideration, can we expect to continue to see these nods to Star Wars in this post Disney-acquisition?

Tonally speaking, outside those few character moments mentioned above, this movie probably feels the least like a Marvel movie out of all of these movies to date. In fact, there were a number of occasions where I distinctly got the vibe that this movie was, for some reason, wanting to channel more of a Dark Knight tone instead (because that worked out so well for Man of Steel...), which, while not necessarily a bad thing, it did stand out to me quite a bit while I was watching.

But where this thing really fails big time for me is in the action sequences. And considering the sheer level of creativity that we got from the last Iron Man and Thor films, particularly in their action scenes, I was hoping for this movie to somehow continue that trend, but that was not to be. A lot of the fight scenes look like there's some interesting things happening, but yet they're shot so up-close and spliced together with so many quick cuts, it makes for a nauseating experience that's impossible to enjoy.

And as for the rest of this thing, well, for the most part, this movie ultimately boils down to being little more than a dull, boring, uninspired shoot-em-up. Seriously, there's not an inspired moment to be had here, and I was sitting there the whole time just waiting, dying for something a little more interesting that just more "shoot shoot, bang bang" to happen. But instead all I got were a bunch of action scenes that are quite frankly a chore to sit through, with their greatest aspect being the musical cues for when the Winter Soldier himself appears on screen.

So yeah, this one was a pretty big let down. I was a huge fan of the first movie, which, out of all of the first entries from the solo-Avengers flicks, is by far my favorite of the bunch. And considering how the last two Marvel movies did such a tremendous job in surpassing their preceding entries in every single regard, I supposed it's possible that I went into this thing with too high of expectations. But, alas, whatever those expectations may have been, they were not met, rather, I was met with what is actually one of the weakest Avengers movies to date. And, in fact, just for kicks, I'll go ahead and rank all the movies in order from favorite to least favorite to see how they stack up, and see how my ranking compares to your own:

Iron Man 3
The Avengers
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Thor
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man 2

So there you have it, my thoughts that are sure to be in the minority as it regards the latest Marvel flick. And, also to note, at the end of this movie, only about 10 people actually stuck around for the after credits scene, which kinda boggles my mind. I mean, are people really still that oblivious, or, at this point, do they just not care? (Not that there was anything actually interesting at the end this time around, but still...)

13 comments:

  1. Good review Chris. It's a very fun movie, despite it being awfully serious. However, I still couldn't help but get excited when the Winter Soldier and Cap meet for the first time in a one-on-one, mono-e-mono battle.

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    1. I wanted to be excited for that moment, but the awful editing job on the fight scenes up to that point pretty much filled me in on what to expect, and it's exactly what we ended up getting. Thanks, Dan.

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  2. Bummer you didn't like this one, well I can't disagree with you more, esp that you think it's a 'dull, boring, uninspired shoot-em-up' Ah well, can't agree on everything I suppose, glad that you at least appreciate the first film. Some people didn't care for that one but I suppose I'm just really invested in Cap's character right from the get go. I definitely don't think either one of the films are frivolous at all.

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    1. Yeah, bummer is right, 'cause I really did want to like this. But ah well, as you said, can't agree on everything, right? Thanks, Ruth. :)

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  3. Gotta agree with you on some of the action editing - a lot of it was choppy or shaky. Still thought this movie was ace though!

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    1. Heh, well it's nice to see someone agree with at least one of my takes on this flick, haha. Thanks, man. :)

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  4. First blogger I've seen who's shared some of my views on Winter Soldier! Though, saying that, I wasn't the biggest fan of the first Capt. America outing, and did think this was a major improvement. (*salutes*)

    For me, it just feels like the Marvel movies are all merging into one big film. I can't tell one from the other. Look and feel wise and the basic premise of each film. They all feel like they follow the same plot points and the end of the film's point is to further the story for the overall universe.

    I adored Avengers Assemble and Thor is one of my favourite comic book films. But, I fear I'm getting tired of them!

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    1. I can understand that sentiment, and in some respects I actually do think that part of what made Iron Man 3 stand out for me is how it's more of a stand-alone story removed from the big Avengers whole, particularly in comparison to Iron Man 2, which was essentially more of an Avengers prequel than an Iron Man sequel. And similarly, Winter Soldier certainly feels more like a Marvel Avengers sequel than it does a stand-alone CapAm film on its own, too.

      In the end, I think it's the stand-alone ones that'll stand out as the strongest of the pack, since they're not as worried about tying together the bigger picture and are more focused on telling their own story, so they're not trying to juggle too much, which, as the series continues to expand further and further, IS beginning to feel almost a little overwhelming.

      Thanks, Jaina! :)

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  5. I enjoyed the first Captain America and given the swathe of rave reviews for this one I was looking forward to checking it out. Your review does lessen my expectations somewhat, particularly because we agree that Iron Man 3 is the best of the bunch. That said, I wasn't a fan of Thor.

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    1. Thanks, Dan. I know a lot of people are raving about this, so you may well still wind up enjoying it, but it might not hurt to lower your expectations some anyways. Glad we agree on Iron Man 3! B)

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    2. Having just watched the Iron Man series again, I'd still say Iron Man 3 is the strongest. I'm surprised some say it's the weakest to be honest.

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  6. Nice review, man. I understand your disappointment, although I don't believe mine to be as extreme.

    However, I don't know how you can rank this behind Thor, which was just as god-awful as Iron Man 2, in my opinion!

    I did actually enjoy the hand to hand combat, but you're right that there wasn't anything spectacular about it (action just isn't my thing ha).

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    1. Thanks, Tanner. And, heh, I actually edited this post twice, originally placing Winter Soldier where it is now, then placing it above Thor, and then later back again. Basically, when it came down to it, while I'd acknowledge that Winder Soldier is technically the better movie, my ranking WAS supposed to be based on a matter of favorites. And when it comes down to it, I'd be more likely to revisit Thor than I would Winter Soldier. Both are problematic, but Thor's strong points (its comedy) were more entertaining to me than Cap's, IMO at least. :P

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