Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Cap is back and amazing as ever

In this newest Marvel movie we follow the nation's hero Captain America A.K.A Steve Rodgers. Since we last left him Cap has been busy running missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to do the only thing that makes since to him. War. Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D has been keeping a few secrets from our flag wearing hero, and when those secrets are unveiled Cap wonders if he really is fighting for something he believes in. With this looming over his head he also has a new enemy to worry about. Someone who's identity is a mystery, and can stand on par with Cap himself. The Winter Soldier.

There is a bit more to the story, but for my none comic book efficient readers I shall hold my tongue as not to ruin anything. Yes, this movie does fairly well at keeping consistent with the identities and origins of the new characters. The movie even has a (more or less) surprising ending that should interest people even if they did read the books. I love this story line because it pits Cap against not only The Winter Soldier, but the very nation he is named after. It's filled with far more depth than most of the movies that have come out featuring this character. We get to see how Steve is dealing with living in a different timeline. We get to see how messed up it is to not only be a soldier who's seen combat, but a solider out of time. What does one do when everything he knew is gone? It was also nice to see Cap doing his best to get more topical with events, and entertainment he has missed over the years. Our new partner to Cap, "The Falcon" is pretty much exactly what you would expect him to be. Dedicated to Cap, helps Cap find himself, serves as comic relief while also kicking some butt on his own. I didn't really have a problem with the way he was done, it was just easy to notice the difference in skill between him and everybody else. As it stands the story line and characters were solid, sans a couple of missteps that are to be expected.

The acting in this was the same as everything else we have seen from this studio of Marvel movies, perfect. We have come to expect this from Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson, but there is always room for error from people we have never seen or seen very little of. Cobie Smulders is welcome back as Maria Hill, this go around having more screen time. Robert Redford serves as an amazing man that you love to hate, and Sebastian Stan makes a sympathetic mime (having only a couple of lines through the movie). Finally, Anthony Mackie proves to be an amazing choice for Falcon, and I hope we get to see more of him in future ventures.

The action sequences in this were brilliantly choreographed. Taking people that should be professionally trained fighters (in the realm of this movie) should have proved taxing for any choreographer. Here we see exactly how well some people do at there jobs, because every scene felt like a real and amazing knife fight. Every move seemed so calculated and streamlined that you have to wonder how many endless hours the actors/stunt doubles spent perfecting these moves. It does not seem to register in their brains that they need to drop a knife into a hand that has a better shot at hitting it's target. It seems more like muscle memory. Whatever feats they went through to achieve this skill proved to be well worth it, because these fights are beautiful to watch.

This is the third sequel we have gotten from Marvel since "The Avengers" came out, and it seems to prove that we have so much more to look forward to. I have not been disappointed by a Marvel sequel since their billion dollar baby came out, and with a movie like this (serving as even more evidence) I don't think I will be. They seem to have this down to an exact science now, and the chemistry going into these movies is paying off.

Final Verdict: Buy it I know that this character, or even some points in the ending won't resonate with a few viewers, but try to look at this for what it is. If you like a good superhero spy movie you will love this.