MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

After the horribly offensive mess that was Iron Man 3 and the experiment in utter boredom that was Thor: The Dark World, it was more than time for Marvel to get over the fact that it had produced one of the highest-grossing films of all time and get back to actually producing quality products. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking - "Hey, Madcap! Didn't you already review this film four years ago?" Well, you are technically correct. I did one of my "MadCap At The Movies" segments on it. But there's a fundamental difference between those and my "Reel Thoughts". "MadCap At The Movies" is set up to give my initial thoughts on a film right after I see it in a theater (a rare occurrence when you see how few I've done), while "Reel Thoughts" allows me to look at films with the benefit of time and more thought put into them beyond the initial hype.

So, does The Winter Soldier still hold up after four years? Is it worth the hype?

...well, obviously, yeah.


Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is back in action as Captain America following the events of The Avengers at his side is the deadly Natasha Romanoff, aka The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and, under the command of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) the pair run missions in order to take down threats to world peace. However, two major events come along to shake things up. S.H.I.E.L.D. is working on a new project called "Project: Insight", which links three Helicarriers together and is made to preemptively eliminate threats. The second, following Nick trying to put it on hold at Cap's request (and when data stolen by the Black Widow cannot be de-encrypted), sees an attempt on his life by a mysterious figure known only as the Winter Solid-Bucky. It's Bucky (Sebastian Stan). Honestly, there's no use in hiding it. The poster doesn't even bother, and neither does the film, frankly.

Look, in the original Ed Brubaker storyline in the comics (which this film took inspiration/adapted from), it made sense. Bucky had not been a prominent character for literally decades on a count of being dead and so his reveal as the Winter Soldier was supposed to be as much a shock to us as it was to Cap. Here? Not so much, but it's almost as though they got that and just decided to go for more of the emotional punch for Steve.

As Steve starts to dig into just what happened to Bucky and his connections to the still-existing HYDRA, he finds new allies: namely pararescueman Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) along with returning assistance from Nick Fury and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Cap must stop HYDRA's latest plot no matter the cost...even if it means losing his only chance at saving his best friend.

I'm not going to lie to you, folks, this film is an absolute masterpiece. Not only is it a faithful and well-done adaptation of the comic book storyline, not only is it a timely and insightful commentary on freedom vs. security and the lengths we're willing to go to be protected at a time when government surveillance of the general public through mass media was (and is still) a major issue, and not only is it arguably the best made film that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever produced. It manages to be a good film all on its own without any of the comic book elements. Not to mention, solid performances from the entire cast, although that's pretty much par for the course in a Marvel film these days.

Whenever someone says that MCU films can't be dark or can't do anything besides be a fun popcorn movie, I point them to this. There is a reason that the Russo Brothers were tapped for Civil War and for Infinity War...besides the fact that Joss Whedon kind of went into egotistical crazy followed by sexual misconduct allegations...and it's this. It has action, it has intrigue, it had insightful commentary, and it has humor. It's a delicate balancing act, to be sure, and many other films in the MCU do not even come close to managing it, but The Winter Soldier pulls it off.

Honestly, every single scene in this film exists because it needs to, with...only one exception. The one with a cameo from a digitally-aged Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). It's nice to see Peggy again, do not misunderstand me, but the scene she's in does not contribute to anything in the plot and really only serves as an unnecessary gut punch in what is already a film filled with gut punch. Honestly, I would have preferred if she had passed away in between The First Avenger and now. More tragic that way, Cap separated from his lady love and not being able to reunite with her.

...of course, he ends up hooking up with her niece...but we'll get to that particular bit of awkward squickiness when Civil War comes around.

Captain America: The Winter Solider was just the film to pull Marvel out of the rut that it had gotten itself into. It was as if it were apologizing for the aforementioned two duds in the franchise following being drunk on their massive success with The Avengers. The ramifications of this film are still being felt in films now in the MCU, and I suspect that we'll see more of them as time goes on.

However, as we go from the film that is (to date) arguably the darkest film in the franchise...we go to one that's a little bit on the lighter side next time, as we dig into one of my two personal favorite films in the entire MCU.

And believe me when I tell you, readers, OH IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M HOOKED ON A FEELING!!!!!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now available from Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Motion Pictures.

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