Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Rated M (action violence). 136
minutes. Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. Screenplay by Christopher
Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Verdict: Another successful outing for Captain America.
This sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) reunites
writers Markus and McFeely and introduces new directors, the Russo brothers
(Arrested Development). It is a mostly happy union at the helm of one of Marvel
Comics’ cinematic universes, helped enormously by the return of the regular
cast members and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America in particular.
Evans is a fine actor, and the time this film takes to explore Captain
America’s past is extremely rewarding. Rogers’ reluctance to be a pawn in
SHIELD’s defensive plans against future terrorist attacks (three monstrous
Helicarriers capable of destroying millions of ‘targets’ at a time) is
countered by the realisation of who the ‘Winter Solider’ (Sebastian Stan) really
is, providing Evans with an opportunity to bring a superhero with a conscience
to life beautifully.
The big action set pieces are fantastic, and even though they are
over-edited, they still stand up. The Russo brothers have opted for less CGI
and more live action, which lends the film a gritty realism that results in the
central conflict being much more effective than the effects-heavy, boom-crash-destruction
finale. The car chase sequences are brilliant, with the stand-out being the
scenes when SHIELD’s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) fights for survival after
being ambushed by the Winter Soldier and his rogue warriors on the streets
Washington D.C.
While it’s great to see the venerable Robert Redford strolling through
the film as SHIELD leader Alexander Pierce, it’s the high-impact, energetic
performances of Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) as Falcon and the fabulous Scarlett
Johansson’s return as Natasha that provide Evans with valuable support.
The two sequences during the closing credits guarantee we will be
seeing a good deal more of Captain America, which based on the quality and
entertainment value of this latest outing, is something to look forward to.
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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