Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Movie Review)

        Man, I swear that Chris Evans is trying to go out in a Blaze of Glory, with all of the events that took place in the latest Captain America film. Then again, spending nearly 70 years on ice can bring a lot of aggression, too. I'll start off my saying that, The First Avenger, the Winter Soldier's predecessor, seems to get a bad rap from people who seemed to expect something more than just an origin film, which is what it's meant to be. Granted, it was steeped in 20th century lore with a story that took time to compel and was basic, did its job. Many of the main characters, particularly Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, was great, in my opinion. Though, I felt like it got an unfair shake from critics and others who thought of it sorely as just more Marvel filler. That being said, The Winter Soldier is superb in every way compared to its predecessor.

     In terms of just aesthetics, The Winter Soldier feels like it has a divergent setup from much of the Marvel entries. SHIELD is treated like a real agency, sort of like the Central Intelligence Agency collects data on a particular case or an individual, same goes any part of the US military that gets the resources to create incredible weaponry or aircraft. Even the stakes appeared to have cost during the movies big moments in either peril or a character from Rogers past that's not related to Bucky. Captain Steve Rogers is a different man from the untrained, brave soul upgraded by the blessings of the Super Soldier serum. He is a more formed person and a more confidence one when compared to the days of defeating Skull and the entire Hydra regime in the first film.

     Evans appears to have more control and command in this film than he did in First Avenger or The Avengers, because his character and the stakes of everything that could happen, has that extra level of meaning. The plot is consistent and blends in the tension, action and melodrama very well. Same goes for the acting, in which, everyone plays his or her part well. As for the best actor out of the bunch besides Robert Redford, Sam Jackson, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johannsen or even Falcon's Anthony Mackie? Sebastian Shaw. It's no secret that Bucky Barnes plays an unexpected foe to Captain America in a huge plot twist that is explained in throughout the movie. While he doesn't have much dialogue, the way he emotes in moments of dealing with his severe consequences of being the anti-hero was a deep one, not just because of his "loss" in movie 1, but with him trying to figure himself out with this new-found persona of being a sleeper cell among-st SHIELD's ranks. Choreography is well-detailed, particularly with fights that are in close-quarters but are outside from offices or ships. My only problem with the film is with parts of the direction, but only with some of the action being too fast at times; otherwise, it's a top-notch effort by the Russo Brothers. But, I guess that was the point of this sequel and its direction: raise the intensity in all the area of this production, no matter the costs. If anything bad happens to something major, keep the tempo up and then lower it for to handle the narrative. Have a good time, because, I sure as hell did with this film.