Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: The Russo Brothers' 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' is a slightly different kind of Marvel movie to what we'd seen before it, as it aims for some higher territory by heavily drawing on political thrillers of the recent past - and that in itself is an admirable thing.
  
  Yes from the gritty 70s visuals and the Washington setting, to the espionage and surveillance plot (and the fact it features none other than All The President's Men star Mr Robert Redford), this is a film that echoes some pretty serious stuff. The very basis of its story comes from using the nostalgia of the character's good ol' days to juxtapose some scary new surveillance possibilities with SHIELD, and what that does at the very least is make for a perfect way to fully introduce Captain America into the 21st Century.
  
  But just because a film aims a little higher doesn't necessarily mean it succeeds, so luckily the solid direction here largely guides things to a win with plenty of thoroughly intense action that sits up there with Marvel's best, as well as a properly-developed character arc at its centre. This is carried brilliantly by a great performance from Chris Evans (and supporting player Scarlett Johansson), and all in all it makes for a very engaging experience that echoes some more serious stuff than your average MCU venture and works very well overall.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The fact it does draw on such a serious set of styles and ideas does make it slightly frustrating that it never properly delves that deeply into the interesting things that it's about. In the end the political thriller elements are more surface-level, and are never really the focus of the script.
  
  VERDICT: A film that draws on some pretty serious movies and ideas - albeit without ever delving properly into that stuff - 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier,' is a slightly different kind of Marvel movie, but it nonetheless serves as very interesting way to bring Captain America into the modern world.

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