The Captain America: Winter Soldier Thread *Spoilers*

[trackercowe]

I assume this thread is needed so people can avoid spoilers in the general thread.

So the movie is pretty great, and definitely the best of the second wave of Marvel films. It goes through a lot of the same beats as we saw in the Avengers (and the other movies), but I think the characters in this one are much more interesting. Also the action set pieces are better, and I found the movie to be more sensible despite the massive scope of the plot.

I liked how they incorporated Hydra into the movie as well, as that keeps up with the comics. Also having them control Winter Soldier works better than him just being a Russian assassin. I could see how some might say he was kind of shoehorned into the movie, but I really liked the scenes of him and Cap, which really connected for me. It will be interesting to see what direction they go in the third movie; which I am assuming he'll be back for after seeing the post-credit sequence.

Chris Evans has definitely exceeded my expectations, and I'd almost go as far as to say he's surpassed Downey Jr. as my favorite of the Avengers. Maybe it's because of my affection for Cap as a kid, but Evans does great work no matter what's required. He also delivers in action sequences (including hand-to-hand combat), whereas the others might not. It may not be worthy of an Oscar nomination, but he does great work.

The constant references were nice too (Pulp Fiction, the crappy Captain America Movie, Paul Newman), and at least some of the jokes landed. The performances were all great too, aside from maybe Scarlett Johansson's, but that's a minor quibble. I just don't think she does great work with her dramatic set pieces.

Another minor issue I have is how similar it is to the other movies. Again much of the movie revolves around hellicarriers, ships, and other massive set pieces. There's just so much going on and many characters that need to be followed; it's a lot for one to take in. Marvel keeps trying to top itself in every movie especially in terms of action set pieces. I would love it if they would work in a few smaller movies as well, as not every movie needs to be a huge 200 million dollar blockbuster.

Having one or two of these every year is great, but a change of pace would be welcomed. That's a reason why I've began to like The First Avenger that much more is that it's somewhat different than the other Marvel films in that it's just as much a war movie as a huge action spectacle. It looks like with them moving forward with Ant-Man and Doctor Strange franchises we're going to get that, so I'll be waiting for those smaller movies in anticipation.


So yeah definitely worth a look, and I am sure most will enjoy it. Days of Future Past is going to be in tough to top it, but with that story it very well could.

[Savvy27]

Saw it tonight and thought it was excellent. The boat scene near the beginning was expertly done. They got Captain America's fighting style down perfectly (along with the Black Widow, who was really good too). The Falcon was much better than I was anticipating and the Winter Soldier -while perhaps being overpowered- was a formidable and enjoyable adversary.

Really good action scenes, especially in the first half of the movie. Glad I watched it in theater, I recommend this one.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

The constant references were nice too (Pulp Fiction, the crappy Captain America Movie, Paul Newman), and at least some of the jokes landed. The performances were all great too, aside from maybe Scarlett Johansson's, but that's a minor quibble. I just don't think she does great work with her dramatic set pieces.

I missed all of those! I don't think I was in the right mindset to go last night. Great movie, but I felt meh leaving. Have to take the kids this weekedn though so I'm pretty sure I'll like it more the second time around.

ScarJo was pretty bland in this one, she's great eyecandy and her fight scenes are cool but she really doesn't steal any scenes. Someone on my FB posted she needs her own movie but I think that would be a disaster.

[Hack&Lube]

Saw it this morning from a vendor presentation.

It was pretty good. I still think the Captain America costume with the silly straps looks terrible and doesn't feel like Captain America. The all-blue darker costume is great. Winter Soldier was great, lifted right out of the comics. Disappointing that his backstory was so shallow compared to the great arcs in the comics where the Winter Soldier and Black Widow worked together in Russia, were involved, etc. and the long awakening to who he was and him actually taking over as Captain America eventually.

Don't the events in this story screw the Agents of Shield TV show?

The Falcon still looked ridiculous and superfluous. The movie could have done without him. I also love how the heli-carriers encase their most vulnerable system in a glass dome in the middle and bottom of each ship.

As for the movie references, I can't believe Black Widow pulled the "Do You Want to Play a Game?" line and the whole theatre got it. Must be the industry and demographic. I missed Captain America's to do list in his little book though.

[trackercowe]

I kinda agree on the costume, since I loved the bright blue costume when I was a kid as well. You have to assume that he will get a new suit eventually, when they want to sell new action figures and whatnot. It sucks how much marketing plays a role in these movies, but it takes time for them to release the best suits and armor (same with his shield).

As for movie references, there were a bunch of them. I tried to read much of the notepad, but all I can remember is Rocky (Rocky 2?), which is pretty funny since that's how I feel about the Rocky series. The Paul Newman reference was the scene with Redford when he hits the fridge for milk, although I can't exactly place which movie that came from. It does sort of reference the 90's Captain America movie when him and BW steal the truck (which Cap does twice in the other movie). The most obvious one is the Pulp Fiction Easter egg with Ezekiel 25:17 inscribed on Fury's tombstone.

I think most of them are listed here from what I can tell: http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/04/04...cs-references/


There we go.

[photon]

Great movie, enjoyed it. I like the overarching continuity between the films of the government activities. Interesting to see where they go from here (not familiar with the comics).

[Coach]

Saw it last night. Really really enjoyed it. I'd pout it with Iron Man and The Avengers for quality. Really great pacing, action and humor. I thought the Winter Soldier added to the intrigue of the conspiracy and benefited the movie rather than detracted from it. Good performances all around.

Captain America kicked way more ass which I liked. There was a couple slightly cheesy parts (the plane espace and the fact that he can hot wire a modern car didn't make a whole bunch of sense). But overall it was awesome.

[GreenLantern]

Yea I am also not overly familiar with Marvel and especially not Captain America, so this was all fresh to me. I really enjoyed the movie, I think The Winter Soldier is a great character/villain. Everything about it exceeded expectations except Falcon. I am a fan of this character, especially the dynamic between him and Cap (most recent arch I have read was Civil War). But, I think the whole costume/wings were done a bit cheesey and I just felt like he didn't totally fit into the story as Falcon. But as his civilian name or whatever he was great and he did a good job of forming a connection with Evans on screen. I think in the next one they will flesh him out a bit more and it will grow on me.

It definitely didn't ruin the movie for me and it is very nit picky so that says a lot about the rest of the film.

I was a bit confused at the end though, it seems like SHIELD is no more? Some of the agents went to the CIA, Hill is taking over Stark tower which will be the new Avengers head quarters? Fury is going off on his own but still with SHIELD agents but not called SHIELD?

Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch in the post credits was cool but nothing we didn't already know about the next movie.. was hoping to get to see something totally new.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Don't the events in this story screw the Agents of Shield TV show?

Nope! In the last episode they were talking about a mole leaking information to one of the main baddies in the series. Looks like Agents of Shield will be battling Hydra next week as well. Ties in nicely with Sitwell's cameos on the show too.

[AcGold]

a good movie in theatres? That's like seeing a unicorn during an eclipse these days. Definitely going to see this one

[Bootsy]

Thought it was great by far the best sequel to the marvel films thus far. Ranks up there with Iron Man and Avengers for me.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Yeah definitely up there with Avengers and Iron Man. The fighting in this movie is actually superior. All the hand-to-hand combat (and close-up gun to shield combat I guess heh) was amazingly choreographed. It was very Bourne-like. And dat elevator scene! Just a wicked brawl-fest. They really had to make sure the fight choreo was great since they couldn't rely on many superpowers in this film outside of Cap's super-strength, and they did a stellar job.

[Inglewood Jack]

well done Marvel, made it feel like the summer's finally starting. I did appreciate the not-at-all subtle nod to the NSA, one of those things that keeps the plot grounded in terms we can understand, all while there's super soldiers and flying fortresses and dudes with military-issued angel wings (but no built in weaponry?) kicking around. oh and Fury's escape from the police was damn cool.

I also like the clear effort to limit the CGI as much as possible, I had almost forgotten what live action looks like. my only quibble is that as good as the fights were, I would have liked it to be less shaky (seriously, screw all shaky all the time camera in general). the times when they did use a wide, steady shot were great and I wanted a lot more of it so I could process the awesomeness better.

oh and the product placement got pretty nasty at times, although not Man of Steel level, luckily. they stopped doing it towards the end, thank god. it's only a matter of time before the helicarriers are sponsored by Samsung.

[cDnStealth]

Marvel is nailing these movies. I really enjoyed Winter Soldier and, like Thor The Dark World, I feel it improved upon the first one. I think I'd even rank this film above the first Iron Man and just behind The Avengers. I liked his costume much more in this one (vs. the Avengers). The fight scenes were great and Cap came off as a much bigger bad ass. That elevator scene reminded me of the Civil War series when he defies Hill and fights all of those S.H.E.I.L.D. agents. The Winter Soldier was a cool villain even though he seemed too strong. It'll be interesting to see where they take it in the next one. Will they kill Evan's off as Cap?

It's such a shame that Marvel doesn't have the Spider-Man, X-Men and FF licenses.

[Zarley]

Not a big fan of superhero movies but this one was entertaining. Was surprised to see GSP in there at the beginning.

One thing that bugged me was how they said ScarJo's character was a KGB agent yet born in 1984. Was she some type of child agent?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Not a big fan of superhero movies but this one was entertaining. Was surprised to see GSP in there at the beginning.

One thing that bugged me was how they said ScarJo's character was a KGB agent yet born in 1984. Was she some type of child agent?

Yes I believe she was working for Russia before the age of 10 in the comics.

... or maybe she had also been re-animated throughout time. Who knows.

[Barbecue]

[GreenLantern]

CBR sits down with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to talk about some of the events in The Winter Soldier:

Yeah, it was definitely reminiscent of stuff from comics -- including Jonathan Hickman's "Secret Warriors" series.

Yeah! Exactly. Putting Nick Fury in a position where he's on the run. And even going back to Sternako, and to Scorpio; that stuff.


Given all of that, from the fan perspective, in the film there's Hydra, there's Arnim Zola -- is there any chance to see Red Skull again? It seems that he could have fit into this storyline.

There's always a chance. Did he incinerate when that cube and portal opened up? Who knows. That's part of the fun.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=51992

[cDnStealth]

I always assumed the Red Skull got transported to Asgard or something. I actually thought the first Avengers movie would have a Loki and Red Skull team up.

[Ark2]

I would love to see Red Skull come back. Felt that Hugo Weaving was under-utilized in the first Captain America.