Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel Studios is on a rampage. Everyone knows it. Film is what took Marvel from the verge of bankruptcy to a multi-billion dollar buyout by Disney. Marvel Studios still does not have film rights to many of it’s most popular superheroes (such as the entire X-Men cast), but they have definitely been able to put together a compelling program.
Their latest installment, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was probably more important than most realize. 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger served as a good origin story but was easily the weakest initial offering out of the initial big three heroes. The first Iron Man movie was phenomenal and really set the stage and opened the door for what was to come. The first Thor film had a lot of depth and proved that Marvel could succeed with less reality-grounded subject matters. It was cool to watch Captain America fighting nazis in his debut film, but things got messy and quality declined as the plot moved towards the Red Skull and Hydra elements.
The film stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson (who plays a major role in the film), Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, and even Robert Redford. The film was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. It serves as the third film in Marvel’s Phase Two
This is the kind of situation where most studios would decide to pretend it never happened and move forward in a new direction and this is exactly why Marvel Studios has done so well. It decided to double down and dig deeper into what was a weak point to make it stronger, which is exactly what Captain America: The Winter Soldier does.
The backdrop of the film is similar to all the other films after The Avengers. The world is different. The hero is conflicted and unsure where he belongs now. There is a lull of peace, before chaos once again commences. However this time, chaos comes from within. Also, this film is definitely more grounded in reality than most others and evolves into a political thriller with significant real-world relevance.
The action is fantastic as always, but it’s the more nuanced things that really set it apart. The connections to the first film (which will almost certainly continue on in the next Captain America installment), really make this film feel so connected and heighten the importance of what’s going on. In superhero films, it is so easy to just come up with a new villain and a new crisis for every sequel. I can’t imagine how tricky it is for Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel gurus to create a sequel which perfectly relates to it’s predecessor as well as the culminating Avengers film as well as all the other films which Captain America isn’t even in. This is what will keep audiences coming back to the theater every 6 months.
It’s surprising that so many films into this grand plan, that things continue to get better. There is so much anticipation for what’s coming up: the next Avengers film, the next Captain America film, and I am even curiously optimistic about the talking raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the best movies in the growing repertoire of Marvel Studios.
