As Steve Rogers (Chris Evans, “Puncture”), more commonly known as Captain America, stands in the shadow of three giant behemoth “helicarriers” meant to patrol the skies he utters, “This isn’t freedom. This is fear.”
Things get unexpectedly political in Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which is an abrupt shift considering that Marvel films have conventionally stuck to the formula of large, sometimes shallow spectacles. But, in directors Joe and Anthony Russo’s first outing into the Marvel universe, the film finds Captain America facing off against The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan, “Black Swan”), an agent kept secret throughout history, committing a host of high profile assassinations.
Much of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was essentially predetermined before it ever even reached pre-production. Rogers, now defrosted from ice and 70 years older, was once a true blue American hero who now has to live in a world where the lines between friends and enemies is infinitely more gray and the brand of patriotism Rogers once knew is now a figment of the past.
The Russo brothers succeed at creating a film, which owes its debts to ‘70s political thrillers while giving the Captain a far more formidable enemy than just the physically intimidating Winter Soldier to tussle with for the duration. Standing against what Roger’s believes in is government bureaucracy and a flying predictive security net that reaches far and wide, meant to prevent tomorrow’s threats, across the globe. This becomes the central political point that “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” grapples with.
The embodiment of the grand net of security is channeled through Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford, “All is Lost”). Redford knows exactly what he’s in coming from many films which tonally echo “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” in style and substance, and for that he makes the perfect casting as a duplicitous head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Inevitably, a film like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” comes down to the construction of the elaborate action set pieces, and they are very intricate. While the Russo brothers want to tell a story that is inherently political and immediate to current events, those sentiments will always play second fiddle to the packing of as much action as needed to satisfy hungry fanboys waiting for their bi-yearly dose of comic book mayhem.
Scarlett Johansson (“Don Jon”) as Black Widow is a far more developed and well-rounded character than ever before, though Johansson sounds like she has a cold throughout the film. Anthony Mackie, after years of hustling around in great films from “The Hurt Locker” to “Million Dollar Baby,” finally gets a chance to spread his wings as the caustic but principled Falcon.
Ultimately, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is more of a conventional movie than any other Marvel film previous to it since the first “Iron Man.” The film is politically active with current anxieties centralizing around manipulation of the American public’s trust and the mendacity of S.H.I.E.L.D’s efforts to subvert that trust – creating something far more dangerous to ensure the public’s safety. These sentiments don’t sound like they belong anywhere near a film like “Captain America.” But Rogers himself, as a purely ideological entity who stands for honor and nobility, makes an interesting foil to bounce off these ideas.
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
