- Location: Gig Harbor Galaxy Theatre
- Prior to reading Ed Brubaker's excellent run in the Captain America comics, I was skeptical that Cap could be an interesting modern superhero. The notion of a character arranged around patriotism and whose origins smacked of eugenics just didn't seem like something that could, or should, thrive in the 21st century. The first movie in the series, Captain America: The First Avenger, had some terrific moments, but nearly the entire film was set in the WWII era. Would Captain America emerge from the ice as a fascinating anachronism or an uncomfortable reminder that times have changed (and not always for the better)? Then I read Brubaker's comics and discovered that there were plenty of interesting Cap stories left to tell. Thankfully, the filmmakers must have read them, too.
- I'm comfortable claiming that Anthony and Joe Russo's Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the best Marvel movie made to date. That's not the same as saying that it is a great movie, but without question this is a great superhero flick. The action scenes are compelling and coherent with visceral car chases reminiscent of The French Connection and urban shootouts surely inspired by Heat. There's naturally some property damage and explosions, but none of the gratuitous city-leveling that has become de rigueur for today's action blockbusters. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the best parts of the film remind me of paranoid 70's thrillers like Three Days of the Condor or All the President's Men, right down to the inclusion of Robert Redford. It turns out that great actors and intelligent plots make a big difference.
- So what is Captain America (Chris Evans) up to these days? Well, the film opens with a high-octane sprint through a hijacked ship with fellow SHIELD agents Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo). Despite the mission's nominal success, not all is well back at SHIELD Headquarters (which now towers over Washington DC's tidal basin, naturally). A secret plan to deploy automated first-strike drones is bothering Cap's conscience, and even cloak-and-dagger masterspy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has some reservations. Once Fury mentions his concerns to World Security Council member Alexander Pierce (Redford), however, he suddenly becomes the target of a mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Oh heck, if you can read a cast list or have picked up a Marvel comic in the past ten years, you know that Cap's best pal Bucky is back. Only what's with all the assassination and the creepy metal arm?
- Like Iron Man, the other unqualified success in the Marvel superhero pantheon, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a mix of drama, suspense, and unexpected comedy that benefits tremendously from the chemistry of its cast. Aside from the always brilliant Robert Redford, the biggest standout is Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, an Air Force veteran whose role as a VA counselor is almost as helpful to Cap as his mechanical flight suit. Although Johansson's character was mostly a liability in previous films, she proves here that she too can be plenty compelling and witty when not relegated to the sidelines. As SHIELD employees past and present, noble and ignoble, Cobie Smulders, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, and Maximiliano Hernández are all fine, and this honestly feels like the first time Nick Fury was written as more than a marketing gimmick for future sequels. Even obscure villains Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) and Batroc the Leaper (Georges St-Pierre) are given more creative treatments than their fundamentally silly comic book inspirations merit. I'm not sure I like Cap's chances of surviving the next film, but I damn sure hope his film series lives on.
- Garry Shandling reprises his role as Senator Stern and...secret Hydra Agent! Also, cameos by Ed Brubaker, Danny Pudi, and your old pal Stan Lee.
- The now perfunctory post-mid-credits mid-sequence shows Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), but it isn't as interesting as the credits that precede it.
