There were a lot
of problems in Captain America The First
Avenger. It was way too jingoistic and far too silly to maintain its façade
of seriousness. The visual effects too weren’t very interesting – they were
just merely adequate. The villain was a great actor playing an underdeveloped
character. And the hero was only mildly more charismatic than the guy who
played Thor. A lot has happened since that movie. The Avengers took the world by storm. Marvel is now a bigger, more
confident company, and it shows in Captain America The Winter Soldier.
Winter Soldier
takes every single gaffe of the first movie and rectifies it with glee. This is
a completely different movie, and to an extent a brave one too considering its style
and themes. And it sure as hell is more exciting and better arranged than the Thor
sequel. It’s also better than the hit-and-miss Iron Man 3. That’s right – Captain America has well and truly arrived
and Tony Stark is going to have to make way for the shield in the Avengers
sequel.
While the first
movie was a sort of ‘Amurica Roxx’ episode, the new film is a paranoia thriller
with a hint of espionage drama. Steve Rogers (once again played wonderfully by
Chris Evans) is now digesting the post Avengers world of SHILED and trying to
come to terms with his ‘present’. Things take a turn when an Alexander Pierce (Robert
Redford) comes aboard the team with plans to turn it into a weaponized big
brother central organization. It could seem like a ham fisted attempt at
echoing the Edward Snowden incident, but it sure is a lot of fun. There’s also
some funny camaraderie between Rogers and his new friend Sam Wilson (Anthony
Mackie, who turns into something cool later on in the film).
Moreover, the
visual effects have taken a gigantic leap forward – some of the action set
pieces are bigger than the previous movies in the canon. I won’t describe any
partiular set piece, and I’d recommend you don’t see any trailers of the film
either - because the action here is different, and more interesting than the
other Avengers universe films. What actually makes them interesting is that
they’re placed to move the plot forward, not just for mindless eye candy – even
though there’s plenty of that too. And directors Joe and Anthony Russo deserve
full credit for understanding that the Marvel films need to go in a new
direction.
The Winter
Soldier chracter is handled pretty well, even though you don’t need to be very
smart to guess his identity. Comic book fans will be pleased too for the way
the film sets up the foundation for future movies. The film is very good, and
Marvel’s confidence proves it – they’re unwilling to move the release date of
the third film, which coincides with the Batman-Superman movie. It’s Marvel vs
DC, and after watching this movie I can confirm that Marvel is winning. So bring
it on.
(First published in MiD Day)
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