Sunday, May 11, 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I saw this film with my 18 year old son.  Afterwards I asked him what he thought, and an he informed me that he liked it a lot.  I pressed him about what he liked exactly, hoping for some teen insight.  He simply replied "it was entertaining".
Well, he didn't know it at the time, but he pretty much nailed my primary criteria for liking or disliking a movie.  Was I entertained or not.
Quite simply Captain America: The Winter Soldier was entertaining, all 136 minutes of it.  I have to admit that in general I'm a fan of comic book movies, and movies that have to do with special powers and abilities.
The film was shot in bright futuristic color yet with a very modern "this could be real" feel.  The effects were believable but not so overwhelming as to feel stilted or overshadowing the action.  I particularly enjoyed a scene in which an SUV was the star.  The car responded to voice commands and "helped" Nick Fury, somewhat overacted by Samuel Jackson, survive an ambush.
To nit pick I did think some of the acting was weak.  In addition to SJ's hammy performance I thought Robert Redford seemed uncomfortable at best.   Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson were adequate, even if the lines they were given were a bit Greeting Card.  Captain America's goody two shoes overt "I never lie" persona got to be a bit tedious.
The Winter Solider aka Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan was pretty cool.  His look and cold blooded assassin code, along with a metal arm, made him the ideal villain.  I did think he looked a lot more intimidating and menacing with the veil like mask, which was discarded too soon.
 I know good is supposed to prevail over evil, but this was so black and white it came across as corny.  I like my hero's to have at least a bit of an edge.  They don't have to be Wolverine, or even Spiderman, but Captain America would make Superman seem downright sinister.
So in a nutshell, it's a fun and entertaining movie.  Now bring on Spiderman.

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