CAPTAIN AMERICA THE WINTER SOLDIER

Captain America’s first cinematic outing left our hero stranded out of his time in the modern world. Winter Soldier continues this theme with the Captain finding it difficult to adjust to the complicated power plays and politicking of the modern age. I confess that although I really enjoyed Captain America the First Avenger I wasn’t sure how the character would fit in in the modern world (the Avengers was more an ensemble piece). One thing you will quickly notice when watching this film is that it is not simply a parade of action scenes with some occasional dialogue thrown in, instead the story and characters are given room to breathe and both benefit as a result. Believe it or not this approach also helps the film’s action credentials, by spacing these sequences out it means the when the fists, feet (and shield) start to fly then the audience is all the more eager for it . The climactic battle scenes are a good deal more exciting when you haven’t been battered by more of the same for the last hour. An extremely well written script with intelligent dialogue is another weapon in the film’s arsenal. The character’s fears and motivations sit comfortably with technobabble about codes and computer chips. This, coupled with strong performances from the entire main cast, gives you a film that for all of its fantastical elements, ring true to a very large extent. It should of course be noted that as this film exists in the middle of the Marvel universe it does not lend itself to a one off viewing, in other words if you haven’t seen other films in the franchise you might be at a bit of a loss. Another issue is that on the film’s main plot twists, which is revealed with much fanfare, has been known to comic book fans for some time and therefore might lack some bite (my thanks to the enthusiastic comic book fan who ruined this for me a clear six months before the first trailer was even out). On the whole though these are minor nit-picks and this is a thoroughly entertaining and well-made film. Final verdict 9/10