Saw this movie a couple of hours ago. Been looking forward to it for some time, and I wasn't disappointed. If you haven't seen it yet, you might want to avoid reading what follows.
1. The Story Steve Rogers continues to adjust to modern life. At the beginning of the film he is still employed by S.H.I.E.L.D. After he and the Black Widow rescue several hostages from mercenaries, a power struggle develops between Nick Fury and Alexander Pierce, his supervisor. Unknown to Fury, Pierce is secretly an agent of Hydra, an organization that has been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. since its inception. Hydra, acting through S.H.I.E.L.D., intends to eliminate several million "threats" to its goal of world domination, and Rogers must enlist the aid of the Black Widow, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, and his new friend the Falcon to foil the plot. He also has to contend with his former friend Bucky Barnes, now dubbed the Winter Soldier. 2. How It Compares to the First Captain America This movie is a lot faster paced. Whereas the first one kind of plodded along (albeit intentionally), the action in this film flows seamlessly from beginning to end. The fight scenes are miles ahead of the first movie, and the plot is a lot more intricate. While the first film had an earnestness that I liked, the sequel broods over the fine line between right and wrong. Chris Evans, all American forthrightness in the first film, has a lot more to do in this movie, and there's a sadness about his portrayal of Captain America that's very compelling. 3. How It Compares to Other Marvel Films My least favorite Marvel Studios film is Thor, and this movie is A LOT better than that one. My second least favorite Marvel Studios film is Iron Man 3, and this movie is still better than that. Taking all of the Marvel Studios films into account, I'd tentatively rank this one fifth, behind The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor 2, and the Incredible Hulk. It's a good movie, but it didn't blow me away. 4. Trivia There are two post-credits scenes. The first features Baron Von Strucker in his lair, discussing the fate of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, whom he has imprisoned. The second involves Bucky going to the Smithsonian, and learning about his past before becoming the Winter Soldier.
I won't discuss in full any connections to previous Marvel films, though there are many references to such films. Iron Man/Tony Stark is probably mentioned the most often. As for other trivia, some of it might have gotten by me. I did notice that during one scene, when they're interrogating a Hydra agent, the agent mentions that Hydra was targeting a "Stephen Strange," whom comic book fans will know as the alter ego of Doctor Strange. Maria Hill also goes to work for Stark Industries after the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D.
5. What's Coming Next
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the ninth film in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, and the third film in Marvel's "Phase 2" set of films. Guardians of the Galaxy will arrive in August 2014, followed by The Avengers: Age of Ultron in May 2015. After Avengers 2, Marvel will release Ant-Man in July 2015. And after that, probably going head-to-head with Warner Bros. "Batman Vs. Superman," Marvel will release Captain America 3.
6. Related News
Captain America: The Winter Soldier seems to be getting more favorable reviews than both Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. It had a big international release, though the American release is still a few days away.
Saw "Thor: The Dark World" a while back, just a couple days after it premiered in Taiwan. I thought it was a vast improvement over the first "Thor," and it reminded me of the run Walt Simonson did on the comics when I was a kid. While "Thor: The Dark World" wasn't as earth-shattering as Surtur forging a sword and signaling Ragnarok, it was a solid, fast-paced action movie. It was also much better than the disappointing "Iron Man 3."
With Thor 2 out of the way, 2014 will see the arrival of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" in April, "Guardians of the Galaxy" the following summer, and "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" in 2015. The preview for the next Captain America film has already appeared, and it looks like it will be even better than Thor 2.
I'm a bit skeptical about "Guardians of the Galaxy," especially after that weak post-credits scene at the end of Thor 2. It will be quite a departure from what Marvel has done already, and we'll see if director James Gunn's brand of "funny" really works in a Marvel context. Hopefully we won't have another "Howard the Duck" on our hands. I have a hard time imagining that the Avengers sequel won't be good. All of the cast from the first film are returning, and Joss Whedon is once again writing and directing, so it seems like a sure thing. The Avengers will be facing off against their robot adversary Ultron, with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch added to the roster. I'm interested to see what they do with Quicksilver, since the Marvel movies haven't done much with super speed thus far.
I doubt that the cinematic Scarlet Witch will look half as sexy as her comic book counterpart. The comic book Scarlet Witch has one of the sexiest costumes ever, and I suspect that director Whedon will be under pressure to make her less of a sex object. This is unfortunate, since it is this very sex appeal that has made her one of the more interesting characters in the Avengers lineup.
Edgar Wright's "Ant-Man," which kicks off Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is also due out in 2015. It's too early to say much about this one, aside from the fact that they're still writing the script, and Paul Rudd has been rumored for the lead. In the X-men camp, there is "Days of Future Past," which just looks boring to me. The trailer is already on YouTube, and despite reaching for a more "epic" feel the whole thing just looks like another episode of the same, tired superhero soap opera. Wolverine is the only interesting character that movie franchise has, and I think he would be better served by another solo film. "The Wolverine" wasn't as good as ANY of the Marvel films, but it was still much better than any of the X-men films.
And I'm not going to argue that Hugh Jackman isn't a great actor, or that he hasn't done a good job with Wolverine, but he really doesn't LOOK like Wolverine, and that has always bothered me. They need to find a much shorter, much hairier, much uglier actor for this part. Wolverine (like Spider-man) is everyone's favorite underdog, and a Wolverine that looks like Hugh Jackman isn't really anyone's underdog. I think that if you could go back to the early 80s, and tell Danny Devito to start lifting some serious weights, after a year or so he might start to look something like Wolverine. In 2015, 20th Century Fox, the studio producing the X-men films, will also release a Fantastic Four movie, set in the same cinematic universe. It's too early to get hopeful about this one. The director, Josh Trank, was the guy behind "Chronicle."
And Spider-man? A teaser for "The Amazing Spider-man 2" is online, but it doesn't show much. This sequel will pit Spider-man against Electro and the Rhino. Sony is quite keen on this film series, and there are already plans for an "Amazing Spider-man 3" and "Amazing Spider-man 4." Elements of this film series (and one dare hope - Spider-man?) might appear in the second Avengers movie. Warner Bros./DC have plans of their own. By now I'm sure everyone is aware of the "Batman Vs. Superman" movie, which will appear in 2015. Ben Affleck will be the Dark Knight, Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Superman, and the woman from the "Fast and Furious" films has been confirmed as Wonder Woman.
The problem with Wonder Woman mirrors that of the Scarlet Witch. Say what you like, but Wonder Woman IS a sex object, and casting one of these thin supermodel types isn't in keeping with the character. Even hiring a female bodybuilder would be closer to more recent incarnations of Wonder Woman. The actress that they've hired is certainly pretty, but unless she engages in some serious weight training, I'm not sure how much she's going to look like Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman also needs BREASTS, for God's sake! I may just be another male chauvinist pig for saying so, but her "assets" play into the mythology built up around the character. If she isn't achingly "hot," then she should at least be physically intimidating. Of all these movies, I'm most looking forward to the next Captain America film and "Age of Ultron." I'll probably see "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Amazing Spider-man 2" in the theater, but I'll wait for the next X-men film on DVD. "Batman Vs. Superman?" I'll make that decision when I finally see the preview. 2015 is going to be a HUGE year for superhero movies, and I can't wait to see how the ongoing DC/Marvel/Sony/Fox rivalries play out over the next two years.
