C&C Retrospective - Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Lead-up to Age of Ultron!

C&C Retrospective - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

More Phase 2 lead-up to Age of Ultron!

By Dan Uppington

We're half way there. 2 down, and 2 to go and we have left what I consider to be the strongest entries for phase 2 in the MCU, delivering us piping hot to Ultron next week! I'm hoping you've enjoyed the journey so far, so let's continue on.

"Before we get started… Would anyone like to get out?"

We rejoin Steve Rogers still struggling to adjust to his fancy new time period and his seemingly endless game of 21st century catch up, now working alongside S.H.I.E.L.D as a soldier of fortune and struggling with the new world and its ever changing threats. His fellow S.T.R.I.K.E team is led by Black Widow and Brock Rumlow, carrying out missions by decree of the spy of spies, Nick Fury.

The Opening scene gets straight to the action with Cap embarking on an intense S.H.I.E.L.D mission

Within S.H.I.E.L.D, the Cap and Director Fury butt heads over Project Insight; an anti-‘terrorism neutraliser, of which which shows a ruthless lack of prejudice towards the worlds potential threats, almost as ruthless as S.H.I.E.L.D’s top man Alexander Pierce, who brings tension and distrust hand in hand to every room. It is only after the apparent death of Nick Fury that Captain America learns that the world as he knew it is not the world that it is, and along with Black Widow and his new buddy The Falcon, he sets out to save the world once again from a conspiracy that will bring about the end of freedom as we know it, and to fight his toughest enemy yet, a ghost operating in the shadows … The Winter Soldier.

The Mystery of the Winter Soldier is a gripping subplot throughout the film

Captain America owes a lot to the Russo brothers for this film. After the initial attempt in 2011 with The First Avenger, Cap’s patriotism and endearing selflessness was the limited shining light in an otherwise overblown affair. And as for the Avengers, Steve was finally shown to be a strong leader and fighter, though in the first half his naivety seemed to trump his all American Morals.

Cap ventures into spy film territory with plenty of mystery and espionage, you're never sure who to trust

The Winter Soldier very much gives Captain America a relevance and a role that the man out of time surely needed. The film is not a total revamp but if anything a redeeming outing for Steve. Give him some bad-ass moves, a cool new suit, a heart breaking reunion with Peggy Carter and a bit of banter with Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson, Marvel definitely grabs you by the arm and pulls you aside to say “we don't need Superman. That's our Captain America”.

We delve deeper into Steve Rogers character as he faces a crisis of his morals and beliefs

The story moves nicely along, combining absolutely incredible fight scenes with almost MI6 style meetings, and almost puts Cap in 007 territory. This truly comes off as a spy/conspiracy thriller rather than a superhero film – which freshens things up a bit what with the lack of magic powers and traditional villains.

The film boasts some incredible visuals and combines practical effects with CG seamlessly

And our title villain. The Winter Soldier. Christening Christ. Without even saying words he saunters onto the screen, limpet-launcher in hand and just decimates Nick Fury. He is my favourite villain of the whole MCU right now, simply because he looks cool and kicks arse definitively. Sebastian Stan does a stellar job here, stripping his original portrayal of Bucky back to a heartless mercenary with a metal arm, and in his wake leaves a one man trial of destruction.

Sebastian Stan portrays both savagery and tragedy perfectly as The Winter Soldier

Casting does not seem to have ever been an issue for Marvel, as once again Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson and Jackson all reprise their Avengeriffic roles in top form. And props to newcomers Anthony Mackie, who swoops in and wows as Falcon and one of my favourite side-kicks and also credit to Emily VanCamp as Agent 47 and Robert Redford as suitably mysterious Alexander Pierce.

Newcomer Mackie is a welcome addition as Falcon, and Johansson returns in fine form

I give Captain America: Winter Soldier an 8/10. A solid and exciting outing for Cap, and leaves us looking forward to his role in Age of Ultron and beyond. We know he can lead a team, let's just hope he's not leading that team against any of his fellow Avengers … Eeeeeee Civil War.