I’ll tell you one thing, that old age makeup they used on Robert Redford was amazing… What’s that? No…. Really?… oh…
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“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is the latest entry into the second phase of the Avengers film cannon and the second Marvel film to focus primarily on the man eternally clad in the stars and stripes. Chris Evans plays our beloved Cap, with Scarlett Johansson joining him again as “The Black Widow” and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury as they find themselves faced with a strange but familiar enemy. Robert Redford hops in as well, and sure I can crack jokes, but the truth is time will wrinkle all of our faces, but most of us will never be able to perform on screen like that old man can.
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And he’s not the only one laying it out there. For a popcorn chomping, effects driven, comic book flick this is a powerfully acted affair. Yes Scarlett’s great and Sam Jackson brings it, but man, Chris Evans just absolutely kills this role. There are nuanced moments of emotion in this from him that I’m just not used to seeing in these movies. Great stuff. And I think one of the reasons it works so well is that this movie really gets where the heart of his character comes from. Of course it also might be that that integrity driven, value minded, stubbornness resonates with me as well, but either way I found myself emoting… which is man code for tearing up in case you wondered. And with these performances grounding the movie it’s icing on the cake that almost everything else works as well. The action is intense and audacious, the effects are beautiful and seamless, and the humor is effective and perfectly placed. And that’s all before we get to my favorite thing, the plot structure and story twists. We’ve become so conditioned to seeing twists in modern filmmaking, that it was refreshing to see a film that actually understood how to use them. These story turns never felt forced, often surprised me, and always served the story. Thank you Marvel for remembering that the idea isn’t to trick us, it’s to inform us, and in ways that tell the story best. and man they nailed this story. Speaking of which, how cool is it that the more of these movies that are made the more complex and deep this marvel universe gets, it really is starting to take on that comic book feel of a vast interconnecting universe that allows us to be even more fully invested. And yet I get the sense that if you watched only this movie you’ld still enjoy it without being confused much at all. Maybe a little incredulous but not confused.
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And that’s really the only thing I can imagine taking points away for here, it certainly takes pretty major liberties with the laws of physics. In fact, I’m pretty sure they must have made caps shield out of some sort of Avenger style flubber, and I don’t care how genetically enhanced you are, you aren’t surviving some of those falls. But here’s the thing, I bought it all because it was consistent. See, I’m willing to live in the laws of your universe as long as you stick with them, and they do. This isn’t Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit where one second he’s a mild manored human agent and the next minute he’s chasing down and tackling a moving vehicle. Caps a super hero, he does super hero things, and I’m ok with that. Actually the thing that took me out of the movie the most was the now expected and increasingly irksome Stan Lee cameo. But it only lasted a second, so I survived. And some might complain that the movie is over 2 hours long, but honestly I would have been fine if it was longer. I seriously haven’t had this much fun at a marvel movie since the original Iron Man.
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At the end of the day, Winter Soldier is an incredible film. Fact paced, funny, engaging, and even emotional. Incredible performances and deft storytelling easily overcome any believability issues, and land it with an easy A.
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? Well since Cap went solo at the multiplex this weekend, you can check out last week’s review of Noah or maybe check in with the latest episode of “The Critic, The Geek, and The Girl”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best movie with five words in the title ever”. This could be fun, cause I’m sure there are many I won’t think of, but the one I landed on originally had 5 words in the title even if later it was marketed with 9. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!