The Avengers – Captain America
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Nick Paramonte
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Nick Paramonte
Captain America: Winter Soldier Review
Phase 2 of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been mediocre, so I had severe apprehension but an incredible amount of optimism at the same time hoping that The Sentinel of Liberty’s follow-up would be the saving grace to this fiasco. I can say without a doubt it absolutely was.
The Russo Brothers (Community) really impressed me with their direction-and-execution with making this sequel an espionage spy-thriller. It reminded me about what I’ve loved about the first Metal Gear Solid game considering towards the middle an henchman fires at Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with an M16 Vulcan cannon like Raven.
Chris Evans proves once again he is the Star-Spangled Avenger. The biggest strength of this film is how the screenwriters of it’s predecessor, Christopher Markus along with Stephen McFeely handled character relationships most notably Rogers’ new-founded friendship with Sam Wilson aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie). The actors played off each other so well delivering an even better chemistry then what Robert Downey Jr. in addition Terrence Howard had in Iron Man. Touching upon soldiers suffering from PSD after tours of duty which relates to Steve adjusting to living in modern-time added alot of gravitas. Steve’s reunion with the elder Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell) dying of Alzheimer’s hits the right emotional core. Sad because they never got their dance. Agent 13 alias Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) had more then just a cameo. She saves a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician’s life from getting shot in the back of the head for gods sake.
I personally find Bucky Barnes’ return to be the most plausible out of these infamous “coming back from the dead” scenarios unlike Jason Todd’s resurrection. Kudos to the writers adapting this storyline by Ed Brubaker. He’s a human with a cybernetic enhancement in the source material, here he’s another equal that can go toe-to-toe with Cap like Red Skull before him. When Sebastian Stan (Black Swan) comes on screen he embodies every quality he’s supposed to have. Mysterious aswell as dangerous at the same time since alot was riding on him to pull this off since he’s been minor so far. He delivers the “Who the hell is Bucky?” line in confusion rather then in cynicism like Jon Curry did in the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes episode of the same name.
Humor is back on point after being severely scribbled on the chalkboard. The Smithsonian scene where a kid recognizes Rogers then gives him the quiet hand very reminiscent of that little moment in X-Men where Cyclops smiles back a child staring at him. Could even roll with the infamous Superman’s glasses joke when Steve along with Romanoff pose as an engaged couple in an Apple store evading agents. Stan Lee’s cameo as a Smithsonian security guard was priceless when Rogers goes back to the classic uniform.
Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) had better material to work that convinced me she’s Nadine Roman plus her hairstyle worked unlike the others. Glad there wasn’t any romance between them considering she tries setting him up with Peggy’s granddaughter. Hopefully they’re not going to stall Steve/Sharon‘s relationship like they’ve been teasing us with Thor/Sif. No words can be said about Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) as Nick Fury other then awesome. Cobie Smulder’s Maria Hill continues to be a much more likable character then her annoying comic/animated counterpart.
The action is terrific especially at the beginning with Batroc the Leaper (Georges St-Pierre). It succumbs to the “in order to see it has to be viewed on a smaller screen” syndrome unfortunately. Frank Grillo (Minority Report) miscast as Brock Rumlow, who becomes Crossbones didn’t strike me as the big bruiser-type. His right-hand man, Agent Jack Rollins played by Callan Mulvey (300: The Unnecessary Sequel) was more like Frag. Wasn’t thrilled Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) showed up cause who needs to be reminded about Iron Man 2?
Overall, everything about it from start-to-finish been engaging which is key to a good film.
Rating: 10
Baron Von Strucker played by Thomas Kretschmann, who looks like Liam Neeson’s cousin managed to get his hands on Loki’s Sceptor containing The Mind Gem which he intends to use on The Twins aka Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) setting up for Age of Ultron to which this adversary still hasn’t been foreshadowed at all which even so is going to come out of nowhere for general audiences. Wanda along with Pietro are probably going to be magic-users instead Mutants which in turn will gear up for Phase 3, which introduces actual mysticism into this universe instead of the whole “science that looks like magic” ordeal.
The second after-credits scene might be setting up Barnes picking up the mantle considering Evans has only three more films to go before his contract is up then retiring. Guardians of the Galaxy still looks to be an enjoyable flick despite the fact that it could end up being another dud:
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Nick Paramonte
Captain America Review
While I admired Superman, The Sentinel of Liberty was my childhood icon. I loved the 60’s cartoon, that crappy 1990 flick, owned alot of merchandise, dressed up for Halloween, and even took pictures with a guy in costume at Wizard World Philly back in 96′ when I was a kid.The embodiment of USA ideals (liberty, equality, democracy, opportunity, and rights) that this cynical world we live in desperately needs. So this film was the one I was anticipating the most out of Marvel Studios’ slate.
With a production cost of 140 million dollars, the canvas was larger, grander, and more epic then Thor‘s 150 masses. Joe Johnston’s previous directorial work on Rocketeer (which was the first movie I ever saw in the theater) paid off in fold. It certainly redeemed himself after that letdown called a Wolf Man remake.
Chris Evans became one of my favorite actors over last few years (those abysmal Fantastic Four films, Cellular, The Losers). Unlike Ryan Renyolds, he made the transition from being a Jokester to serious / dramatic actor (with occasional humor) smoothly. He absolutely pulled off Steve Rogers, The Little Guy from Brooklyn before and after the Super-Soldier experiment. I still stand by my early statement about the frail effect.
Hugo Weaving is a chameleon. The man embodies every role he plays (Agent Smith, V, Megatron) and The Red Skull is no exception. Glad he was an Übermensch that can go toe to toe with Winghead as opposed to his comics counterpart who was human. I didn’t mind Hydra being the antagonists instead of The Nazis. They’re involved (Hydra being the science division), just not at the forefront. Stanley Tucci (Dr. Erkskine) followed in the footsteps of mentorship left by Shaun Toub (Yinsen) very well. Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Chester Phillips) definitely earns an award for Most Funny Pick-Up Lines. You care about Steve’s friendship with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in the amount of screentime they have together.
I was also skeptical about the USO sequence. The last thing anybody wants to see is the superhero himself singing and dancing on Broadway (Spider-Man and Batman not withstanding), but thankfully that didn’t happen. Still, The Star Spangled Man written by Alen Menken was a catchy song. But also in context, Steve inbleshes it a little before being hit (literally and figuratively) by the harsh reality of World War II.
Alan Silvertri (the Back to The Future trilogy, Predator 1 & 2, Judge Dredd) delivers a magnificent score. I’d say the Captain America March is a close second to John Williams’ Man of Steel rally.
However, I didn’t like The Misunderstanding cliche thrown into the ligament Love Story for being the reason Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) shoots at Steve shown in the trailers prior. (Nothing against his acting) Dominic Cooper came across more young Tony then Howard Stark. He clearly was the most youthful person there compared to the rest of the supporting cast. Even resembling Robert Downey Jr. then the other guys that played his character’s father (Gerard Sandars and John Slattery). I don’t see the connections between them.
Neal McDonough (STF: The Legend of Drama Queen) was another Ray Stevenson (Volstagg). Completely miscast, popping through the Dum Dum Dugan makeup, and blatantly wearing padding underneath his military jacket to make him look overweight. Also, there should’ve been an extended scene with The Howling Commandos (Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi, and Bruno Ricci) stumble at first then triumph in one their missions to blow up the Hydra facilities rather then splicing all of it in a montage.
But aside from those minor complaints, it blew all the other big comic book movies (one good and the other pitiful) out of the ballpark this year.
Rating: 9
Next year, Avengers Assemble. While the after-credits preview had me pumped, it still bugs me though to see Mark Ruffalo and not Edward Norton as Bruce Banner aka The Hulk.
With Thor’s look, it appears they’ve gone back to one of Alexandra Bryne’s early concepts. My only gripe about Cap’s new threads are the white stripes on the shoulders.
Anyway still looking forward to this culmination of the past three years despite the recasts, miscasts, speed-bumps, and shortcomings.
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