Comic book movies are really picking up steam, but not every pulp story is worth it’s weight in celluloid. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – definitely one of the good ones. Not only does Winter Soldier kick all sorts of ass, it’s raising the bar for TV’s Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Things are getting good all over the Marvel universe, and you’re gonna want to hang with Cap to check out all the awesome.
When we last saw Cap, he was eating schwarma. (Remember: his cameo in Thor: Dark World was actually Loki poking fun at the all-American guy, and not the Avenger himself.) Now he’s in DC, doing the low-key Steve Rodgers thing. Oh, he’s still the super-strong dude we all know and love (and still played by the buff and adorable Chris Evans), but he’s taking it easy, catching up on American pop culture — his to-do list is an absolute hoot — and running circles around poor agent Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker). Oh, don’t feel too bad for Sam; he’s got something up his sleeve. Er, on his back. Okay fine; he’s Falcon, and this movie introduces this character in an action-packed way. Not that they could have done anything less, as the entire film is a crazy-cool ride that lets up just enough to give viewers a reason to care about these characters, but never once lets the adrenaline dip.
Enough of my own exposition, back to the story. Cap is joined by Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to help a S.H.I.E.L.D. member that has been captured by no-goodniks. But things go from bad to worse, and Cap and Black Widow find themselves in a situation where they don’t know who to trust. Oh, and there’s an incredibly powerful assassin called The Winter Soldier that has popped up, and he seems unstoppable. Sounding pretty vague? Can’t help it; things get revealed in Winter Soldier that are so spoiler-y that I can’t in good conscience ruin ‘em for you. But I can say that they’re real, and they’re spectacular.
Atomic Fangirl 