Captain America The Winter Soldier Review

Captain America the Winter Soldier is in theaters tonight at midnight. While Kelly was away in Florida I took 3 of our 4 kids to see the film. Below is my review of the movie.

The official blurb: In Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Steve Rogers teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.

Should you see it?

Yes if…

• you liked any of the Marvel movies to date. You don’t need me to answer it you are going to see it anyway.
• you are a fan of a good action movie like the recent James Bond films.
• you love America and don’t want the terrorists to win!
• you are not a fan of America. The guys that love America stopped reading halfway through the last line and ran out to the theater. You guys should go see it since this film asks questions about Big Brother and the price of freedom in the digital age. America is the land were you can’t tell the good guys from the bad anymore. Ooooh deep!
• you are Joel Schumacher. You know why, sir.

No if…

• you suffer from Catapedaphobia, Hemophobia, Ballistophobia,  Eleutherophobia , Technophobia,, Anthropophobia, Peladophobia, Agliophobia or Pantophobia
• you are writing the first season of Agents of Shield. They did not do you any favors.
• you are a professor of physics

Can you bring your kids without feeling guilty?
I did. Here is the breakdown you may apply your own moral compass.

Cursing – not that I noticed.
Graphic sex – nope.
Awkward kissing – once or twice.
Fighting – oh yeah.
Blood – Yes, but just a splash of it for color. Realistically, the Potomac should have run red.
Guns – uh yeah, a lot.
Shooting – yes, but it has little to no effect on them. I’m not even talking about “super soldiers” here. I mean like everyone gets shot up a little and seems to shrug it off.
Death by;

• shooting–yes, but only minor characters that drop them instantly no matter where they are shot.
• neck broken in combat – yes
• neck broken in combat with a Kryptonian – no.
• being hit with a shield in the head – Unclear, if they didn’t die they are probably not doing well.
• being thrown off a boat – yep.
• being thrown off a bridge – you bet.
• being thrown off vehicle into another oncoming vehicle – yes.
• being thrown into a portal into a another universe – not this movie.
• being thrown into off, crushed under or thrown into an exploding flying aircraft carrier – Check, check and check.

Yes a lot of people die in this movie and there is an almost non-stop pace of violence against extras. Poor, poor extras. So, if you are someone who worries about the effect this would have on your children I would shy away. My kids seem okay with it though Emma did do a back flip onto her brother’s shoulders, wrap her legs around his neck, and give him a wet wilily this morning. So, I guess it promotes gymnastics!

What I liked about Captain America The Winter Soldier
Marvel. I love comic book movies and Marvel has the formula dialed in. Each of these movies stands on it’s own and The Winter Solider is no exception.

Supporting cast. Performances of the support cast are all very strong. They bring humor and depth to the film. Robert Redford is particularly strong as a US representative on the board that runs Shield.

Scarlett Johansson. She had her best opportunity yet to show off the Black Widow and she made the most of it. She seemed more confident in the role then the Avengers and Iron Man films.

Captain America. Chris Evans continues to impress bringing Captain America to life. Like Superman the challenge of bringing a character that sees the world in black and white to a modern audience in a way that is relatable is not easy. Evans is able to convey the struggle of Captain America to act without compromise without it feeling disingenuine. The filmmakers run straight at that in this film, making it about how he deals with a world where the right thing isn’t as obvious as we would like it to be. The challenge is to attempt to update the characters behavior to suit what people might expect in a way that doesn’t compromises the purity of what he is suppose to represent. This was done in other recent superhero franchises to mixed results. Here it worked extremely well.

The bonus scene. The after credits scenes that Marvel throws in are great and I think the first one in this movie may be one of the best teasers every. They normally use that for the lead into the next movie. In this case you get a wonderful look at what is coming up in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

What I disliked about Captain America The Winter Soldier

The Winter Soldier. Although I didn’t think there was anything bad about the character I did feel it fell short of being the title threat to our heroes. I think this was a victim of plot. The Winter Solder is just another in a mass of barriers the heroes must run over to save the day.

The End. The last battle of the movie is yet another spectacular battle sequence with some magic switches that need to be pressed to save the day. While I could buy into that concept as the main threat of the movie, the ease of which our heroes found and delivered the solution was a bit of a letdown. I could have used a more complex solution to a pretty complex problem.

The post-credits scene. The last scene, all the way at the end of the credits for the true believers is normally a quick cherry on top of the movie. In this case it really didn’t add much at all. It was the first time I didn’t feel rewarded for waiting for it. So, my tip is not to, but I know that if you read to the end of this there is no stopping you.

This is a fun movie, full of good action sequences, and light hearted. The plot twists are good. While I disliked parts of the film overall this was a great movie and lots of fun. So what are you waiting for? Go see it! 

Bob

Disclosure: We were given 4 advance screening tickets to see the film before it was released. This is probably the BEST part of being married to a blogger. 

About Bob Whalen

Bob Whalen is the husband of site owner Kelly Whalen. He spends his days as a systems engineer (coding and developing) and his evenings as his alter ego SuperDad. Likes include superheroes, fluffy puppies, his wife (he's required to say that), and his children (well, most of the time).

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