REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier 3D

 REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier 3D 

The Winter Soldier is a different kind of beast to most Marvel Cinematic Universe films. The franchise is largely known for its mix of typical superhero action and comedy one liners, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier delivers something different. Whilst, yes, it's still a Marvel superhero film and therefore contains all of the heroics that you would typically expect, the tone is much more grounded and serious. 

I watched this film tonight on Blu-ray 3D, and let me tell you the 3D is absolutely incredible. Shields fly out, guns protrude out of the screen and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) flies right towards your eyes. It's a truly breathtaking experience, and one that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of the MCU.

3D always tends to work well with films that contain plenty of intense action sequences, for reasons which are pretty obvious (3D being all about offering spectacle). So it helps that the Winter Soldier has some of the greatest action sequences in the entire MCU. From the opening fight on the boat to the amazing and truly iconic elevator sequence ("Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"), the action is so well choreographed. The cinematography is on point too, shot with this shaky cam style that offers some real grit to proceedings. It feels like something straight out of a Paul Greengrass Jason Bourne movie, and it gives this film a really distinct and unique flavour away from the rest of Marvel Studio's filmography. 

It's something that judging by the trailers, I can imagine the upcoming Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) movie having a similar style to, especially as her scenes here are some of the highlights of this movie by far. She's always been one of my favourite characters in the MCU, because she has this really mysterious back story that's honestly quite intriguing; we learn a little more information about it here, as well as get some fight sequences that honestly manage to rival Steve Rodger's (Chris Evans) superhero antics in the film. 

One thing that's really weird is seeing Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) as an old lady. It feels so odd seeing Hayley Atwell in elderly make-up, given that we are so used to seeing her look so much younger. Her scenes with Steve are tragic though, as Steve pays her a visit and we see she has some form of dementia. It's sad seeing her suddenly act as though she's just seen Steve for the first time since World War 2, and forgetting that she'd already seen him since. It's handled so well too, as this is what dementia is like when you know somebody with it. You live through that pain of them slowly starting to lose their memory of you, like this cruel disease that keeps eating away at their brain. 

It's clever how this is reflected in the story of the Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Like Peggy, he too has been losing his memories in regards to Steve, although in this case it is due to his Hydra brainwashing rather than any form of dementia. The script really plays into this, as we see Steve's determination to trigger Bucky into remembering, and it recalls his stance from the previous film, 'I can do this all day'. Steve doesn't give up on his friend, he keeps pushing for him to break the immoral programming that Hydra have placed him under. He knows his friend is still there, and can bypass the killing machine Hydra have turned him into, and he won't stop until he gets through to him.

This film is also the first to introduce Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), who will of course later become Captain America himself. Already you can see the qualities that will later make him a worthy holder of the shield. He's someone who will always help, who believes in Captain America and shows a great degree of loyalty towards the cause of battling those who seek to spread hate or misery. Sam, in short, is the perfect fit for the tales of Captain America, and it's not hard to see what Steve Rodgers likes about him.

Armin Zola (Toby Jones) returns in this film, this time with his mind inside a computer. He has created an algorithm of those he considers to be a threat to Hydra, both in the present and the future, and Hydra plan to use 'Project Insight' to eliminate these threats. This is a prime example of one of the elements I like the most about this sequel. It brings back so many past memories for Steve Rodgers; from Bucky to Hydra and Armin Zola, it's like his past is coming back to haunt him, like ghosts who will not leave him alone. It means that despite the now modern setting, it still feels intrinsically tied to The First Avenger. The algorithm allows them to throw in some really cool hints to future aspects of the MCU, such as Stephen Strange (who would later pop up in his own solo film, entitled Doctor Strange). It has that really strong thematic through line of the past and present (with hints of the future) colliding throughout, and it works extremely well.

Overall,  Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a prime example of how to write a sequel. It keeps its thematic ties with the original film, whilst also offering something fresh, new and distinct. This is one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than the first film, and it's no wonder that the MCU still looks to it for inspiration. 

What are your thoughts on Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Let me know in the comments.