Phase Two of Marvel's Cinematic Universe has been progressing well since The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (delete according to country) took the box office and the audience by storm. With Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World now safely successful and out the way, it is the turn of the first avenger himself, Captain America, to take the spotlight.
The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) still struggling to adjust to life in the 21st century when morals are murky and bad guys even more so. When an attack is launched on Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and SHIELD from within, Steve goes on the run with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in tow to track down who is behind it. They face a considerable foe, however, pursued at all times by a mysterious masked assassin known only as the Winter Soldier (to reveal who is playing him constitutes a spoiler, but I will say that they are very good).
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo take over from Joe Johnston on this solo outing, having cut their teeth on the action-packed episodes of Community and with them comes a new shift in direction. It has been long mooted that after the rollicking adventure tone of The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier would be much more in the political thriller vein and though the politics is lacking, the thrills are plenty and frequent. The action sequences are inventively staged, featuring some of the most impressive scenes of the Marvel universe so far. A hostage rescue mission set piece to open the film throws you into the action immediately and the stakes steadily build throughout the film. The hand-to-hand combat in particular is brutal, bringing with it shades of Jason Bourne (there is even an explicit nod to that franchise in one shot), and any scene in which Captain America faces off with the titular Winter Soldier is suitably intense.
As with the Bourne references, there are plenty of other influences to spot throughout the film. The vehicle chases call Ronin to mind whilst a daylight exchange of bullets has Michael Mann's Heat stamped all over it. This is both to the film's success and its detriment. On the positive side, it offers plenty of homages to spot for the discerning film/TV geek and comes across as a genuine love of the genre on the part of the Russos. Whilst reproducing the tense, shifty atmosphere of films such as The Fugitive and Three Days of the Condor ensures that the audience is swept up into the conspiracy aspect, it also ensures that any film fan versed in the language of the thriller can see the plot coming a mile off. Twists aren't so much hinted at as signposted and, though there were a couple of surprises along the way, it was largely predictable.
However, the real strength of the film is in the performances and character work, ensuring that those twists are still keenly felt when they occur. Chris Evans delivers a wonderfully measured performance, capturing Rogers' charm but also his turmoil of dealing with a world that bears no resemblance to the one he saved back in the 1940s. He is aided well by Scarlett Johansson, given much more of a character arc this time around and managing it brilliantly; Natascha Romanoff has long been one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in the MCU and Johansson starts to peel back the layers well whilst still maintaining an opaqueness to the character. Kevin Feige may argue that after this, a Black Widow film isn't needed, but I can't think of a better reason than Johansson's performance here. She needs her own adventure.
In the more minor roles, Anthony Mackie brings some welcome comic relief and enough of a back story to ensure that once the bullets start flying, you care as much about what is happening to him as you do the main characters. Robert Redford brings a certain amount of class, along with Jenny Agutter who gets a fantastic moment all to herself. Although I won't mention the actor explicitly in case you've managed to avoid the identity of the Winter Soldier, they do a wonderful job of conveying the character with little more than facial expressions, often half-obscured by a mask. Indeed, even if you are aware of who the Winter Soldier is, it adds another layer of tension to the proceedings as you wait to see when the discovery will be made by the other characters.
This emphasis on character work ensures that The Winter Soldier is perhaps the most emotional film of the Marvel universe to date. Each character feels vulnerable and exposed, the stakes feel high and there are moments when you genuinely aren't sure whether a character is going to make it out alive (even with foreknowledge of actors' multi-picture contracts). Outside of the action sequences, there are plenty of quieter moments that carry an emotional heft, particularly those in which Rogers is dealing with the loss of the life he should have had or Romanoff dealing with the consequences of hers. The relationship between them is built well and the obvious chemistry between Evans and Johansson helps, exchanging quips with ease and hitting the more emotional beats of their scenes.
Personally speaking, this is easily the best of Marvel's solo outings, managing the balance between character development and action brilliantly, much like Iron Man 3 before it. It certainly whets the appetite going ahead for the rest of Phase Two with the insane-looking Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. There are also interesting ramifications for the wider Marvel universe and it bodes well for the future.
****
- Becky
Follow @AssortedBuffery on Twitter
Or like our Facebook page
Well that was much better wasn't it?
This week harks back to the show's pilot as the Centipede serum, designed for making super soldiers, makes a reappearance along with the Rising Tide and a blast from Skye's past. When a street magician Chan Ho Yin (Louis Ozawa Changchien) displays his ability to create fire in his hand and attracts the attention of both SHIELD and the titular girl in the flower dress, Reina (Ruth Negga). It's not long before things take a darker turn as Chan finds himself with Raina working to persuade him to become a superhero. What she is in fact doing is harnessing his power to improve the Extremis based serum.
Yet another vast improvement on the previous episode, Girl in the Flower Dress was the first episode where most aspects of the show came together to produce something worthy of the hype that the show received. Often the show has struggled with the central characters and whilst there is still little development outside of Skye's role, the team seem to have settled into an easy dynamic. Little moments like Skye and FitzSimmons waving at Agent Kwan whilst the other remain stoic highlight the age and professional differences and the Battleships scene had the kind of easygoing humour that SHIELD has been aiming for from the start. I also really liked the scene between May and Coulson as they fought with Chan; "Ah crap, they gave him a name" was great.
The episode also helped to further the relationships that have been building throughout the season so far, particularly Skye and Ward and then Skye and Coulson. Ward still may be a little bland but Brett Dalton has a nice chemistry with Chloe Bennet and the scene in which he discovers that she has been betraying them had a sense of disappointment that was almost palpable. In fact, it was this scene when the team are going through Miles' apartment that was probably the strongest we've had yet. I loved the quieter moment between Fitz and Simmons when the former can't quite comprehend why Skye has lied to them. Foundations for the paternal relationship between Coulson and Skye has been laid down from the start, but it was in this episode that it really found its feet.
Clark Gregg's deadpan performance gave way to something more emotional, yet just as reserved here as he was faced with his possible mistake in recruiting the Rising Tide hacker. The final scene between the pair was an emotional payoff as we learn just why Skye has been digging around in SHIELD and not telling anyone about it. Parental motivations may be an age-old plot device but it felt much more satisfying than Skye babbling on about freedom of information or civil liberties, two things she was quick to dismiss once joining SHIELD. And now we have a reason why. With Skye still on the team, it's the perfect moment in which to start exploring the other characters. This episode was an excellent starting point, but now I want to know more about Ward in particular, but also FitzSimmons, who I just adore.
Elsewhere in the episode, the central narrative was another plus point, linking to the Extremis super soldier thread that has been building since the pilot. With the reappearance of Debbie, the scientist, and her subsequent fiery demise (a tad gory for a pre-watershed show maybe?), we now have Reina to take us through this narrative arc. Ruth Negga made a compelling presence in the episode, a quieter form of villain perhaps, but one whom carried the necessary gravitas to make the Scorch origin story convincing. The sting scene was also intriguing, not only hinting towards the idea of precognition (called that last week), but also a potential Big Bad for at least the mid-season finale if the super soldier serum is nearing readiness.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this episode though, was the moral ambiguities it explored in pitching Centipede versus SHIELD, both dealing with gifted people in remarkably different ways. For SHIELD, the method is containment, convincing these people not to use their powers but let them live a nearly normal life. Yet SHIELD's methods are called into question by Skye's ex Miles, another hacker who believes in freedom of information until someone offers him a nice fat cheque. Not only is the idea of information leaking prescient in this age of Wikileaks, but there is also the idea of prevention rather than punishment and how much control the state should have over the privacy of its citizens. This is something that the Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer has hinted towards (a crossover is also rumoured) and has been an underlying theme in this series; just how far is too far when it comes to the protection of citizens?
This unit has been remarkably detached from the wider SHIELD agency so far and as such, the organisation still feels very much in the shadows, endlessly resourceful yet very much with its own agenda. If there is a crossover with Captain America, at least in theme, it would become a very interesting moral dilemma for our characters. Skye is seen constantly defending SHIELD in this episode, but what she's actually doing is defending the actions of her team, rather than what the rest of the agency is up to. We know they had something to do with bringing Coulson back from the apparent dead of course, but other than that, they remain as distant as they do in the cinematic branch of Marvel.
Right from the opening scenes, everything felt much more cohesive and balanced than it has done in previous weeks. Overall, an absolute scorcher of an episode (sorry...).
One more thing; writers, please stop trying to make 'hactivist' happen. It's not going to happen.
- Becky
You can read Becky's review of the previous episode here
Follow @AssortedBuffery on Twitter
Or like our Facebook page
