I've been preparing for this moment for a long time. This past week I've been gearing up on all things Marvel. Anything that takes place in the MCU is up for grabs. I began with The Incredible Hulk, continued on with Iron Man 2, followed by Thor on Wednesday. Two hours before the premiere, I screened Captain America: The First Avenger in my dorm. I also made sure I was caught up on all current episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. At 7:00 on the dot, Myself and three other friends strolled in through the doors of Theatre One, fully prepared for something amazing. We could never have been prepared for what we saw.
In what was possibly the most eventful and unexpected installment of the Marvel Universe, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has proven that not every movie needs a Loki or an Iron Man to be entertaining. We've passed the shadow of the Avengers my friends, and boy is it bright out here.
I knew I loved Cap 2 the moment I heard the first few notes of Alan Silvestri's Captain America theme from the first film resonate throughout the theatre in the opening scene. One of the things I've worried most about the Phase 2 universe is that Marvel is using a single composer (Brian Tyler) to do all their films. Nothing against Brian Tyler, but like consistency with my music from film to film, and I wanted to keep the composers from all the first installments. How lucky for me was it that I discovered that Henry Jackman, (Kick-Ass, X-Men First Class, Captain Phillips) would be doing the music for the movie. He kills it with the score as he has in the past, keeping the beautiful orchestral chords of Silvestri's themes form the first movie for the general scenes, while using his own personal touch of chaotic electrical music for the action sequences. They fit perfectly. You hear that Marvel! Rehire this man!
But the score was only the first piece an the incredible puzzle that was Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Action, thrills, comedy, awe, and sheer heart stopping moments were what kept my eyes glued to the screen as I gasped with the audience at every insane reveal. Insane is most definitely the right word. Having speculated about this movie for months, there were more than enough shocking moments during the 2 hour 16 minute runtime that were so baffling that I had to rack my brain to find a single clue as to when they could have hinted at this outcome, only to come up dry. I was so engaged in the film, I never once got up to use the restroom.
This a movie set in the MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was a collective project set up in early 2005 by the head of Marvel Studios; Kevin Feige. The idea was to create an entire fictional universe set in films and television series all interconnecting to form one giant world that isn't necessarily under one exact title. The Winter Soldier is the ninth cinematic installment of the MCU, which also takes place between episodes 16 and 17 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's incredible what the minds at Marvel Studios have cooked up, not to mention unprecedented in the history of cinema. No such collaboration between producers and property ownership has ever been even attempted before, which I find baffling.
I'd like to take a moment to explain very CLEARLY that there is a difference between Marvel and Marvel Studios. Marvel is just the banner which huge movie powerhouses plaster on their films that are based on Marvel comic book source material. Marvel Studios is a specific group that produces the MCU. Different studios own the rights to different comic book franchises. They are currently as follows;
1. Sony (Columbia) - Spider-Man and all associated characters from "The Amazing Spider-Man" comic book series
2. Fox - Fantastic Four, X-Men, Silver Surfer
3. Disney's Marvel Studios - MCU, (Iron Man, Hulk, S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Falcon, Black Widow).
4. Warner Bros. - DC comics, (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg).
It's more than a simple misconception that the MCU wasn't planned out. I know a great deal of moviegoers who don't take Marvel Studios films very seriously, and only pick and choose certain installments that interest them. Certainly that is their prerogative of course. The majority of people who saw the Avengers had never seen a single Marvel film up until that point. Many had only seen Iron Man. Even this I get; the Avengers was designed to be a movie for all audiences. There is however something I don't understand; why those people who only saw The Avengers suddenly believe they can go in and watch all the sequels and understand what's going on. Which is why before seeing any of the Avengers films, I make sure that the previous installments are fresh in mind. This is the advice I give to all those intending on seeing Cpt. America this weekend or next. It seemed from the trailers that they were marketing it as just another superhero flick. This is most definitely not that.
We open on Cpt. Rogers (Chris Evans) jogging around Washington, continually passing by Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), an Afghani War vet who accepts Rogers into his life as a fellow former soldier with nowhere left to go. It's been two years since the Battle of New York, and Earth has slowly but surely moved on. Steve works for S.H.I.E.L.D. now, trying to make his way in a world vastly changed from the one he left behind seventy years ago. We see a to-do list of his at one point; on it includes items such as "learn about the Berlin Wall", "Moon Landing", and "Star Wars". While it may seem to others he's trying to move on, he still needs S.H.I.E.L.D. to give him purpose, until he finds one of his own.
After a routine rescue mission retrieves a flash drive containing encrypted data on "Project Insight", S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new global security program, the good soldier's life is once again turned upside down by the shocking death of a friend, murdered by a mysterious assassin whose dark intentions have something to do with the drive. Along with Agent Natasha Romanoff, "Black Widow", (Scarlett Johansson), Cap takes to the shadows, uncovering dark secrets many considered to be buried now revealing themselves. Disconnected and on-the-run from the very government he was sworn to protect; Captain Rogers faces stakes higher than ever before, and must suit up and save the day, even as his fragile world begins to crumble around him.
There are so many great things to be found in this high profile sequel, it's so difficult to narrow them down to just a few fine points. Samuel L. Jackson shines in this one, as he tends to do. Cobie Smulders is once again pleasantly surprising as Agent Hill. Besides that, the camerawork is impressive, the fight scenes are brutal, (when things get hit....they get hit hard), and cameos! Cameos galore! Some from the Marvel world, some not. A lot of television actors too, all in one feature. Within the third act alone we got appearances from Revolution and Community alone.
This isn't just Avengers 9. This isn't just another "Superhero movie". This is "The Winter Soldier", a 70's political thriller disguised as a comic book film. It's also a sequel to one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. And now I've seen both, and if I were to give any kind of advice, it'd be this; watch the first one again. It's THAT important. Make it fresh in your minds, as fresh as can be. There are so many events in this movie that are directly caused by events in Cap 1, you really need to backtrack. Trust me, it's worth it.
Prepare to be blown away.
Yours Truly,
Cole Silver
No comments:
Post a Comment