Obviously, my opening statements show that I was thoroughly impressed with the movie. This was a case of the sequel totally overshadowing the original. Not since Ironman was I mesmerized and practically entranced by the action and storyline of a Marvel movie.
SPOILER ALERT! READ THE FOLLOWING AT YOUR OWN RISK!
If you still haven't watched the movie yet and don't want to know any spoilers, then GO OUT AND WATCH THE MOVIE first then read this blog afterwards and let me know if you agree or not. I tell you, it's definitely worth paying for the ticket! Now, I'll be going through the things that got me hooked to the movie...
First off, I loved the STORYLINE. This was not about Cap going up against some crazy Nazi experiment gone wrong (I'm talking about opponents like giant Nazi robots or monsters come back to life from World War II). That would have been a total bummer for me if they had gone that route. But thankfully, they opted to ground Cap in the present with an action-packed, cloak and dagger adventure. I was thinking to myself that this was like a Tom Clancy novel but with Captain America and SHIELD in it.
Next, we are shown how Cap (Steve Rogers) and Sam Wilson (aka The Falcon) get to know each other. The scene starts off quite innocently with Cap running around a course and passing Sam not just once, but several times. The morning jog shows how much stamina and endurance Cap has compared to a very physically fit soldier (Sam) which was a good intro to say the least. The movie shows how Cap and The Falcon's bond with each other develops. If you ask me, I think that Cap and The Falcon is probably one of the greatest team-ups in the history of Marvel comics. Very seldom do we see black superheroes and this team up epitomizes the ideals that America stands for. In the comics, Cap and The Falcon treat each other not just as friends, but also as brothers-in-arms and most importantly, as equals. This team-up was a brave statement by Marvel comics against racism and bigotry back in the day. But I digress, back to the movie! We are also given a quick peak at how Cap is still trying to fit in to modern society as he keeps a small notepad where he lists down things he needs to know about (the one thing that immediately stuck to my mind was "Disco" listed somewhere in the middle of his list, which was kinda funny if you picture Cap in a John Travolta Disco Fever outfit. :)
Next, we are treated to multiple displays of Cap's hand to hand combat capabilities. Nevermind that he jumps off a plane without a parachute and dives into the sea to silently board a SHIELD vessel taken over by pirates. I was so glad they finally showed that Cap was more than just an extremely fit man with an extraordinary shield (which was how I perceived him in the Avengers movie). He now looks more like a superhuman black ops agent. He's fast, stealthy and deadly! The new uniform (most likely inspired by his uniform in the comics when he became director of SHIELD) was a fresh breath of air.
In this movie he shows that he is not just a brawler but also a master tactician, mixed martial artist, gymnast and even Parkour practitioner (free runner), which all go together to embody the super soldier that he is. We also get to see that Cap not only uses his legendary shield for defense but also as an offensive throwing weapon (I'd hate to get hit by that shield! I think if he really wanted to, Cap could cut a man in half with one throw of his shield). I also loved how they were able to do justice to Cap's ability to target multiple enemies with one throw and at time create a trajectory that will make his shield return to him! It surely makes for awesome fight scenes! Single-handedly taking down a SHIELD fighter plane shows just how much of a one-man wrecking crew Cap can when he wants to!
Contrary to what I've heard from others who watched the film. I believe that the Winter Soldier (who turned out to be his best friend Bucky Barnes, shown to have died in the first movie) was key to the film. It was a good side story to the main epic "SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA and CAP and friends must now bring down SHIELD since we don't know the good guys from the bad guys anymore". The Winter Soldier was a great foil to Cap in the movie as we see him as nearly the equal of Cap in terms of fighting ability. If he wasn't there in the movie, Cap would have shut down HYDRA a lot sooner. I also liked how we are given a glimpse of how far Cap will go for the sake of a dear friend. It was nice how Bucky finally saves Cap from drowning but walks away as he is still unsure of who he really is and what his relationship to Cap is.
As for Nick Fury, we are finally given a taste of just how bad-ass he can be. His SHIELD vehicle sports the latest tech from Stark Industries (sporting AI similar to Ironman's Jarvis, armor plating, flight capability -- which unfortunately was not shown because of severe vehicle damage, and a mini-gun!). Nick Fury takes out more than a dozen Hydra agents and causes a fair amount of street carnage before being stopped by the Winter Soldier. But even then, sneaky old Fury manages to escape by using one of his high tech SHIELD gadgets to burn a hole through the street and escape via the underground sewer system. Nick Fury shows he is the king of espionage as he fools everyone into thinking he eventually dies after sustaining multiple injuries from the assassination attempt on him. Unfortunately for the enemy, old dogs of war are hard to kill...
The Falcon was a good addition and seemed like a solid character. His wing suit tech seemed to be another product of Stark Industries as well. I was actually glad they didn't use the original Falcon costume as it wouldn't translate well on the big screen.
As for the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov), it was cool to see her in her element in the movie. The Winter Soldier was just a bit too much for her, but I admired how she valiantly held her ground and led him on a wild goose chase in order to protect civilians and give Cap enough time to recover. We see that while she is extremely good at hand-to-hand combat, she is all too human and at a great disadvantage when faced with someone like the Winter Soldier. Her weapons (double pistols and high-voltage "stingers" on her wrists) just lack the punch to keep up with the likes of Cap and the rest of the cast.
EASTER EGGS: These are the only ones I remembered. I pretty sure there are lots, lots more I missed.
1) Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) - we get to see Cap's future love interest (in the comics, at least)
2) Maria Hill - in the comics, she becomes Shield director before Cap does
3) Batroc the Leaper - it was great to see a classic villian of Cap updated as a modern mercenary. The fight scene between Batroc and Cap was a great showcase of just how powerful and lethal Batroc's kicks can be.
4) Baron von Strucker - HYDRA leader
5) The Red Skull - seen briefly in a history flashback
6) Arnim Zola - loved his surprise appearance here! I'm just glad they didn't give him a robot body and just kept him as some sort of evil AI (technically, he's not an AI. But let's save that discussion for another time).
5) Stephen Strange - only mentioned in passing
6) Stan Lee as the museum security guard
7) Quicksilver and Wanda Maximoff - we see them as captives of HYDRA! Intro to AVENGERS 2!!!
FINAL THOUGHTS: I simply LOVED this movie! I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was just a launching pad for a CIVIL WAR storyline somewhere down the road (after AVENGERS 2 maybe?). But since Sony won't let go of the rights to X-Men and Spiderman anytime soon, I don't think this would be feasible. But hey! A CIVIL WAR storyline without the X-Men and Spiderman would still work in my opinion! Finally, will we see in AVENGERS 2 how the Maximoff twins are manipulated by HYDRA (probably without them even knowing)? Your guess is as good as mine. So until next time, MAKE MINE MARVEL!!!
