CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
GRADE: A
Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johanson, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford
Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Directed by by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs



The Marvel universe is to the 2010's what Star Trek was to 90's: a massive, interconnected and omnipresent franchise full of different part that have to be correlated. Eventually Trek sputtered out because of over saturation and choking on its own continuity, and Marvel threatens to do the same, especially with its TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. thrown into the mix. But for now they're still consistently turning out some of the most entertaining popcorn fare Hollywood is offering, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ranks with their best.

The story begins with Captain America/Steve Rogers still working for S.H.I.E.L.D. (in the division that employs buff soldiers, rather than the one filled with wise-cracking 22 year old geeks), and Rogers is having more and more doubts about the direction S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking, one where it's more than willing to trample a few freedoms and civil liberties here and there in the name of peace and security (you can tell the politics of a viewer by whether they see this as a reference to Bush's war on terror or Obama's drone program).  In partciular, Rogers clashes with S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his nominl partner Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) , neither of whom share his black and.white.view of honesty and integrity. Rogers' one friend and confidant seems to be  Afghan war vet Sam Wilson(Anthony Mackie),  Steve he meets while doing his morning run.

When a surprise attack is carries out on a high-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D. (carried out by a mysetious, legendary assassin called The Winter Soldier who seems to share many of the Captain's abilities) , Rogers and Romanov go on the run, and the film becomes a government paranoia spy thriller, and a rather good one. It's impressive how well Marvel vert screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directors Anthony and Joe Russ mesh this feel with the more overtly comic booky aspects of the film without shortchanging either. The Russo give the film a brisk pace and some thrilling chase/action sequences, utilizing a lot of the steadicam/staccato shutter speed style that the Bourne films made popular, while still keep the fights easy to follow and never terribly confusing. Evans remains a likeable and relatable hero, and his supporting cast is generally very strong, with Johansson and Jackson adding new layers to their portrayals, and Mackie and screen legend Robert Redford as welcome new additions to the franchise. And all of these actors are allowed the chances to do some genuine character work that brings humanity to a spectacular action film. All together it adds up to an outstanding sequel to both the first Captain America and The Avengers that is arguably the most complete and all-around successful of Marvel's individual franchise sequels.

If you're burned out on superhero movies  or just not big on the Marvel universe, this isn't likely to make you change your mind. But you don't have to the kind of die hard fan who knows who Sam Wilson turns out to be to have a great time. This is likely to stack up well against even most of the  the better blockbusters of the summer.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is rated PG-13 for mild profanity and quite a bit of action violence.