Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier unfolds when S.H.I.E.L.D is attacked and Captain America (Chris Evans) becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens the future of humanity. As the conspiracy deepens and Captain America is left wondering whom to trust, he teams up with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to take down a mysterious assassin known only as ‘The Winter Soldier’.

Overall Review Score

5 out of 10

Review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 sci-fi action adventure based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. The film serves as the sequel to the 2011 film ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ and as the ninth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the film was loosely based around the ‘Three Days of the Condor’, a fictional conspiracy story from the 1970s, Captain America: The Winter Soldier adopts a rather serious tone as it takes the audience through an action-drive, slightly conspiratorial, story. It uses modern technology, explosive action sequences, and high-energy sci-fi as Captain America (Chris Evans) works alongside Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to prevent Hydra from destroying humanity. While the films cast put on semi-decent performances and feed off each other to move the story along at a reasonable pace, its 136-minute run time feels overtly long in places and the film comes across as somewhat stale. Overall, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a reasonably decent film that will appease Marvel fans. The cast and crew could have done better but the storyline progresses steadily and the film never completely alienates the audience. However, with a few minor tweaks it could have easily become an instant classic. It is a film worth watching if you are a Marvel or Captain America fan but if you are looking for an action film with a difference then this film will feel like something which has been done a million times before by other films.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 6 out of 10

Comments:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier should have been a revitalised Marvel film that displayed all of the action that the audience had come to love from the first film while providing answers to some unanswered questions. Though what manifests in this films agonisingly long 136 minute runtime is basically an action orientated screenplay with very little premise of a coherent, and cogent story. While I personally enjoyed some of the films larger action sequences, I believe wholeheartedly that at least 40-50 minutes could have been cut from the film without any issues. In addition, I felt that they could have added more significant character development, especially with the introduction of Black Widow and The Falcon.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 4 out of 10

Comments:

I am not sure what it was but I did not really enjoy watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier. To me it felt that overtly long and did not have a storyline that was engaging enough to justify its 136-minute run time. It seemed to take 30 minutes or so for the film to explain its main story plot and even then Captain America (Chris Evans) just felt extremely lifeless – mainly because he seemed overtly comfortable with his surroundings and new technology despite being born before World War Two and being reawakened nearly 60 years later. Overall, Captain America: Winter Soldier could have been better. Yes the action sequences were entertaining and yes the story kind of made sense without any major flaws but its prolonged nature, ‘Superman’ style of storytelling where Captain America doesn’t feel like he is endanger despite missiles and a fearsome enemy being used against him and poor character development just made the film choir to watch. It is not the worst film I have ever seen, far from it, but it could have easily been improved.

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