Re: Captain America: The Winter Soldier Discussion Thread
I saw it on Monday…immediately after I thought about making the thread because of how great it was and the huuuuuge ramifications the movie has for the MCU. But I realized that those who can't see it earlier than the 4th will wander in this thread and be compelled to read spoilers.
I’m glad you've taken that burden upon your shoulders!
(Kind of non-spoilery review)
The first Cap was nice. In fact I thought it was the best comic book movie in 2011- which really wasn't all that hard with the competitors - Thor (eh) Green Lantern (

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The sequel is in my opinion the best MCU movie to date. Better than Iron Man AND The Avengers. The fight choreography was outstanding. I love almost everything about TDK trilogy yet have to admit - Nolan should take lessons from the Russo's on fight scene cinematography. The brisk pacing of the story makes you forget the longer (for Marvel) run time.
I won’t get too in depth up here, but the commentary on our current surveillance state debate was deeper than most comic book movies have gone on the issue and I’m glad the trailers don’t really spoil what Project Insight was.
Many reviews have mentioned that two weaknesses of the film are the lack of a back story and screen time for the Winter Soldier, but when his identity is revealed I think a detailed explanation becomes unnecessary. More screen time would have been awesome, but the movie had so much to fit in that I'm not sure where else they would have fit him in without going beyond their already extended run time.
Intially I was one of the haters who wasn't on board with the casting of Chris Evans as Captain America. He surprised me in the first movie and upped his game here. Cap's a character I had always thought of as square and Evans has made him compelling and upped my interest in the character's history.
Falcon was excellently portrayed by Anthony Mackie. He didn’t feel like a token and I’m always ready to pounce on that. I hope to see more of him in the future.
This movie added more depth to Black Widow and I finally ended up liking her. Not giving her a solo flick at this point would be a crime against geekdom.
Thor:TDW and to an extent IM:3 seemed to occur in a vacuum. I know I’ve said it and will probably mention it after this, but the effects that this movie has on the MCU will reverberate for a while. This movie successfully accomplished weaving a (somewhat) solo movie in to the larger world- in contrast to the unfocused mess that was IM:2. I was expecting this movie to be great and it far exceeded my expectations. I can see why Marvel and the movie cast would be unafraid of competition from Batman/Superman. DC was wise to move it.
Mega Spoilers below
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*So did the destruction of SHIELD HQ and the dumping of all intel on the internet just effectively cancel Agents of Shield!? A friend of mine joked that the last scene of the show should be a birthday party at SHIELD HQ that's interupted by the helicarrier crashing in to the building!
*I always thought it was odd to have the Avengers operating as an arm of SHIELD, but that's how this world was built. How will the Avengers Assemble now? What role can Nick Fury play going forward if he's a ghost without an intel service at his helm.
*I can't wait to see how Age of Ultron deals with this aftermath. It can't be ignored!