MCU Retrospective, Part 10—"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
In this weekly series, Film Yap writer Andrew Carr revisits each installment of the decade-long Marvel Cinematic Universe. Once a week, Andrew will review one film in the series, in the original release order, reevaluating his previously held opinion of the film and giving each film a new score out of 5 Yaps. All 18 films (plus Avengers: Infinity War, upon release) will be compiled into one definitive ranking. Each entry in the "MCU Retrospective" series will include a short review as well as a historical recap about the film's initial conception and release.
A new entry in this series will be posted every Sunday until the weekend prior to the release of Avengers: Infinity War on May 4.
Last week's entry in the series: Thor: The Dark World!
Complete list of all entries in the "MCU Retrospective" series!
History Time!
Continuing MCU Phase Two's trend of revisiting its popular Avengers characters, the Captain America sequel promised to reframe the character in the modern world; gone is the flashy period-piece propaganda, the vibrant, at times goofy color palette, and most notably, the general air of optimism surrounding Cap. In their place was a more sobering and complex story about a man out of time, unsure of what and who he is fighting for. Based on trailers, The Winter Soldier looked like some blend of the Bourne trilogy and Three Days of the Condor.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teased The Winter Soldier as a game-changer, pulling down certain expectations and institutions in the MCU that would have far-reaching effects into the franchise moving forward. A similar tune was played in the months leading up to Thor: The Dark World, and we know now that didn't quite come to fruition. But something about the impressive narrative direction, and a loaded cast—which added veteran actor Robert Redford to the mix—got fans excited for another film about the 100-year-old boy scout.
And this time, the film met (actually, exceeded) expectations. The film was widely liked by critics and loved by audiences, and in its opening weekend, the film earned $95 million—$30 million more than the previous Captain America, and the biggest opening of any MCU movie that didn't feature Iron Man. Since then, The Winter Soldier has been consistently hailed as the best (or one of) MCU film by franchise fans.
Personally, I've always agreed with this consensus; it's always been my favorite, as well as my pick for "best MCU film," and I've had little reason to doubt that stance ever since. Honestly, I wasn't particularly curious about this most recent viewing because I've never really changed my opinion on the film. But upon re-watch, SPOILERS—my opinion still hasn't changed. So I'll try to keep it short and describe why The Winter Soldier is still great, and still the best Marvel has to offer.
The Review
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
If I could boil it down to one reason why Winter Soldier is the best MCU film (and frankly, a strong candidate for the best superhero movie of all time), it would have to come down to its focus. More so than every other MCU film aside from, maybe, Iron Man, Winter Soldier is careful to take advantage of all of its parts to create a cohesive whole.
The core of the story is Captain America's re-evaluation of his place; who is he loyal to? What does he fight for? Does he play a necessary part anymore? When your world is upended, how do you answer those questions? It's all about questioning the status quo, and every moving part that makes up this film works toward that goal. It's an astounding sense of thematic harmony that I have not seen in a superhero movie outside of The Dark Knight.
Every other character's arc has to do with this same core idea. Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is and has always been a professional deceiver. "Love," as she claims in The Avengers, "is for children." She maintains that personal relationships are merely work-related conveniences that are important to her only insofar as they contribute to her professional goals. But when her boss, and the closest thing she has to a mentor and father-figure, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), is assassinated, its clear in her face that she has lost something emotionally valuable, and you can practically see her realizing she has no idea what to do. She asks Cap, after their escape from S.H.I.E.L.D.—the agency they once worked for, now their enemy—"If it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" This question is not merely one of proverbial weight-carrying between work partners. It's Natasha's version of affirming their personal relationship. She wants to know if Cap trusts her; to a professional liar, that's everything.
The same goes for Nick Fury, Cap's and Natasha's boss. He too is a career fabricator. "His secrets have secrets," as Tony Stark once said. But when S.H.I.E.L.D., the one institution he trusted, crumbles to the insidious Hydra hiding deep within, Fury is faced with the reality that his own autonomy and unwillingness to create a wider base of trust led to his near-death and the end of world peace. He realizes he needs other people, like Cap and Natasha, to lean on and work together for a new goal.
To boot, even the film's political themes mirror this arc of questioning and re-evaluating the state of things. Releasing amidst the height of the public's awareness of all the NSA's surveillance state activities, The Winter Soldier's conspiracy plot serves as both a relevant example (albeit extreme and somewhat absurd) of the dangers of real-life government "protection" and a strong parallel to the characters' arcs of redefining who they are and why they do what they do.
And that sense of reflection and re-evaluation is carried even in the more "superficial" elements of the film. The visual style is leaner and more sparse than the first Captain America, contrasting the warm browns, bright blues, and earthy textures of the first with sleek, open areas of silver and grey. The action sequences showcase an updated and more learned Cap, who has seen how the threats of the world have evolved and has decided to expand his skills in martial arts in response. Even the score parallels this change in mindset; Alan Silvestri's vibrant, brassy score from The First Avenger is replaced with Henry Jackman's more daunting and sneaky electro-rock-orchestra (which, I might add, is one of the MCU's best and most criminally underrated scores to date).
Speaking of the more "superficial" elements, The Winter Soldier might be the MCU's most well-conceived total package, in terms of its style being as good as its substance . The blander, more restrained visual style matches well with the brooding score. The action sequences are quicker, cooler, and more complex than anything seen in the MCU before or since. The dialogue, while not perfect, is mostly very purposeful and clever.
If I had to complain about anything, it might be the film's compulsion to get all big and explodey at the end. Don't get me wrong, I think the three-way Helicarrier crash is badass, but perhaps the sequence could have been done with only one Helicarrier making it off the ground before our heroes could stop it. Somewhere around the time Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) outruns a crumbling skyscraper and dives out the window to land in a moving helicopter 50 feet below, I began to wonder if the sequence had jumped the shark a little bit. Perhaps it was especially noticeable in contrast to the more grounded and visceral rest of the film. Regardless, that's not a major complaint, since the finale is otherwise beautifully paced and choreographed.
I don't have much to say about this most recent viewing, or any changes to my opinion, other than being totally reaffirmed in my stance that it's a fantastic movie. It's the best we've ever gotten from the MCU, perhaps one of the best superhero films of all time, and I will be absolutely ecstatic if Avengers: Infinity War can top it in May. (Scratch that; Infinity War comes out April 27th now!)
PREVIOUS SCORE:
NEW SCORE:
The MCU Ranking!
Every week, I take each entry covered for that week and place it in an ongoing ranking, which will eventually include all 19 films.
Unsurprisingly, The Winter Soldier has retained its #1 spot. It is, in fact, just that good. I'll be surprised if I replace it with any other film on the list before Infinity War. Below is my current ranking of the MCU, including the first nine films: