Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Well, I guess I might as well talk about my movie night. As you can probably guess, I went to see Captain America: The Winer Soldier. The film is based partially on the story of the same name writed by the great Ed Brubaker. In that book, Captain America learns that his former partner Bucky didn’t die in World War II, but was discovered by the Soviets and turned into a one-man killing machine Over the course of 60 years, Bucky is brought out of suspended animation to do the Soviets dirty work, such as killing high ranking officials. Can you say the Kennedy Assassination?

The movie also harkens back to an early 1970s Captain America story in which he and his partner, Falcon discover that the American government has been infiltrated by a secret cabal that seeks to rule the world through fear and intimidation by overthrowing the American government. It was implied that Nixon was the leader of this terrorist group and result in Capt. temporarily abandoning the shield and becoming Nomad: the man without a country.

So, in this movie, you’ve got the Winter Soldier, a secret government cabal seeking to overthrow the government of not just America, but the world, you’ve got the introduction of Falcon, and you’ve got Captain America on the run accused of being a traitor to SHIELD. I don’t want to give away too muhc more about the film because there are some great twists and turns in the film.

The ending ofWinter Soldier will greatly affect the plots of the forthcoming slew of Marvel movies that will be invading theatres this Summer and next. Not only does what happen in this film look in impact the future of the the X-Men and Avengers alike, but some of the shadier actions of politicans and other high ranking officials in past Marvel films make more sense after you see Captain America.

But perhaps the project most impacted by the Winter Soldier is the ABC series Agents of SHIELD. In fact, I am extremely glad that I decided to catch up on my watching of the show, but I am also glad that I waited to watch the last 3 weeks worth of episodes until after I watched Winter Soldier.  You could watch the last few episodes of the show, but I suggest you press pause on your DVR , put on your shoes, and head to theatres and watch Winter Soldier first. You’ll be glad you did- heck, you might even thank me. Again, without giving away spoilers, much of what happens in this movie has been directly influenced by the ABC series and the film will mean for some serious upheavels for Agent Coulson and his team.

In terms of the film- it was awesome. Lots of great Easter eggs. Full of fantastic action and adventure. There was one point where I was afraid the film was going to turn into some puff piece examining a love story between Steve Rogers and Black Widow. But it only served to lull me into a false sense of security before all hell breaks loose. I consider this one of my all-time favorite super hero films. Sadly, it can’t unseat the Dark Knight, but I don’t think anything is going to outshine Heath Ledger’s Joker anytime soon. However, when the film was over- I was left wanting to get back in line and see it again. That’s a good movie.

Finally, as you know Marvel movies have a secret scene towards the end of the credits. Well, stay until the end of the movie- there are 2 scenes, not just one. I tell you this not to spoil anything, but to give you the full movie going experience. I saw at least half of the audience leave the movie not knowing of this second hidden scene. So, not you are full warned to sit through the entire thing.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.