Jan 4-9 still open for questions. :)
January 3: lindahoyland If I got the chance, should I watch "The Winter Soldier" and if so why might I like it as the summary reads much like any other action/adventure thriller.I find endless fights very boring.Ahh, a moment to reflect on my favorite Marvel movie! I don't want to be too spoilery, in case you do end up watching it, but at the same time, I feel I can't address some of the things that make it an amazing film and address what you fear will be nothing but boring fight scenes without being spoilery. So... I'll put the spoilery discussion under the cut, where you can read more if you wish, but "above/below the cut", I'll just say that it's much, much more than a mere "action" film.
That said, there's no getting around it that this movie is definitely an "action" film, but it's also a suspense thriller--between the action scenes there are many threads weaving together both about character and about larger plot issues. Larger plot aside, however, at its heart I feel it's a character-driven film. Steve Rogers (Captain America)'s arc from the first movie through the 2nd (and also in
The Avengers) is fascinating to watch unfold, and more than heartbreaking. It's a classic "man out of time" tale, with added elements of grief, loss, and "keep calm and carry on" and "always do what your gut says is the right thing". Cap is very Aragorn-like, especially if you think of Aragorn's line about "good and evil have not changed since yesteryear" line. He has a strong moral center that goes beyond allegiance to any government or agency, and that unshakeable moral code becomes hugely important in Winter Soldier. A word about Chris Evans: he's really evolving as an actor. While a little less skilled in the first film but still very watchable (and not only for the shirtless scenes!), he really takes his acting up several notches in CA:TWS and has you feeling all the wrenching sadness that informs much of his character's life. (Also, I really do think that in real life, Chris Evans
is Steve Rogers. Because he does things like
this. All.the.time. He's just... ugh. All that a human should be, he is. So is Sebastian Stan, for that matter, but I digress....)
( Very spoilery bits... )I also have to speak about the score--it's not epic Howard Shore type music, but like Shore's TH & LOTR score, it's incredibly effective in drawing out the emotional undercurrents of every scene, whether it's a hostage rescue on a pirated ship, a car chase through the streets of Washington DC, or a poignant scene of friendship and loss. Sometimes it's little more than a felt-more-than-heard bass pulsebeat, other times a simple, poignant piano, and with the Winter Soldier scenes, it's a jarring mix of dischordant harmonies and electronic static that's a perfect auditory representation of the chaos going on within the Winter Soldier's mind. And sometimes there's no score at all and the silence itself adds emotion to the scene. Really just a well-edited movie all the way around in that regard.
Yes, there *are* long fights and battles... this is a Marvel movie after all... but like
The Avengers and
Iron Man 1, it's also a strong character piece. Paired with
Captain America: The First Avenger, it's a master class in how to take a comic book character from the 1940s to the modern era and make him relevant (the plot of WS really does have huge relevance to what's going on in the world today).
And of course, there's the usual Marvel humor sprinkled throughout. Aside from his strong moral center, Cap's self-deprecating humor and subtle (and not so subtle) sarcasm are another thing that to my mind connects him with Aragorn. There's wonderful friendships in the film. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johannson) and Sam Wilson (the dude with wings) become unshakeable friends and supporters. Sam Wilson especially is
such a treat--he's a veteran soldier himself, runs support groups at the VA for PTSD victims, and sees Cap's emotional struggles and sorrows and helps him in a lot of subtle ways even as he fights alongside him. Sam Wilson is definitely a Halbarad/Faramir to Steve Rogers' Aragorn. Or even moreso, perhaps: Sam is Sam to Cap's Frodo.
And there is banter. :)
Also... Peggy Carter. She's Cap's love interest and... *flails*... she's an amazing, strong female character who features in both films (and has her own mini-series on American television starting next Tuesday... I can't
wait.) I love Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johanson's character) but Agent Carter is... yeah, I start to squee when I see her come on screen. LOL
I would recommend, if you decide to give it a go, to first watch
Captain America: The First Avenger. You might also watch
The Avengers if you want the entire Captain America story arc, though I think you could get by without it. You might miss a few references and some of Steve Rogers' character arc, but the Cap films stand alone from
The Avengers fairly well. If you give
The Avengers a miss, then you might want to at least watch this missing scene clip, which shows Cap's sorrow and struggle to fit into the modern era:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pov4qMSfg9wOh, and one more thing: as always with Marvel films,
watch the scene at the end of the credits. *Especially* with Winter Soldier. There's a mid-credits scene that probably won't mean much to you since you're not familiar with the overarching Marvel mythos that connects all the films, but the end-credit scene is a must see.