Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I know I just did a movie review a couple of days ago, but it is rare that I make it out to the theater and I had the opportunity to watch the new Captain American this evening.  I must say that I was definitely not disappointed and it was worth watching.  I loved the first one and although this one took on a bit of a different tone, it was still great in it's own light.  It really tied into the Avengers in a way that was only slightly hinted at in the initial movie.

Captain America: The Winter Solstice is the sequel to the 2011 movie Captain America: The First Avenger.  It is an American superhero film from the Marvel franchise.  It is produced by Marvel studios and distributed by Walt Disney. Christopher Markus and Steven McFeeley co-wrote this movie as they did the initial Captain America.  I also want to point out that timeline-wise this movie actually falls after the first Avengers movie as opposed to the original Captain American: The First Avenger movie.  The only timeline that really seems to sync up with the first is on the occasions where Steve Rogers (Captain America) talks about different technologies that are new etc (but given the short time frame of the Avengers this could still be true).  Without the comic books you may understand more the relation with Black Widow and Nick Fury if you have seen the Avengers movie, but otherwise you can kind of jump right in with some basic knowledge from the original film due to scenes such as Nick Fury approaching Captain America in the end of the initial film to talk about a new mission.   In this film Captain America teams up with Black Widow and Sam Wilson to uncover a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D., all the while facing a mysterious assassin known only as "The Winter Soldier."

The cast featured much returning talent as well as a few new faces to include:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America (Fantastic Four, Push, Cellular, Perfect Score)
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (Pulp Fiction, Basic, Lakeview Terrace, Jumper, Coach Carter)
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow (Her, Prestige, Black Dahlia, Island)
Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce (Lions for Lambs, Three Days of the Condor, Horse Whisperer)
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes (Once Upon A Time, Black Swan, Gossip Girl, Gone, Kings)
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson (Man on a Ledge, Notorious, Hurt Locker, Haven, Crossover)

Colbie Smulders as Maria Hill (How I Met Your Mother, Grassroots, Delivery Man, L Word)
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow (Warrior, Minority Report, Zero Dark Thirty, Prison Break)


Overall the film was a financial and critical success grossing over $682 million worldwide.  A third installment is already in the works and slated to be released May 6th, 2016.  It set an April single day ($36.9 Million) and April opening weekend record ($95 million) for and overall 46% increase opening over it's predecessor.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier featured as much live action as possible.  The most extensive CGI was done in regards to Falcon and his wings being completely CGI.  Also int he age affects on the character of Peggy Carter.  This Captain America movie was focused on being more a "political thriller" to pay homage to the time period of the comics.

This sequel had a grittier feel and more of a political conspiracy vibe.  You can feel that Captain America does not feel as if he fully fits in to the modern age, and he is trying to discover just who he is.  Black Widow is not Scarlett Johansson at her sexiest, she is portrayed in a  gritty (especially in the dull looking hair dye job) and somewhat rough look and playing at being a tough girl while trying to discover where she really belongs in the world as well, which makes for a good and pushing friendship between the two.  I definitely thought that it was a a good continuation on from Captain America: The First Avenger.  I am already looking forward to the third movie to be released in 2014 with the same writers and Chris Evans reprising his role as Captain America.  Overall I give the movie 4.5 out of 5 stars.
*Also don't forget to watch the credits as Marvel always likes to throw tidbits in there as well.

You can visit the official site here: Captain America