Here are links to the previous Marvel Movie reviews.
Captain America Winter Soldier Review
Guardians of the Galaxy Review
WARNING spoilers WARNING
The plot starts after Captain America makes friends with another former soldier then is picked up by Black Widow for a mission. In the mission Captain America defeats pirates while Black Widow steals data from the ship as the ship is "dirty" however a little later Nick Fury realizes he cannot access the data from the ship through his own orders. Something is wrong and Fury knows it, but suddenly fake police attack him and try to kill him. He escapes to Captain America's apartment, gives him the data pack only to be shot by Winter Soldier. Cap goes after Winter Soldier only for the Soldier to escape. Fury dies. It is discovered by Shield that Cap knows more then he is telling, so Shield goes after him. Eventually Cap works with Black Widow to figure out where the data blocker is being transmitted from, Cap's old military base, and they find a computer version of Zola from the first movie, and they discover that Shield is far more then compromised. Hydra has been controlling Shield from the underground since Shield was created. A missile hits the base and Cap survives dragging Widow out. They go to the military guy Cap made friends with and it is discovered that he is a guy who can fly a top secret flying apparatus. They get the flying machine and then they kidnap one of the top Shield executives to learn information and figure out that the three helicarriers that Fury was going to launch are now under Hydra control. After another run in with Hydra and the Winter Soldier, Cap realizes Winter Soldier is actually Bucky. They are captured by Maria Hill rescues them. Turns out Fury isn't dead, and they decide to destroy Shield. After a lengthy combat scene, they manage to bring down the deadly helicarriers and Cap is saved by Winter Soldier. Cap eventually recovers, the good people of Shield go to different jobs, and Cap goes off to find Bucky alongside Falcon.
So is this plot good? Well actually this plot affects the entire cinematic universe in a huge way. There are many twists and turns in the plot and many details I didn't go over, but it still makes sense and isn't exactly confusing either as it basically keeps the "Hydra bad Cap good" scenario from the first movie. It is a great plot with spies, soldiers, and Captain America for sure.
Captain America is the boy in blue. While he is a good person and tries to live up to that, he is having issues with Shield, the organization he is working for. They have secrets and he dislikes this. He is fighting for freedom, but Shield is looking like it wants to take over the world with lies and call it freedom. Then when Fury is shot in his apartment, Cap realizes he really needs to trust no one. Cap learns a lot through the film and his idea that secrets do not win the day turns out to be true. He also allows himself to get beaten to near death by Bucky in an effort to allow Bucky to remember his past.
Black Widow really comes to terms with this movie. Ironically the double or triple agent could be trusted. She really shows that while yes she likes to hide behind secrets and lies especially about her past, she will do what is right first. She does pretty well as a character in this movie, and is shown as the shifty spy in a really well balanced way.
Falcon is the side kick. Not much here.
Winter Soldier is actually the Terminator in disguise. Seriously his presence in the films is awesome. Yes he is the villain and at first you really do fear him, but he becomes an interesting character in his own right as a man trapped outside of time much like Cap himself. You begin to realize that since he is Bucky, there is more to his character behind the brain washing which is totally awesome.
Probably the weakest character in the movie is Falcon. Yes he is given a quick and interesting origin story, but really his character isn't expanded enough. He is loyal to Cap for some reason and that is really all we see of his character. Outside of that, the other characters are awesome particularly Winter Soldier. This movie actually got me to like Black Widow more, no joke.
The action in this movie is awesome. Seriously it is totally awesome, loved it all. It gets you pumped ESPECIALLY when Winter Soldier appears. His presence is felt for sure. Cap letting himself get beat for Soldier was pretty cool too, and worked really well. Moments like Black Widow and Fury getting shot, the scene in which Bucky was being brainwashed, the tension in the final scenes, it all worked well. Finding out Hydra was controlling Shield was a huge shock the first tie I watched the film. The only thing that didn't work was Fury dying, somehow I already knew he'd come back but that is the only real issue and I can't explain why it is an issue or if it is just bias.
Character designs looked great, the effects were awesome, and the settings were vibrant and different. There were so many different settings the movie used it was actually pretty well done. The only thing I disliked is how they basically told us Alex Pierce was a villain before Cap and the others knew. It lead to come good scenes but it was still a little premature I think as Alex was the one defending Fury the most. Outside of those revealing scenes, this movie was nearly flawless scene quality.
Shield was destroyed because Hydra took it over. Not even the comics have tried to pull something like this. Meanwhile Winter Soldier followed his comic book counterpart rather well as it turns out he was Bucky. Still the set up and way they did it brings a lot of creative process to the mix and even changes the universe this movie occurs in.
There are a few flaws in this film, but they are small and in between the categories I rate off of. This film, if you haven't seen this film yet, I highly recommend this film, about as much as I recommend the first Iron Man film. There is a great amount of everything in this film.
I HIGHLY recommend you see this film either by buying or renting and I recommend you do it quick. Americans haven't seen Age of Ultron yet and it is likely you should see this movie before watching that film. If you like Captain America, and even if you disliked his first movie, try this. Like scary villains? Like Black Widow? Like Shield? Love Hydra? This movie is for you. Go see it.
- Shield has been destroyed by the end of this film. If that isn't important then what is?
- Hydra was controlling Shield from the shadows.
- Introduces Winter Soldier.
- Bucky is alive.
- Introduces Baltroc.
- Introduces Crossbones
- Introduces Falcon
- All of Shield's secrets are public.
- Maria Hill now works for Iron Man. Important as she helps him in the Civil War comics and dates him.
- Introduces Sharon Carter
- Reference to Dr. Strange
- Reference to Moon Knight
- Introduces a Pensake truck that is suppose to be driven by Frank Castle or the Punisher
- Fury is underground and thought to be dead
- Black Widow has no where to go so she probably ends up in Avengers Tower... with Bruce Banner...
- Bucky remembers a bit of who he is by the end of the movie
- Introduces Baron von Strucker
- Introduces Inhumans
- Introduces Scarlet Witch
- Introduces Quicksilver