Captain America: The Winter Soldier Movie Review

Genre – Action, Comic Book, Superhero

Director – The Russo Brothers (You, Me and Dupree, Captain America 3)

Cast – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Robert Redford

Alluring element – Captain America kicking asses, taking names, and then kicking those asses, too

Scorecard:

Plot – 8

Acting – 9

Representation of genre/Identity – 9

Cinematography – 9

Effects/Environment – 10

Captivity – 8

Logical consistency – 7

Originality/Creativity – 9

Soundtrack/Ambiance – 8

Overall awesomeness – 9

 

“I can do everything he does… only slower” – how we feel about big shot blog sites who get their movie reviews in a week early because of special privileges

Oh Captain, my Captain! Chris Evans returns as Steve Rogers in his first solo film since Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011. He is not alone, though, as S.H.IE.L.D. director Nick Fury and mistress of espionage, Black Widow, join him in his mission to take down the Winter Soldier. There is a lot of back-story in this movie found in the comic books (Captain America: Winter Soldier review coming soon), and some of them might be considered light spoilers for casual fans of Captain America’s character, but fans who don’t know might be a little confused without those spoilers. It is never actually mentioned that Natasha Romanoff (check out our article on her here) is the Black Widow, and there are a lot of other details that sort of don’t really make sense unless you’ve seen The First Avenger, Avengers or read the associate comic books. While some might consider it poor story-telling, I look at it as not getting rewarded for doing your homework. Now that Marvel has hooked in the masses, it seems to be setting a new precedent by making viewers delve deeper to understand the whole story.

From the get-go, we can see that this is not your father’s Captain America. The naive young man who stood for truth, justice and the American way has opened his eyes to how the world really works. He still holds a moral standard that makes his colleagues roll their eyes, but is definitely going to throw down in the line of duty. In the strictest sense of it, he is no longer a champion of the American government, but the spirit of America. I feel like a good majority of Avengers showed Rogers being poked fun at for not knowing the various pop culture and historical references and making fun of his theological ideals and sense of and morality. Thankfully, this has been laid to rest and Cap now has a little notepad in which he lists all the things he has to catch up on, most recently added being Marvin Gaye’s soundtrack to Troubleman. Note: this list is actually different, depending on the country you see the film in. It’s a quick way to see how the character has grown, and to avoid beating a dead horse.

What really piqued my interest was Captain America’s level of brutality. Sure, he killed a bunch of Nazis in WWII, but that was war. I expected Captain America to have the same sort of moral compass as a Spider-Man or a Batman, where every life is sacred and not even the most vile are to die. That theory’s thrown out the window here as Cap stabs, smashes and explodes his way to put the bad guys down – most notably in the first ten minutes of espionage-filled action. Have we just evolved our super-hero standards to fit the modern day, or is this a darker, jaded Captain America that we’re seeing here?

While The First Avenger let people believe in the symbol, The Winter Soldier had more of an origin story identity than the actual origin story did. We get to see Steve Rogers become a super-soldier, take down Red Skull and find the courage to defeat an army – but Winter Soldier really embodies the hero that we associate the character Captain America as. A lot of it has to do with the acting; Chris Evans plays the perfect Captain America. Even with an all-star cast at his side, there was never a moment that it didn’t feel like it was his story. The “supporting cast” absolutely makes the movie. I haven’t seen Samuel L. Jackson this bad-ass since he was chopping off heads with a purple lightsaber. I mean, he’s no David Hasselhoff, thank God, but he’s as Nick Fury as you’re ever going to get; he’s the leading agent of a super-spy program for a reason, and Sam Jackson played it to a T. Note: Sadly, there are no exclamations of “Mother-f***er” in this film. Meanwhile, the talented ScarJo plays Black Widow extremely well. She’s sexy without being objectified – a role model for women and a poster model for men, truly the best of both worlds. However, it’s Anthony Mackie’s portrayal of Sam Wilson AKA Falcon that really stole the show. From Mackie’s acting to the way the his costume was designed, Falcon was bad-ass – and from the looks of it, this won’t be the only movie he will be in.

What makes Winter Soldier so great is it’s reflection of current society. Much the way The Dark Knight showed us our fear of terrorism and the symbol of how that is dealt with, Captain America: The Winter Soldier showed us our addiction to using government enforcement. Ah, the plot thickens. Everything is not what it seems though, as the whole shebang has been a conspiracy, an infection that has swept the whole system. Iconic movies like V for Vendetta have portrayed similar messages, but not quite as plainly as Winter Soldier showed it, and especially not as relate-able as to U.S. drone strikes taking down its own citizens. Surprisingly to some, this isn’t the first time Steve Rogers has taken on the entire U.S. government in the name of its people, so who is really the enemy here? I’ve seen the movie and I still don’t know; these are the questions that keep a good movie in the minds of its viewers.

So, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about Captain America, but what about the Winter Soldier? He is in half the title, after all. When the book that the film is based off of (review of that coming soon as well) was released almost a decade ago, the big reveal was that Bucky Barnes – friend and partner of Steve Rogers before his heroic and untimely death in The First Avenger – was actually the Winter Soldier, and it floored readers. Thanks to IMDb and the rest of the internet, we all knew this coming in. The reveal wasn’t quite as built-up as I would have liked, and I feel the whole portrayal of Bucky was really rushed; there was maybe 15-20 minutes devoted to him – and that is a shame because the Winter Soldier (both before and after the events of the movie) is one of the most ruthless killers in the Marvel universe. We do get some superb action sequences with Bucky and Captain America, each blow giving off waves of power, reminiscent of an epic anime fight. While on-screen, they do the Winter Soldier justice – but in the same way that Bucky was a pawn for the Russians, he is also just a pawn for the deeper storyline of the movie.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier also did not shy away from fanboy moments. The Amazing Stan Lee made his usual cameo (honestly one of his funniest), but it was another guest star that made us gush aloud in the theater. I won’t spoil it, but the Russo Brothers, who direct the movie, also are executive producers for a television show we can’t seem to get enough of – we’ll let you guess. We also get a taste of other not so super villains too, with Baltroc and Crossbones getting some screen time (they’re not in their traditional costumes, so see if you can find them). The use of the vibranium shield was spot on and a clear ode to the books; every fight sequence begins or ends with Rogers bouncing this thing off walls, even at one point destroying a S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane with it. Captain America was also a monster in combat. Exponentially quicker and stronger than his opponents, he put the hurt on a lot of people in spectacular fashion. Every punch, grapple and shield bash looked just as one from a super-soldier should.

To bastardize a line from The Dark Knight, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the movie that we deserve, and the one we need. In a time where we are getting dangerously close to superhero super-saturation, it’s great to see a comic book film that favors character development over plot development. There are, of course, the explosions, fight scenes and witty one-liners that set a high standard at Marvel Studios, but what really makes Captain America: The Winter Soldier worth your money is the front-row seat to watching one of the finest characters in comic books saving the world from itself. Although the actual Winter Soldier (or Agent 13, for that matter) wasn’t in it for very long, The Winter Soldier drove home it’s sociopolitical points while still looking like one of the best comic book movies to come out.

Other Stuff:

Easter Eggs!

An explanation of the post-credit scene.

Review of Captain America (vol 5): Winter Soldier graphic novel

All media credited to Marvel Studios

We Can Do It! Black Widow

“We Can Do It!: Women in Comics, Television and Beyond” is Hush Comics’ answer to what women in comics mean to the world and to us  Visit our page every Monday to learn about a new super lady!

*Note: Yes this article is late.  Yay for jet lag from ECCC and hey, I thought it would be cool to publish when Winter Soldier actually came out.  Oopsies.  

Who:

Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow

Nicknames/Aliases:

Black Widow, Natalia Romanova (ok that’s her given name for you aficionados), Czarina

Skills:

Advanced combat skills and training, acrobat, ballerina, slowed aging due to Soviet experimentation, and a great knowledge of how to use a gun.

Origin Story:

Like most Marvel heroes, Black Widow has been retconned.  Either way, her history is way sketchy.  I guess that is what happens when a girl is trained by Russia to be a spy and is genetically mutated.  Yup, so that is basically her history.  Her real name can either be Natasha Romanoff or Natalia Romanova.  This just adds to her mystery.  She was trained by Ivan Petrovich, and in her retcon, by the KGB.  She has been experimented on to make her age slower and make her more agile.  She has also had her memory altered so she doesn’t remember significant chunks of her life and is given the memory of being an esteemed ballerina.  Originally, Natasha was sent to kill Iron Man.  She wore an evening gown with a sweet cat-eye mask with a veil over her face.  She was also raven haired before she had her fiery red mane.  She met Hawkeye and convinced him to help her.  After a failed mission, she was kidnapped by the KGB and brainwashed to kill the Avengers, of which Hawkeye was a member.  Because she had fallen in love with him, she eventually found the light side and became good ole American.  She also became the 16th Avenger.  She has found herself in a romantic relationship with many Marvel characters, mainly being the main squeeze of Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, but she also has been with Iron Man, Captain America, and Bucky Barnes.  In her current issues, she is an independent spy who sometimes takes jobs with Nick Fury’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Notably, Black Widow saved Wolverine from the HYDRA and was a leader of The Champions which included Hercules and Ghost Rider.  She led them to battle with many baddies including The Stranger and The Crimson Dynamo.  Yeah, she pretty much has done everything.

Why is she important?:

Let me count the ways as to why Natasha Romanoff is important.  Ok, first, she currently is the female face of The Avengers.  I mean she is carrying the entire female population in all the current movies.  That’s a lot to handle.  And all this is just my opinion of course, but I really think she is the inspiration for two of my other favorite women: La Femme Nikita and Echo from Dollhouse.  As far as La Femme Nikita goes, she was also a Russian spy who was used as a tool for the government.  And Echo?  Well, Natasha was also brainwashed and supplied with false memories.  She was made to be super strong and acrobatic.  So were the Dolls.  Pretty cool, I think.  Not only that, but Natasha has kinda saved a lot of our favorite superheroes.  Like, their lives.  Oh, and she’s smart, witty and can kick a lot of ass.  I’d say she is really important not only for the Marvel Universe, but to women ad little girls who go to the movies and read comics.  Thank you, Miss Romanoff.

What she means to me:

Honestly, before The Avengers came out, I had limited knowledge of who Black Widow was.  But considering my celebrity doppelgänger, Scarlett Johansson, played her, I needed to find out as much as I could.   As a little girl, I used to play spy.  Didn’t every little girl?  Ok maybe about half of us.  Anyway, Black Widow is the woman I think of when I wish I had a different life, except in my head, it is a more glamourous world without all that experimentation.   Now that I know tons more about her, I think every girl should idolize her.  She is a woman who has been through hell and back, is smart as a whip and can kick some serious ass.  Yup, pretty much one tough as nails chick.  And that’s why I love her.

Natasha Romanoff in the 1960’s

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow

Me as Black widow a few Halloween’s ago!

The current Natasha in 2014’s Black Widow by Marvel

photos belong to Marvel

 

written by Adrian Puryear

Diggin’ Through the Crates: K-Rino “Duality”

Song: “Duality”

Artist: K-Rino

Album: Annihilation of the Evil Machine (2010)

Lyric: “One a thought is born, nothing can harm it/You don’t understand the magnitude of torment, that it took for me to form it/I dare ya to deal, each of the labyrinth characters killed/Got a Captain America shield that I wear in the field.”

Character Reference/Meaning:

What is more American that Hip-Hop and being a nerd? The correct answer to that is Captain America. However, today on “DTC,” we combine all three to possibly make the most American thing in existence. Surprisingly, today’s song “Duality” fits in perfectly with all of our topics. For those “DTC” fans out there, you might remember a while back we did a “DTC” about Captain America (Hopsin’s “Lunch Time Cypher”), yet contrary to this week’s article, it was about Cap getting… well, Cap’d. Today’s article is all about surviving through the battle. K-Rino takes this duality notion to heart by posing the question, what would happen if he had a rap partner. So rather than finding a rap partner, he decided to just split himself in half and become his own rap partner. Similar to the superheroes of the world, they all have duel identities. For every Bruce Banner, there is a Hulk. For every Bruce Wayne, there is a Batman. And for every Steve Rodgers there is a Captain America.

We all have this other side of us that either contradicts who we are or thrives in addition to our known character. Everybody has this dual identity. It’s not just superheroes; rappers are no different: where there is a Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, there is also a Lupe Fiasco . With a Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr, you have a Snoop Dogg, and if there is an Eric Kaiser, there is always going to be a K-Rino. For most rappers and poets of today, their dual identity comes with one powerful weapon – their words. That is exactly what K-Rino is trying to say in this lyric. Once an artist develops a thought behind a song, and spends so much time and energy to make it into a harmony, followed by a rhythmic flow, nothing and nobody can take that away from them. A majority of hip-hop artist form their songs based off of their personal lives, so when K-Rino speaks about the torment involved with forming that thought, he is talking about the difficult life he has had to go through, which has been the reason he is a rapper today. Without that life and that hardship, he wouldn’t be able to form such a song. And if you dare challenge him on those thoughts, it can only end badly for you.

So, similar to Captain America’s vibranium shield that keeps him safe in harms way, words do the same for the rappers of the world. Just like nothing can harm Captain America when he is covered by his shield, nothing can harm an artist when covered by his poetry. The same can be said for anybody and everybody, you just have to go figure out what your shield is. Coming back to the notion of duality, just like we all have that one thing that makes us feel safe, we all have that one thing that can harm us. For Captain America that opposing force is the Winter Soldier. Within the next few days the world will get to see that battle play out on the big screen. Dropping April 4, 2014, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is going to shoot off vita-rays into every nerd heart, turning them into super nerd soldiers. This film looks to be a great one with the reappearance of some of our major characters such as the Captain and Black Widow, and the addition of some new ones, mainly Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I don’t know about you, but me and all of my other dual identity cannot wait to see this movie in theaters. So check out Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and go our there and discover the duality in your life.

Cover photo taken from houstonpress.com

 

Monthly Movie Preview: April 2014

April will bring us quite the variety. A few blockbusters – one named Captain America: The Winter Soldier – as well as some sci-fi/horror and chick flicks. There’s something for everybody this month.

April 4 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Stan freakin Lee

This is the second story for Captain America and the third story since Avengers. Cap is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an official agent and we finally get to see Steve Rogers in modern times by himself. The big question I have going into the film is who is in the casket they keep showing? As far as I’ve seen they haven’t explicitly said in the previews who the Winter Soldier actually is; although, IMDb does list Bucky and Winter Soldier being played by the same actor. It should be no surprise who the Winter Soldier is by this point, but considering the Mandarin and Extremis B.S. that was Iron Man 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it someone else. This film will be directed to comic book fans as well as people who have begun to follow the films since Marvel decided to unify its movie universe. I’m sure that this will shape up to be a great film and I am not only excited to see the Winter Soldier in action, I am pretty excited to see the film adaptation of Falcon. – Robert

April 4 – Afflicted

Starring: Derek Lee, Clif Prowse

This film is about two friends who travel the world. After one of them hooks up with a mysterious girl, he begins getting these weird powers. Eventually, things take a turn for the worse and it becomes this really creepy – you guessed it – affliction. Just by the way it’s filmed, it feels so much like Chronicles, but without the lame adolescent meltdown aspect. The disease/affliction thing is kinda interesting, but there’s something about Affliction that just feels like it’s been done before. Luckily, the chemistry between Lee and Prowse is believable and the effects are neat. Chances are, if you enjoyed Chronicle, you’ll like this movie, too. However, if you’re not seeing Captain America on this weekend, you’re not doing it right. – Sheirf

April 4 – In the Blood

Starring: Gina Carano, Cam Gigandet, Danny Trejo, Luis Guzmán

The woman passed up to play Wonder Women (still bitter), Gina Carona, is thankfully headlining In the Blood – coming out this week. It’s a nice turn on dark-mysterious-man with dark past who must save his romantic interest. I’m a big fan of turning cliché upside down and this movie looks like it will deliver. Ava, played by Gina Carona, is on vacation with her husband. He gets abducted and it’s up to Ava to save him. Ava and her badass MMA skills tracks down her husband’s attackers while uncovering a conspiracy in the middle of seeming paradise. It has a very Far Cry-like vibe going on. In general, these kinds of movies aren’t my cup of tea, but watching the preview was entertaining enough. I can appreciate and enjoy a woman kicking some major ass and I have this guilty pleasure for MMA fighting. It looks like it has the potential to be a solid movie and spark others to make movie that mess with conventional plot templates. – Jené

April 11 – Under the Skin

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, some other people I don’t care about

I can’t think of an easier way to sell tickets to a movie than to put a half-naked picture of Scarlett Johansson on the poster. This sci-fi tale is about an alien in human skin who travels the country of Scotland, seeking for men to prey upon. By prey upon, I mean make sweet, sweet love to them before filling their body with some weird black embalming fluid, harvesting them for who knows what. I’m not sure how that’s a bad thing, but I sure am determined to find out. It’s based off a Michael Faber novel of the same name – and from what I’ve read about the book, things get even weirder later. To make the premise even creepier, it turns out a lot of the conversations in the movie were unscripted talks ScarJo had with random non-actors who didn’t know who she is. It sounds wildly inane, but did I mention a half-naked Scarlett Johansson? – Sherif

April 11 – Oculus

Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Karen Gillan, Garrett Ryan, Annalise Basso, Katee Sackhoff

A new and interesting horror film staring two female nerd heroes with Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) and Karen Gillan (Doctor Who). This film is about a brother and sister who are haunted by an entity in an antique mirror. They believe this entity caused their father to kill their mother which made the son shoot the father. It is based off of a short film the director and co-writer made back in 2006. Quite possibly the most interesting thing about this film is that it is made by WWE Studios. Normally the films this studio makes are along the lines of the upcoming films Jingle All the Way 2 with Larry the Cable Guy (gross…), and the reboot of the Leprechaun film series with the wrestler Hornswaggle (what is Leprechaun without Warwick Davis?). So, it was surprising to me to be interested in this project knowing that. This film is obviously aimed towards adult fans of horror films. I hope more people will see it as it is very much an original idea and not a cookie-cutter gorefest like so many horror films these days. – Jacob

April 11 – Rio 2

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg (Blu), Anne Hathaway (Jewel), Leslie Mann (Linda), Jemaine Clement (Nigel), Jamie Foxx (Nico), Tracy Morgan (Luiz), and will.i.am (Pedro)

Rio 2 is the sequel to the successful film Rio. This time the film takes the macaws Blu and Jewel to the amazon to try and find other parrots of their species as they thought they were the last two on earth. This journey leads them to meet Jewels father and some of her childhood friends. Along the way they run into the villain from the first film, Nigel the Cockatoo, whom tries to enact revenge upon Blu and Jewel by finding new lackeys in a dart frog, Gabi, and an anteater, Charlie. The great original cast is back with . The great original cast is here, and this time, a couple other great voices are added with Kristen Chenowith (Gabi), Wanda Sykes (Chloe), and Jane Lynch (Alice). This is the only film other than Ice Age from Blue Sky Studios that has warranted a sequel, so it is guaranteed to be a great film for the kids and family, as well as any fan of animation and beautiful scenery. – Jacob

April 18 – Small Time

Starring: Dean Norris, Christopher Meloni, Devon Bostick, Bridget Moynahan

This movie was described as a “Drama” on IMDb, but judging by the preview, it looks like it will be hilarious. With Christopher Meloni and Dean Norris in the lead, it certainly has a solid leading cast. It seems like it will be a limited release or something because I didn’t see very much in the way of information about this movie other than a cast list and a short, but sufficient, preview. The movie is about a boy deciding to skip college in order to become a used car salesman. This might sound pretty cliché, but I am sure that it will include some solid life lessons, as well as plenty of used car salesman hijinks that ensue. Since this doesn’t seem like a very big release, it doesn’t seem like it is meant for the big theaters but who knows. I think anyone who can appreciate the humor of Hank from Breaking Bad will appreciate the humor here. I am genuinely interested to check this out after watching the preview. – Robert

April 25 – Brick Mansions

Starring: David Belle, Paul Walker, RZA

I didn’t even have to make it half way through the preview before I realized that this was a remake of a French film called Banlieue 13 or District B-13. This film stars David Belle, who is the creator of Parkour. It also is supposed to be one of the last films that Paul Walker is starring in. It’s a shame because the actor he is replacing from the original is a much better actor and is a great martial artist, as well. I will probably go see this but I can’t honestly see this being better than the original. I would recommend everyone to rent the original as it isn’t hard to find and while you are at it, pick up the sequel called District B-13 Ultimatum. This is directed towards people who like action as well as crazy stunts. This film is sure to be full of both with David Belle at the lead. The only possible saving grace I can see for this film is that it was written by Luc Besson who did The Professional, so there is that. – Robert

April 25 – Transcendence

Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Kate Mara

This film is something I have thought about many times and had many discussion with friends about. It is about a terminally ill scientist who uploads his thoughts and mind into a computer to live after death, which ultimately gives him too much power and he becomes an unstoppable force. The idea is both terrifying and yet could be an answer of how to live forever, which may seem cool to others. The film stars Johnny Depp as the scientist going through the procedure. The supporting cast includes many great actors as well including Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Paul Bettany. The film looks very interesting and yet to me it also is an idea that has haunted my dreams for years. I feel this film is targeted to the teen to adult range and even the future generation who are kids now as it shows us the true problems of having technology not just being a huge part of our lives, but it becoming our lives itself. – Jacob

April 25 – The Other Woman

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Upton, Nicki Minaj,

Oh goodie another female comedy surrounding how their man’s gone and done them wrong. Where have I seen this before, oh right, The Frist Wives Club. And judging by this movie trailer, I’m going to go ahead and say it – First Wives Club did it better. In this movie, three women find out they are dating/married to the same man. They meet, become friends, and then exact their revenge. I’m not going to hold my breath for this movie. They story isn’t new and has been rehashed ad nauseum and marketed as comedy. Lets get hammered, puke, talk about dicks. Oh and man boob, because turning into a woman is so funny… haha I’m becoming emotional because being a woman is such a joke. Eye roll. I wonder if it even passes the Bechdel test. Sure, it’s a cast of women, but do any of them have a conversation not pertaining to their romantic entanglements? In all, the  trailer doesn’t do it for me and I’m not going to waste my money. Maybe when it’s out on prime time I’ll watch it when I have nothing better to do with my life.  This movie screams C movie Netflix gold. – Jené

Written by Jacob Robinson, Jené Conrad, Robert Michael and Sherif Elkhatib