During the riveting second act of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a philosophical conundrum beefs up a bog standard superhero-in-peril plot and attempts to enrich the character and journey of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his roughhouse education in homeland political chicanery. The question ‘What is right?’ pecks our hero’s head good and proper.
Some may well get a little too overexcited by the film’s aping of 1970s thrillers, the ones that very often emphasised paranoia, corruption, conspiracy theories and shadowy cover-ups, but it’s nothing more than window-dressing and has no satisfying recourse or revelation. If anything, its major source of inspiration is perhaps George Lucas’ downbeat Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). So, while Captain America: The Winter Soldier flirts with the kind of politics that gets The Guardian readers all hot and bothered, deep down it’s a traditonally pragmatic soul with star-spangled blood.
CA is a relic of mid-20th century politics. The name reeks of adversarial, old-fashioned American arrogance that is somehow déclassé whenever a Democrat president is in office. However, Rogers’ folksy charm (Evans is perfect in the role) and aw-shucks-Jimmy Stewartisms make him the most likeable of the Avengers crew and he’s also been given the two strongest films to date.
The story openly acknowledges that good guys commit duplicitous deeds and break the rules willy-nilly, but it’s always for ‘the greater good’. The villains are codified as inherently bad and sneaky and allowed no equal luxury as complicated types. Captain Rogers spends a lot of time bothered by the idea that US freedom is under threat, but his definition of it is pretty iffy. Therein lays the limits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its approach to grownup themes. A complex notion and argument is ignored because, well, what it really needs to be getting on with being a mainstream superhero blockbuster.
It might fudge the subtext, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a fine spectacle with superior action scenes. The pairing of Rogers and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) pays off very well too. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, swapping places with Joe Johnston, dirty up the picture with Greengrassian handheld camera work that stands in contrast to the slick CG and gigantic sequences of mayhem.
Martyn has awarded Captain America: The Winter Soldier four Torches of Truth
Image from Disney/Marvel
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