Coming this Spring... MORE WINTER!!!

Okay... Okay... Put away your torches and shovels, you angry villagers.  I'm not writing about the weather, this blog entry is about the newest Captain America movie... Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I was hesitant to write about this for a couple reasons.  One being, several people have already blogged about it (One being my friend Phil, who did a great job here.) The other reason, it was such a great movie, but made in such a way, that it is very difficult to talk about it without giving away spoilers.

I took my nephew to see it, and he loved it.  Previously, Bane (from The Dark Knight Rises) had been his favorite comicbook movie villain, but now that title has changed hands.  It was great hearing some of his insight to the movie, and I was impressed that he remembered even some of the minor characters from other Marvel movies. (He remembered Gary Shandling as Senator Stern from the second Iron Man movie)

But, before I really delve into the movie... THE TRAILERS!!!

This was the first time I can remember ever being interested in seeing all the movies that were shown in the trailer lineup. It looks like it is going to be a HUGE couple of months for Marvel/Disney

Maleficent: Simply wow.  The effects looked great, Jolie seems to be a good fit for the title role, and it appears to have a nice dark humor to it, while still keeping somewhat kid friendly.  The commercial caught my attention, hopefully the film will keep it.

It does have quite a few crows... that always helps.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2:  I've always liked Spider-Man.  He's smart... I'm kinda smart.  He's a smartass... I'm absolutely a smartass. He can lift a dumptruck over his head... I can lift a... Tonka truck over my head.  When I first learned about this reboot, I was happy to hear that they were sticking closer to the books.  Gwen Stacey being his love interest and all helped make the character who he is. (Almost much as his Uncle Ben had)  Oddly enough, I hadn't watched the first of this series, I should really remedy this.  The new movie looks fun, my only letdown is the fact that the Rhino looks like a Transformer.

I am, however, cool with them taking away Electro's dandelion costume.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Holy bankroll, Batman!!! This movie is teeming with famous faces.  The story, being one that bounces from past and future, they hired on many of the actors from the original X-Men movies as well as the actors from The First Class.  I am super psyched to see this one, even if the Sentinels look a bit (read: a lot) shrimpy.

They also look a lot like the Destroyer from Thor, to me. But, maybe that's intentional.

Godzilla:  I like Godzilla. In the past, I've watched some Godzilla films, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan. However, I do want to see this film.  Alas, the Statue of Liberty gets whupped on again.  She seems to be the yardstick to which giant monster and natural disaster movies are held.

Godzilla is the one who knocks.

"Wait. What?"

Guardians of the Galaxy:  I know very little about this story, having never read it.  I know of the characters through crossovers and whatnot, but this was not a title that I used to read back in the day. They trailer looked interesting and funny enough, that I'd be willing to plunk my money down to see it.

For the record, I know exactly how that machine works. EXCELSIOR!!

And now... On to the show!

Cap 2 was a very fun movie.  Our hero is still adjusting to a world that grew bigger as he slept as well as life as a (relative) civilian. The jokes and barbs at his expense are sprinkled throughout the movie, with the Black Widow starting it off as she first appears. The thing about the movie that was so great was, they actually took some time to flesh out the characters, make them human, and give you more reason to care about them.  Sure, it's fun to watch Steve or Natasha kick ass on the screen, but when you have insight as to why and how they fight so fiercely, you find yourself rooting that much harder.  And, considering BW never had a movie of her own, it was nice to get that chance to learn more about her.

Two things this movie really hit home were, Big Brother is watching, and any weapon you can pull in a fight can be taken from you and used against you. Hubris is a bitch.

A lot of stuff happens, that I painfully can't get into, because sighting parts of this movie, especially some of the cool ones, without giving away spoilers is seriously like navigating a minefield.  Espionage, cloak and dagger stuff... You get the idea. Even if I tried, I think this would jump around so much, it would be unreadable.

I liked Falcon's character.  I liked the background they gave him, and how he handled himself in the film.  It didn't hurt that he was given a few good lines. Again, fleshing out characters with backstory helped out here, giving him both some depth as well as reason to fall in with the Captain.

There was a scene where Natasha walked up behind Steve, blew a bubble with her chewing gum and snapped it in his ear. It was a very small thing, but I thought it was great.

Even though some characters weren't present, they helped contribute to the story in ways that made a lot of sense. There was no hide nor hair of Tony Stark or Bruce Banner, but they both had a petty big part in the story. I also enjoyed some of the namedropping done for characters that haven't had appearances or movies of their own. One mention that is getting a lot of press is Stephen Strange. I actually find this a bit annoying since he was mentioned in Spider-Man 2, and no one seemed to care. J. Jonah Jameson was trying to come up with a catchy name for Doc Ock and someone offered Dr. Strange. "That's pretty good. But, it's taken!"

It took quite a while for the Winter Soldier to make his appearance, but when he did, he did it with style.  It was even longer before he spoke, but that's okay.  Actions speak louder than words, and his actions already made it clear that he was a badass.

My nephew's face lit up when he appeared, because a) he was a fun character, and b) because my nephew had known about him but it hadn't clicked until he finally showed up on screen. When the first Captain America movie came out, for some reason they had added a Winter Soldier toy to the roster of action figures, even though he wasn't in the film. I had purchased these figures for him as a gift for his birthday, and had to explain to him who WS was. Years later, enlightenment.

Robert Redford did a wonderful job playing Alexander Pierce, and it was great seeing him in a movie again. I can't remember the last time I had seen him on film, but it was great seeing him bring Pierce to life.

Stan Lee had another great cameo.  I really enjoy seeing him pop up in these films, and it will be a very sad day when he passes on. I had the chance to meet him a few years ago, and shake his hand. (I wasn't supposed to shake his hand, but I'm rebel, Dottie) He's a really nice guy, and I am very happy to have had the chance to see him in person.

Marvel has been doing a fantastic job with continuity and crossover in these films. It's nice to see characters and plot devices pop up unexpectedly, and even nicer when their appearance makes sense.  However, it seems like they also fall into the cliche tropes that have been done to death. A military building where it doesn't belong, comes to mind. And, as cool as Nick Fury's spare key was, it was a bit far-fetched. It was nice that Sam got to keep his lightsaber from Star Wars. A couple other things come to mind as well, but... spoilers.

Overall, it really was a great film. I'd actually pay to go see it again, and I can't say I'd do that for most movies. So, if you're hankering to go to the movies, but not sure what to see, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is highly recommended by this viewer.