Reviewed: The Winter Soldier...

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is adjusting to his life in a new century. When he isn’t leading covert missions for SHIELD, he runs along edges of the Potomac river every morning, lapping new friend Sam Wilson several times over and trying to find some inner peace in forging new memories and trying to find ways to keep old ones alive.

Natasha (Scarlett Johansson), the Black Widow, thinks he should live a little and date more, but Rogers deflects and says he’s far too busy saving the world.  His plate is about to get fuller when he continues to question some of SHIELD’s pre-emptive strike methods and clashing agendas much to the consternation of his superiors. But almost immediately thereafter Rogers is attacked by some of his colleagues and Fury also finds himself under attack by a determined army of combatants who give road-rage a bad name. 

After the deadly confrontation, Fury’s superior, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) swears that nothing will stop him from finding the truth and possibly avenging his long time colleague, but there are many agendas here and before long Steve, Natasha and new recruit Sam Wilson find themselves on the run from several forces.  The truth is that an old enemy is about to initiate a plan that has consequences for the entire world and their weapon of choice happens to be someone with very strong ties to Steve and his old life. ‘The Winter Soldier’ is about to bring a dish best served cold…

For a film that easily ticks off all the needed elements in the ‘blockbuster’ manual, it’s interesting to note that while there’s plenty of visual effects and set-pieces in The Winter Soldier, this Captain America sequel is clearly attempting to go for a more nuanced canvas, somewhat emulating the political conspiracy movies of the past rather than the cosmic elements of some previous Marvel outings.

One has to admire its ambition, even if the result is not always as comfortable a mixture of the two genres as one might have ultimately wished for. The sum of all parts in this sum of all fears don’t quite balance out. All the ingredients are there and prove as tasty and delicious as one might expect, but its momentum veers from furrowed brows and backroom politics (if your backroom is a secret underground base) in one scene to all-out ballistic assaults at a moment’s notice… where it’s a case of never mind the quality of the disposable generic  enemy minions, just feel the breadth of bullets. It’s this irregular flipping between subversive-and-subtle and seismic-and-shocking that indicates that the film isn’t quite sure at  which windmill to tilt – or throw its shield. It falters when the menace is merely a sea of faceless mercenaries and soars when brains and bravery are needed. 

That’s not to say it’s not a hugely enjoyable romp in the moment.  There’s enough thrown at the screen (arguably too much for one film, so much show that some gets short-changed) that inevitably some hits its mark. Evans has certainly matured into the role - he is clearly more comfortable than ever in the skin of the character and his portrayal of another Marvel icon, the flamboyant Human Torch of The Fantastic Four films now seems a lifetime ago.  There’s a weight to his performance and an often quiet nobility to go alongside the action sequences for which he proves more than capable.

Johansson is smart, sleek and sexy and the best female action hero that Marvel still hasn’t yet endowed with a solo-outing (why?). Samuel L. Jackson turns up and does what Samuel L. Jackson does which is always guaranteed to look cool and raise a smile. Redford – a screen veteran in the best sense of the word - gets to bring some old school gravitas to proceedings and there’s one scene with Jenny Agutter (only glimpsed in previous instalments) that should please her numerous fans.

For a film subtitled ‘The Winter Soldier’, it’s surprising to find out that the titular Russian agent plays a pivotal but far from central role in the story.  Anyone thinking this is merely the story of Cap facing a twisted reflection of himself is likely to feel wrong-footed by the film itself which is more concerned with power-plays of the political kind. 

Name-checking what may yet be a new upcoming entry in the Marvel firmament (Stranger things have happened), the film also boasted it would fundamentally alter certain aspects of the Marvel Universe and though it might not be the changes you necessarily anticipate, it turns out not to have been a wholly hollow boast – such is the ending of the film that one does indeed question the inevitable ripple effects that must now be coming sooner rather than later elsewhere in the Marvel milieu.  

In quality and enjoyment, it’s on par with, say, the Thor sequel if not the most recent Iron Man outing. Undeniably The Winter Soldier is fun and populated with enough likeable characters  (and unlikable ones) and flying debris to satisfy most action fans. It scores points for its willingness to subvert some expectations but  equally loses some for the occasionally scattershot execution. (It might well have done with pruning some characters and elements to make the plot and momentum more tight and efficient).

However, if it’s not an almighty stride forward then The Winter Soldier generates enough heat (or, at least warm goodwill)  to keep pace with Marvel’s ambitious plans. Almost any story can now be told in the Marvel Universe and if this didn’t push any boundaries, it showed there are plenty of new buttons to press… (and still a reason to stay at least halfway through the credits for one of two easter-eggish add-ons...)

Marvel Studios' Captain America: The Winter Soldier is released by Disney and opens across the UK on 26th March (and a week later in the US...)