WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILER FILLED REVIEW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
You wouldn't know this is directing duo of brothers Anthony and Joe Russo's
first ever action movie because they made The First Avenger's second solo adventure a solid action packed thriller that
is everything you ever wanted in a Captain America movie. This begin the 9th
film in Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe and close to the end of their Phase 2 plans,
Marvel isn't afraid to shake up the status quo, and with the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D.
a staple has been removed that was once the connective tissue connecting the
first batch of Phase 1 movies. The aftermath of these events drastically effect
the upcoming movies, and even disrupt and completely change the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
TV series which I think is an awesome prospect thanks to the shared universe.
Chris Evans once again perfectly nails it at Steve Rogers, he effortlessly brings to life the brooding but still hopeful man out of time of the Ed Brubaker story which the movie is adapted from. Scarlet Johansson comfortably slips back in to being the kick-ass Black Widow, and I'm so glad they didn't force Cap and Widow into a relationship which the trailers almost made it look like they were, but this movie did set up future love interest in Agent 13 Sharon Carter played by the lovely Emily VanCamp. Anthony Mackie as Falcon is an amazing welcome addition the movie universe, he literally jumps and fits right in, and I can't wait to see him in more movies, and hope we see him join The Avengers.
Samuel L. Jackson owns being Nick Fury, this movie is much of a Nick Fury movie as it is a Captain America movie, his every action was a surprise performance. We all knew when Bucky fell to his apparent death in the first movie we'd see him return as the Winter Soldier, and Sebastian Stan does not disappoint, his brutal fight scenes, struggle against brainwashing, and one flashback scene, all crowd pleasers in my opinion. Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce was smooth and very engaging as the main bad guy, but I believe his character need more explanation of why he was with Hydra, I was waiting the whole time for him to be revealed to be the Red Skull still alive, possessing him like Aleksander Lukin who Pierce is kinda based off mixed with the Skull's Dell Rusk government official identity, perhaps it's was in an early script, or there are some deleted scenes, who knows.
This movie had a plethora of enemies for Cap to punch, but I loved they included comic book villians like Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow a.k.a. Crossbones, Georges St.Pierre as Batroc, and even the surprise return of Toby Jones as the computerized Arnim Zola, all of whom I have no doubt we'll see again in the next movie, especially Crossbones since he was shown still alive. I don't know about anybody else but the final fight with Bucky at the end was really emotional for me, I got scared for a moment when I saw blood on the red and white stripes on Cap's costume just like when he was killed in the comics six years ago, and yelped "oh no" when he dropped his shield in to the water. With the mid-credit scene was are introduced to Thomas Kretschmann's Baron von Strucker, and the movie version of the origins of Quicksilver's and Scarlet Witch's powers since they can not be identifited as mutants, it appears they've got their powers from being experimented on with the energy from Loki's staff last seen in the first Avengers movie, very interesting, and with Winter Soldier still about and starting to remember who he is, he will without a doubt most certainly be in the next Captain America movie, and if my predictions are correct will even ware the stars and stripes and wield the shield in future movies.
Chris Evans once again perfectly nails it at Steve Rogers, he effortlessly brings to life the brooding but still hopeful man out of time of the Ed Brubaker story which the movie is adapted from. Scarlet Johansson comfortably slips back in to being the kick-ass Black Widow, and I'm so glad they didn't force Cap and Widow into a relationship which the trailers almost made it look like they were, but this movie did set up future love interest in Agent 13 Sharon Carter played by the lovely Emily VanCamp. Anthony Mackie as Falcon is an amazing welcome addition the movie universe, he literally jumps and fits right in, and I can't wait to see him in more movies, and hope we see him join The Avengers.
Samuel L. Jackson owns being Nick Fury, this movie is much of a Nick Fury movie as it is a Captain America movie, his every action was a surprise performance. We all knew when Bucky fell to his apparent death in the first movie we'd see him return as the Winter Soldier, and Sebastian Stan does not disappoint, his brutal fight scenes, struggle against brainwashing, and one flashback scene, all crowd pleasers in my opinion. Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce was smooth and very engaging as the main bad guy, but I believe his character need more explanation of why he was with Hydra, I was waiting the whole time for him to be revealed to be the Red Skull still alive, possessing him like Aleksander Lukin who Pierce is kinda based off mixed with the Skull's Dell Rusk government official identity, perhaps it's was in an early script, or there are some deleted scenes, who knows.
This movie had a plethora of enemies for Cap to punch, but I loved they included comic book villians like Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow a.k.a. Crossbones, Georges St.Pierre as Batroc, and even the surprise return of Toby Jones as the computerized Arnim Zola, all of whom I have no doubt we'll see again in the next movie, especially Crossbones since he was shown still alive. I don't know about anybody else but the final fight with Bucky at the end was really emotional for me, I got scared for a moment when I saw blood on the red and white stripes on Cap's costume just like when he was killed in the comics six years ago, and yelped "oh no" when he dropped his shield in to the water. With the mid-credit scene was are introduced to Thomas Kretschmann's Baron von Strucker, and the movie version of the origins of Quicksilver's and Scarlet Witch's powers since they can not be identifited as mutants, it appears they've got their powers from being experimented on with the energy from Loki's staff last seen in the first Avengers movie, very interesting, and with Winter Soldier still about and starting to remember who he is, he will without a doubt most certainly be in the next Captain America movie, and if my predictions are correct will even ware the stars and stripes and wield the shield in future movies.
