Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

[SamSeed]

Not a bad review, although I would disagree about the fight scenes and the shakycam, I didn't really notice it, except perhaps in the first fight. The only other disappointment I had with the film was the face off between The Falcon and Agent Rumlow. It was set up as this bad ass fight scene and then it cuts away and the next time we see them Falcon runs and jumps into the helicopter. Other than that I would rate this as one of if not the best Marvel film.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Not a bad review, although I would disagree about the fight scenes and the shakycam, I didn't really notice it, except perhaps in the first fight. The only other disappointment I had with the film was the face off between The Falcon and Agent Rumlow. It was set up as this bad ass fight scene and then it cuts away and the next time we see them Falcon runs and jumps into the helicopter. Other than that I would rate this as one of if not the best Marvel film.

I'll agree with you on the second part, the fight between The Falcon and Rumlow could easily have been extended adding to instead of the crosscutting we get. But it is a slight dissapointment since I see this style of action (especially with the use of crosscutting to prolong an action scene without actually adding more fighting to it, not that there is inheritantly anything wrong with that) in many action films.

I saw the film twice and noticed the semi-shaky cam both times. It is certainly nowhere near what Bay (or many of directors) have done, but I felt it could have been used less (I'm trying not sound like a purist but this is my feelings on it so I have to add it to the review). But given my high rating and regards to the film I found it just a minor quibble.

RE: of the Marvel films: Iron Man is still my favorite, either followed by The Avengers or this. I wonder how good Guardians of the Galaxy will be?

[Secret Executioner]

I didn't have to complain about the shaky cam - like masterofoneinchpunch said, it's much worse in other films (Hunger Games anyone ?).

Overall, it's a really solid movie - possibly the best Marvel movie, assuming films like X2 don't count (cause X2 would be my pick), but by far my fav' in the Avengers franchise - the Iron Man films are okay (though the 3rd one was horrid and had plot-holes the size of the Hulkbuster), the Thor ones are fun mainly thanks to Loki (Nathalie Portman and her sidekicks are annoying, Thor himself is pretty bland despite some moments - Asgard looks great though), I didn't find the 2008 Hulk film that great and I much preferred the 2003 one which is the only Ang Lee movie I know of that I can stomach (funnily, it also seems like it's the only one that doesn't get praised as a masterpiece like CTHD or Life Of Pi) and concerning Avengers and the first Cap' film, well, it's pretty simple: I haven't seen those.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I didn't have to complain about the shaky cam - like masterofoneinchpunch said, it's much worse in other films (Hunger Games anyone ?).

Overall, it's a really solid movie - possibly the best Marvel movie, assuming films like X2 don't count (cause X2 would be my pick), but by far my fav' in the Avengers franchise - the Iron Man films are okay (though the 3rd one was horrid and had plot-holes the size of the Hulkbuster), the Thor ones are fun mainly thanks to Loki (Nathalie Portman and her sidekicks are annoying, Thor himself is pretty bland despite some moments - Asgard looks great though), I didn't find the 2008 Hulk film that great and I much preferred the 2003 one which is the only Ang Lee movie I know of that I can stomach (funnily, it also seems like it's the only one that doesn't get praised as a masterpiece like CTHD or Life Of Pi) and concerning Avengers and the first Cap' film, well, it's pretty simple: I haven't seen those.

Hunger Games was annoying because they were shaking the camera even during the exposition (talking) scenes. Shaky-cam scenes are especially annoying when I see it on the big screen, tends to be a little less annoying on the TV. I think I said a few curse words in the theater while watching the overdone shakyness on Hunger Games.

My goodness you need to see The Avengers (though it does lose a little not being on the big screen, still quite fun though.) If it wasn't for Loki, I do wonder how I would rate the two Thor films . I still have not seen the Ang Lee The Hulk. I'm generally a fan of Lee's work so I will ignore your statement .

I like the X-men films (well the first two at least), just not as much as the films mentioned above.

[Chinatown Kid]

Just saw this recently and all the martial arts style fights in it really impressed me and was a nice surprise, really looking forward to the third one now. Cap has edged ahead of Wolverine now as my favorite movie comic book character. Hope he gets a big part in the upcoming Avengers sequel too!

[AlbertV]

I have to agree. I saw the film in theaters opening weekend and the action was by far some of the best in A-list Hollywood. They actually did it right with the editing style. The Russo Brothers know their stuff and that is why they are coming back for Captain America 3...and even more, they will be directing episodes of Agent Carter, a in-between series that will premiere in January as an 8-episode mini series with Hayley Atwell returning as Agent Carter. I'm guessing the episodes will be set in between Captain America: The First Avenger and the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D.

While the whole government plot could have been used in an Avengers movie, it was nicely transitioned in the second half of season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. If you missed it, Season 1 hits DVD on September 22.

[BaronK]

Movie surprised me. I'm surprised that the makers got away with getting a green light on the type of picture this was. It was an old school action picture. Guns, fights, cars, explosions. They don't do that for theater movies anymore. I was actually expecting this to be a cgi fest. The cgi at the end was very well done and not much of the movie at all.

Movie itself was ok. Won't nitpick save the title. Was about Hydra not the Winter Soldier. Whatever.

Action was a blend of parkour type, some tkd, and some nice knife work. Maybe kali based. Camera and editing behaved themselves.

[KenHashibe]

Am I the only person who thought this movie was okay? It's certainly not terrible and a lot of effort was noticeably put into it but I liked other Marvel movies more (I really liked the new X-Men movie). The action scenes/special effects are incredible and are fun to watch. Some of the dialogue is well written too. There's not much of this movie that's memorable, the story didn't really interest me/is a bit typical, and the plot twists didn't do what they were supposed to do (i.e. surprise me) but maybe my hopes were too high.

Before you post mean comments directed towards me because you disagree with my opinion, please realize that the purpose of a review is (1) to see if a movie you want to watch is worth watching, (2) some reviews are entertaining, or (3) to see someone else's opinions on a movie. I'd liked to reiterate that this movie is entertaining but wasn't as great as I thought it would be (maybe it's my fault). It will certainly please Captain America fans, but I'm not one of them. Thank you for understanding because I know there are a lot of people who really like this movie.

[Drunken Monk]

I just watched this again genuinely think it's the best Marvel film behind "The Avengers" and "Blade 2." The action in this film is perfectly suited to Captain America and I loved the whole Jason Bourne-ish plot.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Gotta go with DM on this. This is far and away one of Marvel's best films.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Am I the only person who thought this movie was okay? It's certainly not terrible and a lot of effort was noticeably put into it but I liked other Marvel movies more (I really liked the new X-Men movie). The action scenes/special effects are incredible and are fun to watch. Some of the dialogue is well written too. There's not much of this movie that's memorable, the story didn't really interest me/is a bit typical, and the plot twists didn't do what they were supposed to do (i.e. surprise me) but maybe my hopes were too high.

Before you post mean comments directed towards me because you disagree with my opinion, please realize that the purpose of a review is (1) to see if a movie you want to watch is worth watching, (2) some reviews are entertaining, or (3) to see someone else's opinions on a movie. I'd liked to reiterate that this movie is entertaining but wasn't as great as I thought it would be (maybe it's my fault). It will certainly please Captain America fans, but I'm not one of them. Thank you for understanding because I know there are a lot of people who really like this movie.

Of course you could elaborate on why the story did not interest you or why you consider it typical. Also was there something about the review above (1st post) that you disagree with? Have you given the movie a second try? Is a movie supposed to surprise oneself? It can be nice if it is logically done, but can also screw up the film as well.

Most of the time you will not get mean comments unless you write negatively (or even call it a good but not great film) about The Raid 2 or Her or other sacred cows.

I too think this is one of the better films of 2014. So far it is still in my top 10. I will watch it for a third time when it comes out on BD/DVD.

[KenHashibe]

Of course you could elaborate on why the story did not interest you or why you consider it typical. Also was there something about the review above (1st post) that you disagree with? Have you given the movie a second try? Is a movie supposed to surprise oneself? It can be nice if it is logically done, but can also screw up the film as well.

Most of the time you will not get mean comments unless you write negatively (or even call it a good but not great film) about The Raid 2 or Her or other sacred cows.

I too think this is one of the better films of 2014. So far it is still in my top 10. I will watch it for a third time when it comes out on BD/DVD.

Partly the reason why I didn't like the story was because of the characters. I felt like Sam (Falcon) was underdeveloped, some of the characters seemed like archetypes, Shield kind of turns into like that typical, evil corporation, and a lot of the characters never seem to break a sweat in the finale (and I have a big problem with that about some action movies). When I don't care for some of the characters, it's hard to be concerned when they're in danger. I loved the characters in X Men: Days of Future Past partly because they were all entertaining, created suspenseful setups, and had a variety.

I loved some of the action scenes (Nick Fury's car chase was unbelievable) but I thought the finale was a little bland. It seemed like something I'd seen before and explosions/destruction don't amaze like they used to. I guess you are right when you say that a movie isn't supposed to surprise me but (*SPOILERS*) were you surprised when Nick Fury supposedly died and came back in the next hour or so (*END OF SPOILERS*)? Everything seemed like stuff I'd seen before and though you may use a few Hong Kong action movies as contradictions, they all had something unique and fun about them, like the other Marvel movies.

Also, I was hyped for this movie (overly hyped). Maybe this movie just didn't reach my expectations. Usually expecting something from a movie can really affect my overall view of it. I have a bad habit of doing this. For example, I thought Magnificent Butcher was going to be a martial arts masterpiece and it turned out to be okay (is Magnificent Butcher a sacred cow?), but I thought Drunken Tai Chi was going to suck and it turned out to be very entertaining.

I haven't watched this movie a second time, but I probably would enjoy it much more. It's strange to think how many movies I'd re-watched and ended up loving it. I probably should give this movie (and Magnificent Butcher) another chance, especially since I know what I'm in for, but I'm not going to pay to do so. I might borrow it from a friend or something so it may take a while.

I'd like to reiterate that this is far from a bad movie and a ton of effort was noticeably put into it. But I thought this movie was good, a solid 7 out of 10, not my favorite Marvel movie though, but then again, this is coming from the guy who willingly watched Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983) more than once, so maybe I'm just crazy.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

...I haven't watched this movie a second time, but I probably would enjoy it much more. It's strange to think how many movies I'd re-watched and ended up loving it. I probably should give this movie (and Magnificent Butcher) another chance, especially since I know what I'm in for, but I'm not going to pay to do so. I might borrow it from a friend or something so it may take a while.

...

Thanks for commenting further on the subject.

My philosophy on rewatching is: give it a little time. Unless the experience was a bad one because of circumstances (like my bleeding leg mentioned above -- TMI: the mark is still there so it will be a scar), I like to give a film some time. Too often with an immediate rewatch you tend to have the same feelings as before (same goes for films you think are excellent on the first watching.) Plus with films that are extra hyped it is good to go in with proper expectations. But if you haven't check out the review I linked to on my first post. It is one of the better articles on the movie that I have read.

No 7 out of 10 isn't bad, that is usually a rating of a film I recommend in fact. I gave the film an 8 out of 10 (with the possibility of it going to 9.)

I'm actually agree with you on Magnificent Butcher: here is my review. But yeah every poster should/will have contrarian views on cinema. As long as the reasoning is fair and well-written then we all tend to benefic from the analysis.

[KenHashibe]

Thanks for commenting further on the subject.

My philosophy on rewatching is: give it a little time. Unless the experience was a bad one because of circumstances (like my bleeding leg mentioned above -- TMI: the mark is still there so it will be a scar), I like to give a film some time. Too often with an immediate rewatch you tend to have the same feelings as before (same goes for films you think are excellent on the first watching.) Plus with films that are extra hyped it is good to go in with proper expectations. But if you haven't check out the review I linked to on my first post. It is one of the better articles on the movie that I have read.

No 7 out of 10 isn't bad, that is usually a rating of a film I recommend in fact. I gave the film an 8 out of 10 (with the possibility of it going to 9.)

I'm actually agree with you on Magnificent Butcher: here is my review. But yeah every poster should/will have contrarian views on cinema. As long as the reasoning is fair and well-written then we all tend to benefic from the analysis.

Before I respond to your post, I'd like to elaborate on the Magnificent Butcher for a little bit. I love the fight scenes in this movie. Yuen Biao vs Lam Ching Ying and Wei Pai vs Yuen Miu are some of the best fight scenes in HK cinema. The calligraphy scene is extraordinary. Kwan Tak-hing is fantastic in this movie ("Can you write the word respect" is one of my favorite lines ever). But I thought that Fung Hak-On was overly/unrealistically despicable. I find that in some Sammo Hung movies, the serious action and the light-hearted comedy don't mix well together at all (especially in Carry On Pickpocket and Pedicab Driver).

I found that Lee Hoi Sang as the bad guy didn't work because all he was doing was getting revenge and doing so is something anyone would do. He didn't know Sammo's side of the story, but listened to his son. He wasn't evil or deserving, he was just ignorant! I even felt kind of bad for him at the end. With the stone left unturned, it really left a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, I'll try rewatching it soon, but I digress.

I agree with your philosophy about rewatching movies and I have a specific rating system that I go by. A 10 is excellent, a 9 is terrific, an 8 is great, a 7 is good, a 6 is okay, etc. I also agree when you say that if you have an unpopular opinion on a movie that you should elaborate further on it. Saying "This movie sucks" is not an effective review, but even if I disagree, if you elaborate, I should be able to see why you think how you think. I tried keeping my first post short so I wouldn't go on for too long but I'm glad that we were able to discuss this.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Interesting comments on this film. I adored the source material which served as my "soap opera" for four years. I had no idea what to expect going in. Now having  seen this 30+ times (yeah, I love me some Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier), I can say that I very much enjoyed the tweaks from the source material (the combination of the WS origin with the different storyline of Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. was pretty great), but the screenwriters finales still stink on ice. This happened with their first Captain America film too. Once they moved to the montage of the Howling Commandos taking out Hydra, that film limped to the finish line just to freeze Cap.

Here, once the screenwriters drop the bomb as to who the WS is in relation to Steve, they can never quite recover.  The finale kind of limps to the realization that Steve not only has to save the world, but his old friend.

 This film has my favorite Marvel cinematic villains - Redford played the insidious man in power to the hilt, Rumlow was a nice tweak on the neo-nazi character from the comics and i love what they did with Arnim Zola. I was so hoping Toby Jones would be able to get to the robotic stage.  

I enjoyed Falcon's tweak and think Anthony Mackie did what he could with the part. I really like him in the role and expect to see Falcon doing a lot more.  I was 100% sold with Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan from the first film. I love them as Steve and Bucky and I hope they get a lot more screen time. Had a great laugh seeing Winter Soldier storyline creator Ed Brubaker as the Hydra Scientist who activates the mind wipe machine on the WS in that bank vault.  

The fighting, I love the highway sequence. That's why I saw the movie theatrically a lot. I would get stupidly giddy waiting for it. The Winter Soldiers' use of Krav Maga and knife skills felt suitably Soviet era and very, very dangerous. My one massive complaint with these fights is you can obviously tell where they slipped the stunt doubles in and that takes me clean out of those moments and other action sequences too. I really hope the Russos fix that in Civil War. 

Is it a perfect movie? Nope. Far from it. Does it tug on my heart strings like the comic series, nowhere near as much. But dang it if Evans and Stan do not utterly have my attention whenever they're on screen.  I would give this a 6 now, because the 3rd act is overlong, and there's not enough Winter Soldier for me.  That said, this is the one Marvel movie I will happily rewatch at any given time. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I am going to rewatch the finale (whenever I get my DVD back) so I can comment on your statements.  But in the meantime I have to ask how can you give a film 6/10 that you have seen 30+ times?

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Master, after I've seen it and fully digested it,d there were parts which 100% clicked  and other parts which do not. The final act limped to the ending (the same screenwriters as Cap 1 and upcoming Civil War - they seem to trip over their third acts / finales.)  

 

I felt the Winter Soldier story could be told over two films, I liked the idea of both Steve and Bucky being men out of time.  I would like to see some of Zola's exposition played out: Great ideas and concepts cut short for a disappointing climax  etc. I wanted more of Hydra being insidious (as fun as Robert Redford was...)

 

It is the Marvel movie with the characterization I enjoy the most, but I can skip large swaths now easily.  I watched many times because of my fondness for Bucky / Winter Soldier and Cap himself. There were certain scenes I was very eager to see again  (highway fight etc.) 

 

 I get so wrapped up in certain movies, I watch them a staggering amount of times. Some I can rewatch all the way through, others bits and pieces. Now that I have this film in my data banks as it was, I probably won't watch again until after Civil War comes out. Will I see Civil War that many times? No.  This was one of those rare films where I so loved those characters and that storyline, it's a lot for me to go once, much less as many times as I did  especially with ticket prices  (14x at the movies, 16x at home.) To wit, it was the same thing with Escape From L.A. - no way is that a good movie, but I loved Snake Plissken and saw that film 15x during it's short run and many times on home video, Unlike it's predecessor (which I will glady watch in any form and still love 100s of viewings later), I have a hard time watching more than a few minutes of EFL.A. now.)