In accordance with tradition, I will now continue from where I left off in my review of "Thor: The Dark World" by briefly touching upon all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe stuff that's been unveiled since then. After that, the "Cap" review.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
It just keeps getting better and better. The long, seemingly random gaps between the airings of the episodes really annoys me (damn you, ABC), but the show is keeping me interested. It's not on a "Breaking Bad" level of good, it's more on the same level of something like "Fringe", but the central mystery is intriguing, the characters are reasonably engaging, and the way it ties into and expands the MCU is still neat. The action is still a bit lacking, and the show sometimes comes across as gimmicky, but I still enjoy it. After the events of "The Winter Soldier", however, the show should get really, really interesting (there are, I believe, six episodes left in this season).
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
They've done it again. The last One-Shot, "Agent Carter", was the best of all of the MCU short films - until "All Hail the King" was unleashed with the home video release of "Thor: The Dark World". Primarily a comedy, this is the story of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), the British actor who was set up by mega mogul Aldritch Killian (Guy Pearce) to portray made up super terrorist "the Mandarin" in "Iron Man 3". "All Hail" takes place after that movie: Slattery is in jail, and a documentarian played by Scoot McNairy (from "Monsters" and "Argo") is there to interview him. We learn much about his past acting career, his time as "the Mandarin", and the fact that there are some very bad people in the world who aren't very happy with his portrayal.
Though only fifteen minutes in length, it made me laugh quite a bit. Kingsley, one of the major highlights of "Iron Man 3", is still in top form, the direction is airtight, Brian Tyler's score is fantastically retro, and there's a very cool cameo appearance over the end credits. Sure, there's obvious, fanboy-appeasing retconning going on in the plot (complete with cheap shots at angry Internet trolls), but I really don't mind where they're going with it. It's entertaining.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Simply put - it's one of Marvel's best and will likely end up on my Favorite Movies list for 2014. It ranks right up there with the first "Iron Man" and "The Avengers" in quality. Heck, it may even be better than those (time will tell).
It's certainly superior to the previous film, "Captain America: The First Avenger". I liked the original's retro charm and rampant Golden Age morality, but it was definitely a flawed flick. "The Winter Soldier", while not totally flawless, is so overwhelmingly stuffed with gooey goodness that the flaws don't matter.
What follows is a brief list of Pros and Cons. I will keep things Spoiler-free for the uninitiated, but keep in mind that the movie has a great many hardcore twists, turns, cameos, shout outs, planted story seeds and plain ole' surprises - I will not ruin it for you.
Cons: There's only one major flaw that kind of irks me - but it's no big thing: The overall plot of the film involves the timeworn "the enemy comes from within our own government" gambit, one that American action movies have been playing for many years now. This particular plot concept is getting a little long in the tooth, but "Winter Soldier" ups the ante in terms of stakes and quality of execution. Plus, it's far too easy to pick out who the main villain is going to be, which doesn't matter in the end because the villain is fantastic.
The 3D is generally well done, but the movie features lots of quick cutting and some "shaky-cam" editing techniques which, while extremely well-utilized, are not entirely conducive to the 3D format. It's still worth seeing in IMAX 3D, however.
Hummable theme music. Henry Jackman's score is great and accentuates the movie quite nicely, but there's no "Captain America theme" to whistle as you exit the theater. The first "Cap" had theme music, so what gives?
Pros: Almost too many to list.
Chris Evans owns the role. He may be the most morally-centered and "whitebread middle-America" member of the Avengers, but it's precisely those qualities that make him such an interesting character in such an out-of-this-world, shades-of-gray cinematic universe. He easily out-Supermans Superman in the "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" department. Plus, the dude can kick some serious ass.
Speaking of ass kicking, the action sequences are perfectly done. PERFECTLY. They never outstay their welcome (I'm looking at you, "Man of Steel"), they're punchy, satisfying, breathtaking, and as gloriously old school, in execution, as a modern superhero movie can get.
The cast - unbelievable. You've got the series regulars (Evans, Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Hayley Atwell, etc.) proving why they are series regulars in the first place ('cuz they're good). Then you've got Anthony Mackie (awesome as the Falcon), Frank Grillo (a great, gritty character actor), Emily VanCamp as Agent 13 (there will be more of her in the future), Robert Redford (ROBERT FREAKIN' REDFORD), and Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier. Let me say this - the Winter Soldier is easily one of Marvel's best bad guys. He may not be as "fun" as Loki, but he absolutely takes no prisoners and is just plain scary. Add a dash of "Frankenstein's monster"-style pathos to his character, and, voilà - instant three-dimensional character.
It's a fantastic, fun, full throttle movie. It's not all fist-pumping action, though. It's thoughtful. It's surprisingly emotional. It's funny and charming. It's scary. It's far better than "Iron Man 3" and Thor: The Dark World". It blows everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to hell - and I admire that. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is going to be very interesting in the coming month, and the stage that's been set for "The Avengers: Age of Ultron", well. . .
Have I said the word 'interesting' yet?
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