You Should See Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a good movie. Not even just a great comic book based movie, a good movie in general.

Spoilers Will Be Included in This Review

The Winter Soldier had a perfect amount of action, intrigue and drama. As a fan of comic books it had a much better feel, as a comic, than Captain America: The First Avenger. I did like The First Avenger but The Winter Soldier was a whole level above.

A lot of other reviews also picked up on the "secret agent" feel of this movie. I agree, with that to a point. It seemed like a good expansion of the Agents of SHIELD TV show. I also saw some parallels to the recent Man of Steel movie. Particularly the scene at the end with Captain America falling and floating in the water.

Marvel's Heroes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Chris Evans does a nice job playing the "good boy" Steve Rogers. Samuel L. Jackson actually has more to do and adds a lot of credibility to the movie. Anthony Mackie plays the role of Captain America's longtime sidekick, Sam Wilson (The Falcon), perfectly. Finally Scarlett Johansson, as Black Widow, is the extra glue that really holds this cast together.

I wanted to insert a quick nod to Stan Lee here. I have to say his extremely minor roles in every one of these movies is something I look out for. Each one gets better and Stan's scene in CA:TWS is perfect.

The Villains of The Winter Soldier

In this second Captain America movie we actually get just a few too many villains to focus on. In the end though HYDRA is a serious organization, spanning the globe, and infiltrating everything. So, it wasn't a major story hit with all of the villains.

Georges St. Pierre, makes a brief appearance as Batroc (the Leaper) and does a fine job getting the action started. Robert Redford, ultimately revealed to be a major villain, like Samuel L . Jackson gives some authority to the movie.

Arnim Zola appears again, in a slightly different role, as the brains of a massive computer network. Frank Grillo appears as tough SHIELD/HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow. I only learned later that he may become Crossbones in a future movie.

Lastly, and the big draw of the movie, The Winter Soldier. Sebastian Stan plays Bucky, later revealed to be The Winter Soldier, Caps long lost friend. A perfect transition here from the comic, The Winter Soldier is awesome. A perfect villain for Captain America.

Rating Captain America

Lots of people have different thoughts about plot holes. Things like where the wing suit came from just didn't bother me much. I assumed it was perhaps a Stark technology. The one thing that struck me as a little odd was Natasha's relationship with Fury. It just seemed a little over the top, just a little too much connection/dedication to him.

My rating for Captain America: The Winter Soldier is 8 out of 10. This movie easily fits into my top 10 comic movies ever.

Just like in the movie, for those that stay to the very end, there are 2 bonus end credit scenes. The first is worth waiting for. It reveals Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, the "Twins" who are held by Baron Strucker. The second scene is very brief and shows Bucky looking over his memorial at the Smithsonian. Not worth the wait, particularly if you drank a large soda.

Go see The Winter Soldier

Or, go see it again. You will not be disappointed. Let me know what you thought of Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Movie Review: The Avengers is a Huge Hit

Well, this isn't a big surprise is it? Actually it is surprising just how big it is. I had expected Iron Man 2 type of numbers to be reported but Avengers is now the 6th highest grossing domestic film. This is only the third weekend the movie has been playing.

This is great for comic book fans right?

As a comic collector I am super excited for this hit movie. Along with other comic book films of the past decade Avengers is spiking peoples interest in comics. I know a few of my friends that collected in the early 1990's are coming back to read comics again. I just hope this trend continues.

My review of the movie

I can't say this is my favorite comic book movie of all time but it is close to the top. There was a great sense of timing in this movie. It was over 2 hours long but I hardly noticed. The story kicked into place right away and the action really kept flowing. Each character had some great lines and played a big part in the movies success. I will admit I was hoping for more than Loki. If you stayed until the end of the credits you know there was more but that is a spoiler (read below.)

I actually ran into a comic collector friend when my wife and I went to see the film. That made the experience even better, chatting beforehand and then during the end credits about how cool the movie was.

Would I watch it again?

I actually did, I went to see it the second weekend it was out with a good friend. This time, because I heard great reviews, I saw it on IMAX 3D. It was incredibly well done for post-production 3D effects and well worth the extra money. I can't wait for this movie on Blu-Ray in the fall.

SPOILERS

Is there really anyone left who hasn't seen this movie? So, there were 2 extra scenes added to the end of the movie during and after the credits. The first scene hinted that Thanos, the Mad Titan, would be a villain in a coming sequel. The second scene was even better. The Avengers were just sitting around eating Shawarma. It was perfect.

So, about that spoiler and getting comic collectors excited. Sales of Iron Man 55, the first appearance of Thanos, are going through the roof. This comic is now pricing near the first appearance of Wolverine. I don't expect that to continue but got to think some of these buyers are collectors coming back to the hobby as many collectors have this issue as one of their keys already and the price is pretty high.

What did you think of the movie?

Short Review: The Avengers Super Bowl Ad

I'll keep this review short and sweet. The Avengers ad from the Super Bowl was really good. I love the pacing of the entire trailer to the reveal of the Hulk in the circle of Avengers at the end of the ad.

Nick Fury's ominous dialog really sets the tone and helps to build the excitement. Of course I sort of think back to Samuel L Jackson's speech in Deep Blue Sea. We all know how that turned out for him, huh?

This team, while not the exact team I would expect, provides some really great opportunities for comedy, drama, and of course all-out action.

Probably the only thing that bothered me a little is Cap's costume. I think it will grow on me but for some reason it just didn't look right during the commercial last night.

Here is the extended version of the trailer. I love the line, "We have a Hulk."

May 4th can not come soon enough!