For the first time in many months I actually drove to a theater and went to see a movie.  CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER.  I had really been looking forward to this film since the first movie is one of my favorite superhero movies ever because of the lovely character moments and it’s thoughtful analysis of war, bravery and why we fight.  I particularly liked the moment where Dr. Erskin is examining the scrawny Steve Rogers and asks in a faintly mocking tone about how he wants to go and “kill Nazis.”  Rogers quiet response — “I don’t want to kill anybody, I just don’t like bullies.” tells me so much about the character and the relationship that develops between the two men.

I was hoping for similar moments in this second film and it didn’t disappoint.  First I have to offer big kudos to the fight choreographer(s) involved with this film.  For the first time I got to actually enjoy the fight sequences to see the punch and counter-punch, the fluid, almost dance-like quality of martial arts.  It was not a sequence of fast and confusing cuts that give you no sense of flow.  There were also some amazing car chases that were exciting rather than trite.  It also helped you had Samuel L. Jackson’s waspish delivery to enliven the action.

 

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But what I loved the best about this movie were the quiet personal moments — between Sam and Steve, Steve and his lost love, Steve and Natasha, and the overtly political tone of the movie.

There were a number of what I think of as “grown-up” choices that were made in this film.  The first was not somehow, magically having Steve’s lady from 1940 be miraculously young and waiting for him.  Peggy Carter was an old, dying woman who went on to build a life without him.  I was a little startled at the idea that she was one of the founders of SHIELD, but then decided it made a certain degree of sense given the events in the first film.  His affection for her, his ability to look past the carnage of the years made me like him even more.  She was always going to be  Peggy for him.

The second choice they made that really pleased me was the fact they didn’t force a romance between Steve and Natasha.  He’s heart wounded and not ready for a relationship.  She’s not interested in him.  Instead she keeps trying to help him find a date.  By doing this the writers and directors showed respect for the Capt’s love for Peggy, and they also didn’t define Black Widow by her relationship to men.  Unlike the female elf in the second Hobbit movie who was totally defined by her relationship to men.  It didn’t matter how much ass she kicked — it was all about her relationship to Legolas’s daddy, Legolas, and Hot Dwarf.

There was a nice complexity to the movie as well.  Wheels within wheels that you don’t often find in your basic action movie.  Nick Fury continues to be a complex, very grey and very fascinating character.  It was clear he had staged his death, but that was okay.  It fit the overall tone.  I was also very glad they didn’t have Sam die.  It’s a cheap way to get a reaction from an audience and they didn’t take it.

The scenes at the end between Steve and Bucky/The Winter Soldier again established Rogers essential decency.  Violence is easy, redemption is hard and they came down on the side of redemption.  One other very nice moment was Steve’s little notebook with all the societal memes with which he needs to catch up.  The fact that he wrote them on paper rather then pulling out his phone or IPad was also just another lovely little character touch as were the LP’s and the stereo.  Even the choice of music.  The directors and the writers had given real thought to the story of a man-out-of-time.

Now to the politics.  Just as Person of Interest unwittingly created a show about the surveillance state without realizing they were prescient, this movie embraced the discussion.  When Steve first goes to SHIELD headquarters and we see the courtyard with the big eagle sculpture my first thought was that it had a very Albert Speer, Third Reich feel.  Turned out there was a reason.

Which is actually my one quibble with the movie.  I didn’t need Hydra in this film.  I understand why they did it — a call back to the first film and so Natasha could deliver the line.  “How does it feel to know you died for nothing?”, but I thought that weakened the discussion about surveillance and the curtailment of our liberties in an effort to feel safe or to at least have the illusion we are safe.

I would have been happier if it had just been a schism within SHIELD itself about the proper use of spying and targeted drone strikes, etc.  By making it evil Nazis it felt like the movie let SHIELD and by extension our government off the hook.

We could have ended up in the same place with SHIELD in tatters, Natasha as Snowden, etc. etc., without the addition of Hydra.  I admit I am very anxious to see Tuesday night’s episode of AGENTS OF SHIELD after these events.  I’m also pretty sure we know the identity of the Clairvoyant now after this movie.