Review: Captain America – The Winter Soldier

Whilst there are still plenty of fun set-pieces and moments of well constructed action chaos, it feels as if Captain America: The Winter Soldier is taking a more grown up direction to Joe Johnston’s previous outing. Screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus merge the Marvel universe with the hard-boiled, paranoid atmosphere from great American conspiracy features like The Parallax View, All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor (the latter two sharing a star in Robert Redford – no doubt a factor in his casting as Alexander Pierce here). As well as embracing the ever-twisting and turning narrative complexities of these features, McFeely and Markus have firmly embraced the Marvel universe and closely tie in a number of these plot-developments with previous entry, The First Avenger. The return of Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter, flashbacks to Rogers’ early life and a few unmentionable spoilers ensure that whilst distinct and more adult, this wholeheartedly remains a Marvel film.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo present us with a variety of tense set-pieces – none of which are very inventive or memorable (but which Marvel ones are?) – but fully get the job done ensuring it is a challenge not to get absorbed in the chaos. The standout sees an attack on Nick Fury’s gadget-packed SUV – however, Rogers taking out an elevator full of armed goons and the airborne finale also make for relatively exciting watching. The Russos also add a wry sense of humour to The Winter Solider which mostly comes through Rogers’ disassociation with the 21st Century and the repartee between he and Johansson’s Black Widow. There is also sweetness in equal measure, marked by the return of fan-favourite Peggy Carter played by a heavily made-up Hayley Atwell.

Redford, Evans