To say that “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is an action-packed film would be an understatement. There is a lot of it in this film. Hovercraft ships fall from the sky. Chase scene after scene with bullets going everywhere. And a lot of visual effects. I pretty much expected that when I walked into the movie theater and sat in my seat with my popcorn and lemonade. With all of the visual effects and action scenes put aside, the story holds up. It kept me entertained with the acting and clever dialouge between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). I was quite pleased with them on screen together. It balances out fairly well with Robert Redford playing the business executive Alexander Pierce.
Now that the good notes are done, I need to get down and dirty with some of the major faults of this film. I’m really getting tired of seeing people die on screen and then come back. Spoilers ahead. Nick Fury gets ambushed by Hydra and is presumed dead. For more than half the film I was thinking that Marvel had finally accepted to kill off lead protagonists to create life-like tension. It wasn’t meant to be. Fury faked his death so he could find out who the real villain was within S.H.I.E.L.D.. All of the pain and weight of the tragedy in the film was gone and not part of my psyche anymore. I was very disappointed that Marvel messed with my feelings.
Marvel didn’t stop there. A character who we watched die from “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) comes back in the sequel messing with my mind a little more. I really doubt that anybody is really dead in Marvel. Just watch “Thor” (2011) and “Thor: The Dark World” (2013) and you’ll see what I mean. Marvel films aren’t the only films guilty of this “not really dead” movement. It’s moved to “Star Trek: Into Darkness” (2012) and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014). TV has sinned more in this category than anyone else. This is why I love Quentin Tarantino films so much. Dead people stay dead and death is no respecter of protagonists or antagonists. It makes it more real. Something Marvel can use before it’s too late.
Chris Evans in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
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