movie: Captain America: Winter Soldier

[McParadigm]

What the shit?

No way that a Captain America movie had any business being this good.

The whole movie was like an exercise in showing how much a story can get away with if the directing, cinematography, and overall visual planning is really well done. So many small decisions helping to make such a big difference.

[doone]

This is the first time in ages that I have gone to see a movie on its opening weekend but this one was worth it.
I saw the 3D version but I wear contact lenses and my eyes were having trouble focusing so I may go back and see it again in 2D.

[B]

This is the first time in ages that I have gone to see a movie on its opening weekend but this one was worth it.
I saw the 3D version but I wear contact lenses and my eyes were having trouble focusing so I may go back and see it again in 2D.

I have to be heavily convinced to see ANY movie in 3D. Of course, the TV in my living room is only 720p and I don't own BluRay, so what the fuck do I know?

[McParadigm]

There was so much in this movie that should not have worked, but did. I'm just amazed that someone found a movie this good inside the Marvel universe, and that it involved Captain America of all people.

Action sequences were always played close enough to the character's experience that you didn't start to feel detached or like it was just spectacle. They had great back-and-forth plotted drama within those scenes (none of that typical Marvel "you seriously can't beat this guy? It's just Jeffrey Lebowski in a robot suit" stuff, or "this is the scene where person A looks invincible...and now the scene where person B looks invincible"). A lot of really great small adjustments to the norm that I felt really humanized the action. They chose the best possible moments and characters to surround the Captain with in order to make him interesting, and got away with so much stupid because of that.

I just looked up the director(s), and I can't decide if that explains everything or if it makes me all the more amazed.

I saw it in 2D. I don't see that 3D would be a big boon for this one.

[Peeps]

its being projected in the 95mill opening weekend. pretty incredible.

i will admit i was a smidge skeptical of chris evans pulling this off as cap since he was johnny storm. but given the benefit of the doubt i eagerly watched the first cap and his portrayal of cap is pretty much spot on for the version he is based off (ultimate universe).

im thinking Marvel could do a squirrel girl movie and it would be a success

[Kaius]

What would the dads here consider to be the appropriate age for this?

[Self]

It wasn't that bad, Kaius. As far as language, I think I heard a "shit" here and there. The violence wasn't too bad, either. Pretty standard for what these types of movies have offered in that area.

[McParadigm]

It wasn't that bad, Kaius. As far as language, I think I heard a "shit" here and there. The violence wasn't too bad, either. Pretty standard for what these types of movies have offered in that area.

I'd say it felt a lot more "real" and less cartoony. It WAS still cartoony, but it was just sold so well that you end up processing it differently. There were a few moments of violent threat tension that were a bit mature.

My soon-to-be 9 year old isn't seeing it any time soon.

[BurtReynolds]

its being projected in the 95mill opening weekend. pretty incredible.

i will admit i was a smidge skeptical of chris evans pulling this off as cap since he was johnny storm. but given the benefit of the doubt i eagerly watched the first cap and his portrayal of cap is pretty much spot on for the version he is based off (ultimate universe).

im thinking Marvel could do a squirrel girl movie and it would be a success

Looks like 96 million. I'm surprised it has done so well. I actually expected it to underperform compared to the others. Its even been a success overseas, setting records in China.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Really good

[stip]

Thinking of getting a babysitter to go see this

[E.H. Ruddock]

Thinking of getting a babysitter to go see this

Why would you want the babysitter to see this?

[B]

Thinking of getting a babysitter to go see this

Why would you want the babysitter to see this?

She'd appreciate the treat and maybe return the favor.

[pjpjpaul]

The action sequences at the beginning felt very Greengrass/Nolan influenced which is not a bad thing. And the movie was more realistic than the last one, although its still a comic book based film so it can never truly be THAT realistic. I liked it better than the second Thor or the second or third Iron Man films. Its just behind the Avengers and maybe tied or slightly ahead of the original Iron Man film right now for me. I had not so high expectations going into the theater, but was pleasantly surprised throughout the film, but will not give anything away here to those who have not yet seen it. Can't wait for the new X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy looks like a great mix of comedy and action.

[McParadigm]

The action sequences at the beginning felt very Greengrass/Nolan influenced which is not a bad thing.

This feels close to right, to me.

If you think about how characters in a Marvel movie can often shoot crazy weapons at or hit each other with massive hammers and still be pretty much okay, and then you think about the way that simple, single punches could feel brutal and uncomfortable in that first fight between Batman and Bane...this movie kind of took qualities from both. It doesn't abandon the over-the-top comic book fantasy-fight elements, but it imbues them with a consequential meat-on-bone quality that adds a level of tension most Marvel movies fail to achieve.

Most of the fight sequences in these types of movies are so big and supposedly epic that they sacrifice any real plotting or originality. It's just a fight. That's all. Entire script note: "They fight. Bad guy almost wins. Then good guy almost wins. Repeat until good guy wins. Witty comment by side-character."

This didn't fall prey to any of that. It was fantastic, but also emotionally involving in a way that those other movies aren't. There's a scene where the Captain is surrounded by a bunch of thugs, and they're all kind of gearing up to jump him, and he realizes it. So he drops a smartass one-liner and the fight starts. In any of the other movies, that would either lead to a quick "look how awesome this hero guy is" bit of thug pulverizing flash, or it would have just switched to a camera facing the door from outside the room. The door would open, you'd see the thugs reduced to a pile of unconscious bodies, and the hero would step out looking amused and deliver a follow-up joke.

In this movie, it's a FIGHT...it's gripping, has an uncertain outcome, and the Captain ends up struggling to get out in one piece. And it's just a bunch of guys, you know? No side character on either side of the story is treated as an empty-calorie opportunity to build up the mains. They are capable, even elite, at their jobs, and we get to see them doing brave or cruel things. And that makes it feel a lot more like something could actually happen to someone important....and it makes it feel "right" when something does.

I think that the reason this type of approach is usually avoided is the concern that, if simple thugs represent a challenge, maybe our hero won't look hero enough. He should just wipe these guys out like it's Tuesday, right? But nothing is impressive about a hero who runs around defeating idiots and lemmings, and in treating every little take-down of an enemy redshirt as a concussive event, even worth a bit of lingering on, they inexplicably managed to make Captain America look like an interesting and engaging character.

This was the first Marvel movie where I've been just 100% caught up in the action sequences....one of very few movies in recent memory where I genuinely enjoyed them, where they felt like organic events for these characters, in this story, and where they didn't feel like a series of plot-pause opportunities for recent college grads at computers to make a bunch of money.

[lowlight79]

One of the scenes that I like in the film especially was when cap finds out

Spoiler: show

that the winter soldier is bucky, he just feels totally crushed and can't even continue fighting.

You rarely see moments like this especially in the MCU, except for the avengers.

[Peeps]

One of the scenes that I like in the film especially was when cap finds out

Spoiler: show

that the winter soldier is bucky, he just feels totally crushed and can't even continue fighting.

You rarely see moments like this especially in the MCU, except for the avengers.

i agree...you can see the deflation of the fight in him. total gut punch.

i thought they developed BW quite well also as well as fury.

the more and more i think about it the closer to on par with TDK i am going to put it with

[McParadigm]

the more and more i think about it the closer to on par with TDK i am going to put it with

It's definitely a very unexpected high point among big summer movies, the last few years.

Who would have figured Arrested Development was good prep for making action films?

[i got bugs]

Holy shit, this may have been as good as the avengers.. different type of story.. but equally as entertaining

[doone]

Also...

Spoiler: show

I've never watched the TV show, but I wonder how Agents of Shield will deal with there not being a SHIELD anymore, heh.

Re: spoiler - Holee shit! They totally tied the TV series in. Very nice!