Movie Breakdown: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

People are doing traditional-style reviews all over the web, so we decided to try something different.  In each “breakdown” we’ll take a look at what a film’s marketing lead us to believe, how the movie actually played, and then what we learned from it all.  Read on!

The Impression:

Captain Rogers gets a second solo adventure. The sequel does not appear to feature more of the retro, pulpy good times that filled the first film in the series.

The Reality:

While there’s a dash of the lighthearted fun that’s been prevalent in all of Marvel’s previous movies, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a film that’s pretty much all business.  For some, I imagine that the change of tone won’t be something that’s smiled upon.  After all, aren’t the solo films supposed to be fun, one-off adventures that simply setup the next Avengers movie?  Well, apparently not.  In The Winter Soldier characters are constantly put in the way of real danger, and the structure of Marvel’s cinematic universe is rattled and re-worked throughout the film.  For the first time I felt like I got something from Marvel that had real weight to it.  I didn’t watch a setup film or a quirky side story.  No, The Winter Soldier just aims to be impressive all on its lonesome, and it does that in spades.  I think it currently ranks as Marvel’s best film (even over The Avengers), and I highly recommend that you see it as soon as possible.

The Lesson:

The level of quality that comes with the Marvel logo is unmatched.