Captain US of A.

Captain America: Winter Soldier follows on from events in The Avengers where New York was ravaged by invading forces. In Washington, the S.H.I.E.L.D cooperation (with a symbol that looks like the Eagle from Imperial Germany) strikes a rather ominous tone over the Washington DC skyline. Their operations are covert and secretive to those on the outside, and the organization becomes embodied in scandal and conspiracy as Captain American/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) becomes the number one enemy.

Of the main Avengers Captain America has never really been a fan favourite, he lacks the quick fired, arrogant wit of Iron Man and Thor, but he does posses strong leadership qualities thus making him an all-American hero. The lack of a quick fired wit may make the two Captain America films less entertaining than the Thor and the Iron Man films (with Iron Man 2 being an exception), however the humour that makes the Iron Man and Thor films entertaining is present in Captain America Winter Soldier but to a lesser extent.

Chris Evans may not have the charismatic humour of Robert Downey Jr and Chris Hemsworth, but he certainly has the physique (he has biceps the size of my head) and he makes for a good Captain America, convincingly portraying a hero who could unite a whole army of followers. He may lack that comedic charisma and comic timing that both Robert Downey Jr and Chris Hemsworth have, but from my (limited) understanding of the Marvel world that was never what Captain America was about.

A lot happens in Captain America Winter Soldier, the plot is hectic and chaotic because plenty happens in the 135 minute running time. Betrayals, back stabbing and visits from the past feature heavily as yet another American city (Washington this time) has to fork out money to pay for damage because of further carnage in the cities. Though slightly overlong and a tad baggy in the middle Captain America Winter Soldier is mostly good fun as it harks back to the conspiracy thrillers of the 1970s. The plot also relates strongly to the security climate of our current time and how the government has been giving us a false sense of security. The freely available information available on the online world also provokes unease among the masses; these themes provide the film with an interesting source of discussion among the crash, bangs and wallops of the action sequences.

Captain America Winter Soldier is tightly written and competently directed by duo Anthony and Joe Russo; however, they have yet to get the hang of filming an action scene that the viewer can actually follow. This is an issue as the editing is distracting and overly choppy during hand-to-hand combat which hinders an otherwise decent opening act. Yet, despite the shaky start, the choppy editing becomes less distracting. Acting heavyweights make an appearance in the latest Captain America film, most notably Robert Redford who is impressive as Alexander Pierce, the senior leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, and the usual cast members (Jackson and Johansson) are fine also.

An actual improvement upon the original, Chris Evans fits perfectly into the mould of Captain America as the superhero genre produces yet another hit.

3.5/5