Dir. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
136m, stars Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson
What would otherwise be a cookie cutter super hero movie, replete with the same tired clichés foisted upon audiences ad nauseum every summer, is elevated however slightly by a tight story and expert execution. Certainly, the CGI was overdone (with wide shots full of cartoon characters whose live action counterparts we've come to know intimately in close up), and the story suffered from the commonplace second(s)-to-go rescue from global peril despite impossible odds. Likewise, the "Marvel Method" of introducing or fleshing out potential spinoff characters and laying the groundwork for future villains were all in full, predictable effect. But CA:TWS took great pains to humanize each character, with Cap questioning his role in a post-9/11 surveillance state, Fury coming to grips with trust issues, and Black Widow facing the consequences of her checkered past. The political espionage plotline is not nearly as profound as conspiracy theorists would have us believe, and the resurrected childhood friend turned villainous super soldier felt less like the emotional core of the movie and more like overkill, as though the stakes weren't high enough already. But the story moved along at such a pace that we were scarcely given time to dwell on it. Surely the Winter Soldier arc was no afterthought, since his name festoons the title, and since the source material storyline that birthed the character is much lauded. Still, without the storytelling in installments that is afforded monthly comics, he seemed to clutter the landscape a bit. But only a bit. After the cluttered landscape of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Avengers movie, I'm reminded that such things are relative.
Three out of five stars.
