Language Of The Mad

Maybe we just see action drastically differently but I thought the action scenes were pretty epic myself. Didn't notice much blurry cam, and I did see it in the IMAX, so I think I'd notice on that giant screen.

I wasn't a super huge fan of the first Captain America movie (in fact, I felt like I wasted my time watching it), but I'm a huge fan of those old 70's conspiracy movies that the movie claims to be inspired by. I'm also a fan of Robert Redford. So I have no idea if I want to see this movie or not. Does it actually deliver on the genre elements that inspired it, or are those overshadowed by the bombastic action scenes?

whether you think the action was well done or not, it's undeniable the movie is overrun by car chases, fist fights, aerial battles, and anything else you can think of. If you didn't like the first one I don't see how/why you'd like this one, except maybe for Black Widow character development (forgot to mention that - pretty much the best part of the movie is her).

Literally every review I've read of the movie says the exact opposite of the action scenes as you did here. Maddison and I saw it opening night, and I was incredibly impressed with the action scenes and fight choreography for their intense focus and clear shots, not to mention every character had a different style of fighting which Cap had to adjust to each time. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with such clear vision in the action scenes, and I don't know where the blurry cam criticism comes from!

 

For what its worth, I think it is the best of the standalone Marvel films thus far.

whether you think the action was well done or not, it's undeniable the movie is overrun by car chases, fist fights, aerial battles, and anything else you can think of. If you didn't like the first one I don't see how/why you'd like this one, except maybe for Black Widow character development (forgot to mention that - pretty much the best part of the movie is her).

 

-Sebastian Stan doesn't feel like human wallpaper in this movie and provides some of the most subtle emotional moments in the film (Surprised? Me too!)

 

-Chris Evans finally steps it up as Captain America after being relegated to a campy Americana poster boy in Cap 1 and Tony Stark's pouty frenemy in The Avengers.

 

-Real consequences in the MCU, both during the film itself and as a result of the film's end

 

-Every villain in this movie feels like a threat. I don't know how much I can stress this because it's been a huge problem in almost every other Marvel film - from the Big Bad to the Winter Soldier (who I thought showed up only when he needed to; it was his identity and history that helped drive Cap throughout the movie a la Thor and Loki, and mercenaries are generally never the main villains anyway) to even the commandos themselves I genuinely could see how every single antagonist could feasibly get their plan working and end up beating Cap. It felt like a conspiracy, and even though it's pretty obvious who the villain's going to be some of the supporting cast and fellow conspirators will, chances are, actually shock you. I think the action sequences had a lot to do with the dangerous setting of the whole film, and I don't see at all where your criticism comes from unless you're a fan of the other Marvel films and the way they handle action: aka one or two huge action sequences at the beginning and end of each movie, with very little fights in between to keep things moving.

 

-The movie wasn't overrun by car chases (I count two off the top of my head, and one so-so instance of Cap on a bike) or aerial battles (one off the top of my head, and again, so-so instance of Cap on a bike) and the fight scenes did a good job of making Cap, Black Widow, Fury, and the rest of the crew feel more worn down and ragged as the film went on. When people got shot or stabbed, it mattered. By the end, people were limping through the climax. It was incredibly realistic about the action throughout - moreso, I think, than any other MCU movie yet.

 

-Unpredictability and tying up plot threads. I shouldn't expect anything less from the Russo brothers (because Community and Arrested Development are two of my favorite comedies ever and both of them have a lot of skill with this) but between the cameos from old MCU characters and the little namedrops of possible future titles or events, it did a good job of making the audience feel like they were sort in on the plot and set up a few things quite nicely for the future of the franchise without making the audience feel like they were being spoonfed or treated like morons if they didn't get it.

 

-Steve and Tasha have literally mountains of chemistry.

 

-Pulp Fiction joke at the end.

 

-Tyler

I was going to share my thoughts on why The Winter Soldier might be my favorite standalone MCU film (aside from Iron Man which I haven't seen in forever), but Tyler pretty much summed everything up.

haha I appear to have kicked a beehive here. Let me clear up a few things:

 

While I did not think it was as good as it could have been (nor is it my favourite of the bunch) it was still very, very good. And I agree, in terms of Cap's character it was the best yet. I didn't really care about him in the Avengers but he did shine in this movie. As I said before, the plot and the consequences were brilliant and I look forward to seeing them play out, I just wish more time was spent on certain things and less on what I still feel were mostly throw-away action scenes.

 

As for all the villains feeling like a threat, that's part of what I disliked. There were certain people who really shouldn't have been a threat at all but were somehow with little or no explanation (unless I missed something about the guy on the boat?)

 

And the blurriness may have been due to my glasses or my theatre's projector or any number of things (really old theatre) so in light of that I retract my earlier statement.

 

Anyway in the end I DID like it, but maybe I'm just getting sick of the current trend of packing movies to the breaking point with action scenes. Evidently you all like that though, so carry on.

A: The guy on the boat was Batroc the Leaper, a fairly well known enemy from the comics. He's a fairly peak specimen, so him being able to give Cap a challenge is to be expected--but even then it was mostly Cap playing nice.

 

B: You checked your facebook? Like, on your phone? Like at the theater? Were you watching in some sort of booth/VIP room or something?

Did they mention that in the movie at all? And sure a bit of a nuisance I get, but for a dude who can be flung through a bus or punched in the face with a solid metal arm a half dozen times and come out with minor bruising it shouldn't have been much of a problem. And didn't the guy dent the shield? I know that happened later too but pretty sure it happened twice which is just what.

 

 

And no sorry that was just a stupid and badly worded joke. I checked it once when I went to the bathroom - just trying to get across the idea that those parts were boring and didn't hold my attention.