Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier
Apr. 6th, 2014 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bobcatmoranI went to see Captain America 2, and dang, Marvel is really continuing to do a good job with their movie franchise.
More spoilery thoughts below the cut, but just thought I'd throw it out there that there are two credit bonus scenes. One mid-credits, and one allll the way at the end. Not that this should come as a surprise at this point, but it was just me and three other people out of the near-full movie theater who didn't leave after the first easter egg.
Unfortunately, I sat next to a couple who were the poster children for how not to behave in a movie theater. They were nearly old enough to be my parents, and therefore really ought to have known better, but they obviously didn't (or they just didn't care). They talked incessantly. "Is he a bad guy? I think he's a bad guy." "Oh, that's Robert Redford!" "He put the computer drive in the vending machine!" It was the worst when they wouldn't shut up during really quiet, tense moments. They kept up an inane, running commentary through the whole buildup to the elevator scene ("They're going to attack him!" "Look at all the people in there!") By that point, I had already shushed them twice and received two increasingly dirty looks for it, and I resigned myself to envisioning them getting a surprise visit from the Winter Soldier when they got home.
Don't be those people. Please. Please.
Oh, yeah, the movie.
I loved how the Hydra plot tied into current events, the balance of security vs. freedom and how we sometimes seem all too willing to sacrifice one for the other. I'm so glad Cap came out on the side he did. And I also liked how he still seemed to be trying to find a place for himself in the 21st century. I mean, yes, he had a place at SHIELD, but it obviously wasn't a place that he particularly enjoyed or a place that he was comfortable in. Cap might be a genius tactician, but as Natasha pointed out, he's a terrible liar, and spy work is not a good fit for him at all.
Anthony Mackie as Falcon was fabulous, and he made every scene he was in solid gold. I really, really hope he shows up again in Avengers 2 or one of the other MCU movies.
I did not catch onto Steve's neighbor being Sharon Carter until Natasha mentioned her first name, but managed to keep that to myself while in the theater because I know how to shut up and let other people enjoy the picture (I'm sorry, I'm still really mad at that couple, does it show?). That little bit of information did make a lot of things click, though, and it might worth a re-watch of some scenes with that new information.
I wasn't a big fan of the fight scene cinematography, and will be very glad when this tendency towards shaky-cam chaos in action movies ends, because it sometimes makes things hard to follow. That said, I still was watching bug-eyed, hands over my mouth, as Bucky yelled something to the effect of, "You're not my friend, you're my mission!" as he beat the tar out of Steve on the helicarrier. Because, wow, ouch. I'll be interested to see where they take his character now, as they did not tie that up at all.
Oh, and speaking of the Winter Soldier, I loved his musical theme. It's perfectly unsettling.
Maria Hill continues to be awesome, and she's another character I'm hoping to see more of in the future.
And, lastly, I loved the scene with the guy at the console, gun to his head, saying, "No, I will not launch that ship." Because that's the thing about Captain America, that he can inspire you to be a hero, that everyday people can be heroes, too. And that was a danged heroic act.
More spoilery thoughts below the cut, but just thought I'd throw it out there that there are two credit bonus scenes. One mid-credits, and one allll the way at the end. Not that this should come as a surprise at this point, but it was just me and three other people out of the near-full movie theater who didn't leave after the first easter egg.
Unfortunately, I sat next to a couple who were the poster children for how not to behave in a movie theater. They were nearly old enough to be my parents, and therefore really ought to have known better, but they obviously didn't (or they just didn't care). They talked incessantly. "Is he a bad guy? I think he's a bad guy." "Oh, that's Robert Redford!" "He put the computer drive in the vending machine!" It was the worst when they wouldn't shut up during really quiet, tense moments. They kept up an inane, running commentary through the whole buildup to the elevator scene ("They're going to attack him!" "Look at all the people in there!") By that point, I had already shushed them twice and received two increasingly dirty looks for it, and I resigned myself to envisioning them getting a surprise visit from the Winter Soldier when they got home.
Don't be those people. Please. Please.
Oh, yeah, the movie.
I loved how the Hydra plot tied into current events, the balance of security vs. freedom and how we sometimes seem all too willing to sacrifice one for the other. I'm so glad Cap came out on the side he did. And I also liked how he still seemed to be trying to find a place for himself in the 21st century. I mean, yes, he had a place at SHIELD, but it obviously wasn't a place that he particularly enjoyed or a place that he was comfortable in. Cap might be a genius tactician, but as Natasha pointed out, he's a terrible liar, and spy work is not a good fit for him at all.
Anthony Mackie as Falcon was fabulous, and he made every scene he was in solid gold. I really, really hope he shows up again in Avengers 2 or one of the other MCU movies.
I did not catch onto Steve's neighbor being Sharon Carter until Natasha mentioned her first name, but managed to keep that to myself while in the theater because I know how to shut up and let other people enjoy the picture (I'm sorry, I'm still really mad at that couple, does it show?). That little bit of information did make a lot of things click, though, and it might worth a re-watch of some scenes with that new information.
I wasn't a big fan of the fight scene cinematography, and will be very glad when this tendency towards shaky-cam chaos in action movies ends, because it sometimes makes things hard to follow. That said, I still was watching bug-eyed, hands over my mouth, as Bucky yelled something to the effect of, "You're not my friend, you're my mission!" as he beat the tar out of Steve on the helicarrier. Because, wow, ouch. I'll be interested to see where they take his character now, as they did not tie that up at all.
Oh, and speaking of the Winter Soldier, I loved his musical theme. It's perfectly unsettling.
Maria Hill continues to be awesome, and she's another character I'm hoping to see more of in the future.
And, lastly, I loved the scene with the guy at the console, gun to his head, saying, "No, I will not launch that ship." Because that's the thing about Captain America, that he can inspire you to be a hero, that everyday people can be heroes, too. And that was a danged heroic act.
no subject
Date: 2014-04-10 01:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-11 03:05 am (UTC)Ppl who crises Agents of SHIELD had pointed out that that sort of unquestioning boosterism for big gov't (or extra gov't) orgs. was frankly a bit creepy, seeing as unwatched watchdogs inevitable overstep (the FBI in the past and the NSA recently,) so it's cool to see the whole edifice come crumbling down ALA wikileaks w/o the creepy rapist at the helm.