The Winter of Our Discontent – Captain America’s Cold Dark Thirty

I’d better start this one off with some advice: Run, don’t walk. Because Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not only one of the absolute best of the Marvel Studios films, it’s easily one of the most successful pure action movies of the last decade – maybe more. The innocence of socking Hitler in the jaw has been replaced with a here-and-now that’s got SHIELD taking its “H” for Homeland and putting the emphasis more on Fatherland. SHIELD is ever-vigilant at making sure we’re safe from our enemies – and you might just be your own worst enemy, at least if SHIELD has any say in the matter. Without giving too much away, know that this is a little different take on the usual Villainous Entity our superheroes tend to encounter. The Winter Soldier has a lot to say about the here-and-now, our government, and what happens when authority thinks it knows best.

The Winter Soldier serves up some seriously epic-scale action by way of a definite 1970s political thriller vibe. DNA from The Manchurian Candidate, Three Days of the Condor, Colossus: The Forbin Project and Terminator 2: Judgment Day infuse the film with an edgy paranoia, folded together with an incredibly dynamic and kinetic action sensibility. Anthony and Joe Russo have nothing to proves as directors after this outing, demonstrating they’re able to play in the biggest sandbox imaginable.

It’s always satisfying when a movie that’s crammed with this much spectacle remembers to keep the actors and the characters front and center. Chris Evans does a wonderful job of conveying the melancholy of not fitting in, despite his obvious superiority to all those around him. His age of innocence is over, and trust is very hard coinage to come by in our modern world. He finds two kindred spirits in Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon – a terrific Anthony Mackie, who radiates charisma in every scene – who Cap’ realizes would have fit right  in with his own Howlin’ Commandos. Samuel L. Jackson has his biggest outing yet as Nick Fury, enjoying both small character moments and insane action sequences with equal measure.

Sebastian Stan is awesome as the titular Winter Soldier. He creates an obsessed and damaged cyborg assassin who still manages to make us yearn to see salvage his humanity. Stan and Evans have some terrific combat scenes together – the Winter Soldier is a Ghost Op alright – a specter from the past who’s been warped and twisted to serve the needs of the present. In a delicious nod to his Condor past, Robert Redford embodies the many shades of gray that live between vigilance for safety and the blackness of shadows.

Rip-roaring, funny, audacious, bold and subversive, The Winter Soldier offers up heroics with a purpose, delivering a massively satisfying action spectacle that will have you happily lining up for second helpings. Highly recommended.