*SPOILERS*
Last night Jimmy and I decided to go out and see a movie in theaters (something we hadn't done the whole 4 months we've been dating). Overall, we were very impressed and inspired by the movie. When I say inspired, I mean inspired to work out because, let me tell you, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans looked GOOD. And they kicked major butt. Which brings me to the first point I want to talk about.
1) Action!
This was the most action-packed Marvel movie I have seen, by far. Jimmy and I were constantly cringing throughout the movie as one bad guy after the next was pummeled to a pulp by our heroes. There was one scene in particular in which Captain America gets into one of SHIELD's elevators, which mysteriously fills with people at each floor it stops on. Of course, it is revealed later on that they are double agents for Hydra (as seen in the first Captain America) who have been secretly growing within SHEILD ever since World War II. The men in the elevator all attack Steve Rogers and somehow he makes it out alive. It was one of the most intense fighting scenes Marvel has ever done. Or so I thought. Until I saw Captain America Fight the Winter Soldier (aka Bucky). Bucky is probably the most badass character you will ever see. Not only does the all black uniform and flowing dark hair reflect it, but his moves take it over the edge. He gives Cap. a run for his money, even without an indestructible shield. Over all, I was very impressed with the fighting sequences in this movie. In fact, I would say the fighting alone in this movie made it as big as The Avengers.
2) Characters
Another reason I think this movie was such a success, was because of all the characters in it; old and new. Of course we have our wonderful, handsome Captain America in it, as well as some expected others- Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Agent Maria Hill. But, there were some old characters reintroduced as well, some that we weren't expecting. Of course, if you've read the comic, you know everything, but we'll just say it was a big surprise, at least for Captain America. He discovered that his best friend, Bucky Barnes, was still alive, and just as super of a soldier as he was. When rescued from the HYDRA's headquarters in the first movie, Bucky had been experimented on. As it turns out HYDRA was experimenting with their own Super Soldiers as well, and that is how he was able to live for so long. Another character who was back, who I wasn't expecting was the Red Skull's side kick from the first movie, Dr. Arnim Zola. Well, technically he wasn't really alive, but his brain was. His being alive and what that meant for Captain America and the rest of the world was a crucial part of the story that I will get to later. One character I almost expected (at least hoped) to make an appearance was Iron Man, but we all know how much Robert Downy Jr. costs and it seems they spent most of their budget on fight scenes and special affects.
A couple of new characters in the movie that I think really added to the overall affect were the new villain and a new hero. The hero, although pretty minor, was so awesome to me. He was, wait for it...... Captain Falcon. He had these metal bird wings that he used to fly and he was pretty good with his fists. When it came down to it, he saved Black Widow and Captain America, and they saved everyone so without him, tons of people would have died. That's a pretty rad hero in my book. The villain, although most people would think it was Bucky, was actually Alexander Pierce. A member of the World Council and mentor to Nick Fury, Pierce was a secret member of HYDRA who controlled SHIELD from the inside, secretly causing chaos throughout the world. Although it was completely obvious he was the villain from the beginning, it was still a good effort and a nice attempted twist.
3) Technology
With every new movie Marvel comes out with, it seems their technology gets more and more advanced. To me, it started with Iron Man 2 and from there, technology took off. I think it's important for these movies to be ahead of their time technology wise because in a world of superheroes (especially Tony Stark), that's what is expected. The plots of all these new superhero movies are based upon this type of advanced technology. Not only is it important for the story, but it's also visually pleasing. I personally was drooling over Nick Fury's crazy car that somehow kept him alive as 20+ cops not only shot at the SUV, but bazooka-ed it. Jimmy wouldn't stop talking about how he needed that car.
4) Story
Now, for the most important aspect of a movie, in my opinion. You can have all these visual goodies that get people into the theater, but it's the story that keeps them watching. The story, overall was good. Like I mentioned before, parts of it were predictable, but there were some twists that I really appreciated. The fact that HYDRA had been sustaining themselves all along within the protection of SHIELD was one thing I didn't see coming. Although foreshadowed from the beginning of the movie that Nick Fury was hiding something, I never thought it would be this. I also enjoyed the mind games they played with the audience. Until Pierce is relieved to be the villain, they leave you wondering whether Nick Fury was a traitor or not. Of course, in superhero movies character development is almost non existent, unless to reveal someone as a villain. However in this movie, I could see an attempt. Natasha Romanoff ends up opening up to Steve as they're hiding out from HYDRA. They almost seem to have a romantic relationship going on, if it weren't for Natasha always suggesting dates for Steve.
The main plot of the movie was very relate able in this age of technology as well. It was based upon an algorithm Dr. Zola wrote that predicted every human beings future and weather they would be a threat to HYDRA based on their internet history, phone trends, etc. It's a parallel of a big fear of people have now a days too. How much can people access about you online and what can they do with that information? Personally, I thought that the idea of that was a brilliant one to put in a movie coming out in such a technology based time in our history.
5) Easter Eggs
There were two specific things I noticed in this movie that I thought were cool.
- When the air ships are locking their thousands of targets above the city, they list the names of the people as they lock each one down. If you look closely, one of the name's you will see is Tony Stark (I guess he was in the movie after all).
- Natasha Romanoff's necklace. If you look closely, its a small golden arrow. You know who else likes arrows? That's right. Hawkeye. Coincidence? Maybe. But probably not.
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