Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Emily VanCamp
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars
(Spoilers Ahead) As much as I love Chris Evans in this role, and I really do-he gets better literally every film, there's really no getting around who the true star of Winter Soldier is, and that's Scarlett Johansson. Johansson had one of the best years of her career in 2014 (probably the best since she became a household name in 2003 with Lost in Translation and Girl with a Pearl Earring), and this was the feather-in-the-cap. Everything about her Black Widow, which had a rather boring entrance into the movies in Iron Man 2 is fully on-display here in dazzling charm, wit, and big-screen panache. She has such an excellent rapport with Evans-their flirty back-and-forth is always sexy and funny, but never veering into needlessly dramatic romance. She clearly cares about him, and perhaps even in a romantic way, but she's still a character onto herself, frequently finding ways to be selfish and calculating without ever making that feel like villainy. One of the things that really defines most superheroes is the ways in which they break the prototype (which in many ways is Captain America) by being human, and that's something you almost never see with female superheroes who almost always have to be maternal or saintly or rescued by a man. When we see ScarJo in this role, we notice that she has a lot of the complexities that make someone like Batman so fascinating.
ScarJo, though, isn't the only actor on high octane here. Chris Evans ups his game, knowing what was at stake for his franchise after a poorer performing First Avenger-he is complicated, game, and while he never loses that altruism that is crucial for Captain America, he toes the line a bit with trying to find himself. Really no one gets worst-in-show here, though. Anthony Mackie is wonderfully funny and lithe as Falcon (I don't believe they use his superhero name in the film, but that's whom he ends up being in the comics), and I love the way they have him working at a VA as a modern-day connection for Captain America. Cobie Smulders continues to have a stoicism and tough veneer that makes me desperate for them to do a movie with her Agent Maria Hill in the center (in fact, I almost believed it when Samuel L. Jackson died, as I figured this would be a passing of the guard to Smulders similar to the changing-of-the-M in Skyfall). Robert Redford brings a gravitas to the Marvel comics that I haven't seen in a villain in a while, probably since Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and while you never quite believe that he can take over the world, you see the maniacal nature of his character as very relatable (he's trying to eliminate freedom of thought, essentially, by knowing what every person on the planet is doing at any given time), and here's where Winter Soldier goes to a place that few comic book movies outside of Batman have been willing to tread-it feels like they're fighting a modern threat. In the era of Edward Snowden, wire-tapping and governmental abuse of power feels like a very real and perceivable possibility, and having some sort of realism makes The Winter Soldier far more relevant than it normally would have if it was just some over-sized villain. In many ways this recalls the media-obsession of The Dark Knight and the 99%-aspect of The Dark Knight Rises, both of which gave those films a depth that a lot of superhero films shoot for but lack. I wish they'd pursued this aspect more as I think it would have made for a richer film-perhaps making Redford a little bit less evil would have done the trick, giving him a noble-pursuit sort of play to his character that would have given us more grey. Either way, though, this is a step in the right direction for the Marvel franchises.
I also want to call out what has to be the most frightening moment in the Marvel films so far for me, which was the scene where Toby Jones' Arnim Zola comes back in a computer in a remote camp found by Black Widow and Captain America. This scene was brilliant from start-to-finish. It somehow felt expositional without ever feeling plodding, and I LOVED the back-and-forth and the real sense of danger that it elicited. Easily my favorite scene in any of the Marvel movies (and I will admit right now that this was my favorite of all of the Marvel films to-date). That being said, I do wonder how the film got its Best Visual Effects nomination, particularly over something a lot more eye-popping like The Hobbit or something more original like Maleficent. The film's Best Effects come either through the aging of Hayley Atwell (which is a throwaway scene) or some of the larger action setpieces, none of which stick out in a wholly memorable way. This may have been one of those nominations to acknowledge that the film was strong and that it was a major blockbuster, but it gives a sourness when Sound or Editing would have been a more appropriate avenue to reward the movie.
Those are small quibbles, though, and I have to say that I am totally smitten with this and I have trouble believing Age of Ultron will be able to equal the movie. What about you-where does Winter Soldier stand in your list of Marvel classics? What do you think of the film's Oscar nomination? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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