In the golden days of comic books, men and women clad in skin-tight suits primarily had the job of beating up Hitler. But now, in this digital age, our favorite protectors of freedom have missions more fit for the post-modern era.
Marvel Studios has shifted its plot focuses to dilemmas that modern-day superheros would need to fight. In this post-9/11 world, that mainly centers on terror threats, and civilians’ right to privacy versus their security. That was the underlying theme in the recent hit Iron Man 3 and now again in Captain America: the Winter Soldier, the sequel to the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger.
The sequel, which premiered on April 4 and features Chris Evans as the blonde and beautiful Captain America, attempts to incorporate the fear of a rising regime with the morally ambiguous omniscience of technology for the sake of a country’s protection.
With this in mind, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is actually pretty ambitious, for your run-of-the-mill superhero blockbuster. However, the social commentary is a bit heavy-handed. For example, Captain America and friends express their distaste throughout the movie about corporations holding too much power for the sake of domestic security.
By far and away, the best part of the film is the dynamic chemistry between its three main characters: Steve Rodgers as Captain America, Natasha Romanov as the Black Widow (played by the incredibly talented Scarlett Johansson), and Sam Wilson, a charming ex-military paratrooper skilled in air combat as the Falcon (Anthony Mackie). The instant affinity between Captain America and the Falcon is perhaps the best part of the movie, although any scene with the Falcon is a great one. His presence is a welcome addition to Marvel’s on-screen cast of characters, and I really hope to see more of Mackie in the future.
After I left the movie theater, I passed a young boy grinning and wearing a Captain America t-shirt. And why shouldn’t he be a little kid’s role model? Cap is charismatic, honest, and brave, and his quirky sensitivity shines in the enjoyable, if silly, sequel, in which the good guy always wins.
