Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier
****
Old-school political conspiracy meets CGI
This film definitely has greater character exploration than any of the other Marvel films. Chris Evans manages to credibly take his Captain America character through a solid arc from man out of time to articulating and understanding what it is he stands for. He is a principled character, morally unshakable and the lynchpin of a fun, funny and complex movie.
Also, there are some great action set pieces. Most of them were shot with a hand-held camera, and the story is very specifically about the superhuman aspect of Captain America as he struggles to adapt to a modern reality.
It is set two years after the events of The Avengers and introduces The Falcon (Anthony Mackie).
Interrogating the idea of freedom and just what people are giving away in the name of government protection, The Winter Soldier balances big, complex ideas with subtle computer generated sequences. It is also full of easter eggs. Like, was that a Punisher cameo in the sequence when Nick Fury is attacked?
SPECIAL FEATURES: The commentary by directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely add detail to the behind-the-scenes process and insight into film techniques used.
The gag reel is as funny as expected and the deleted and extended scenes are a welcome touch, though ultimately you can understand why they were deleted.
The featurette On the Front Line: An Inside Look at Captain America’s Battlegrounds is about the action sequences; On Set With Anthony Mackie explains why he was constantly yelling “cut the cheque” on set; and Steve Rogers’ Notebook explains exactly what the title suggests.
There’s a trailer for Guardians of the Balaxy, but no One Shot. The one shots are of a high quality and they tell a contained story, so hopefully this isn’t the end of the idea, just an indication that Marvel didn’t have anyone around at the time to do something good enough. – Theresa Smith
WIN! WIN! WIN!
Disney and Tonight are giving one lucky reader the chance to win Blu-Ray copies of Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Thor 2: The Dark World. All you need to do is answer one simple question: who plays Captain America in the movies?
Sms the word MARVEL followed by the name of the carrier piece (ie. Cape Argus/ Daily News/Pretoria News/The Star) and your answer plus your name to 34445.
Lines open today at 6am and close Monday at 10pm.
Only the winners will be contacted and each smses cost R1.50.