Captain America: Winter Soldier: right direction, not there yet....

Out of the whole Avengers list, Captain America and Hulk are my least favourite characters. Heck, I thought Fury is more interesting than them. One is just green muscle and rage while the other, the over-patriotism is just over-kill. However, the first Captain America movie, was in fact a nice adaptation that kept me wanting more. As much as I dislike Cap, the movie made it bearable, and led me to look forward to the next movie. The ending sequence which led to Cap being frozen is still fresh on my mind, with his emotional laden speech as he plunge to his frozen grave.

In the comic world, noone can be left to rest in peace (even character in pieces can be resurrected). Winter Soldier follows as Captain America awaken in the current generation, enlisted by SHIELD for its ops. Along his way, he discovered that SHIELD is not what its seems, and there are traitors among them. This set in motion the plan to hunt him down. Assisting him this round is Black Widow and Falcon. Throw in the super-villain, Winter Soldier, a ruthless mercenary for hire and a plan to destory/ control the world, and you have the formula to a good super-hero movie. Throw in some layers of character development and we will have a better show.

Chris Evans is getting comfortable for his third outing as Captain America. It is comforting to see him blend to the character, and it would not be long before we associate him to Cap, as Robert Downey Jr to Ironman. I prefer Scarlett Johansson portrayal of Black Widow this round, and the rest of the supporting character played their parts well. The chemistry between everyone is just nice, though Anthony Mackie's Falcon felt more like a sidekick here with the cheesy lines.

The action, at times felt bit blurred, but is enough to kept us on the edge of our seats. The fight scenes involving Winter Soldier using a short knife is innovative and exciting. The CGI is limited in this show, mostly involving the big carrier craft in the end, and the fights between Falcon and the fighter jets.

Seems like the whole show should work. It is in the right direction, more character development, reasonable action instead of mindless ones. Right casting to fit the character. And the script this round does help a lot, as this felt more like a spy movie than a super hero movie. There are so many spy movies with the usual agent-betrayed-higher conspiracy kind of shows. However, it is still far from being a good spy story. From the introduction of characters, one would know that who is the ultimate villain here. There is also lack of memorable moments. I bet few weeks down the line, I would just remember Winter Soldier as an entertaining movie but would forget the details. Still, I have no regrets paying the tickets though.

ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: stay for the 2 end credits teaser trailer. Now, am looking forward for Age of Ultron.