Among the best

Rating: Null/10 (4 April 2014)

The second installment of Captain America counts among the best offered by Hollywood to-date in this genre, for good reasons. If you think of all the class "A" action movies you have seen, be it crime or superhero, you may notice that they can all fit into one of the four or five main plot set ups. Among those, the best (and probably most used) is arguably the top agent turned fugitive, hunted by all the might and power of the organization that have been loyally serving. Obviously, this works best in getting audience identification with the hero. "Winter Soldier" is a good case of successful employment of this plot category.
Among all the superheros in the two major franchises (DC and Marvel), Steve Rogers has the optimum level of "superpower" for fueling the most exciting type of action sequences – good old fashion melee and shooting. Again, "Winter Soldier" takes good advantage of this, providing scene after scene of superbly well crafted sequences that you never get tired of watching.
Mandatory yet necessary are funny or witty gags which are sprinkled here at just about the right proportion. Example: Nick Fury, working furiously to survive a crushing ambush, gets progressively annoyed when one after another of the sophisticated combat/defense systems in his ultra state-of-the-art vehicle fail, as reported by the coolly impersonal voice of the computer. When utterly frustrated, he hurls an rhetorical question "Is anything not broken down?", the same impersonal voice replied "the air condition is fully operational".
Despite my somewhat brief account, I don't think the plot or the action sequence needs any further elaboration, which may even turn out to be detrimental to the audience's pleasure of discovery while enjoying the movie. A few brief words, therefore, on the cast.
Chris Evans has done a great job in wiping out the persona of flippant Human Torch Johnny Storm and successfully reinforced from the first "Captain America" the image of a traditional Gary Cooper or John Wayne type of hero from almost a century ago (Steve Rogers is ninety-something years old, remember?) A delightful surprise is Scarlett Johansson who the cheesy poster may lead to to think that is no more than punching and kicking eye candy in this movie. It is therefore quite a joy to see her as almost a co-lead, managing colorful KGB-turned-US-agent with an excellent balance of charisma and reserve. Seeing her usually as an icon, one sometimes forgets the broad dimension she commands, sometimes even playing a very ordinary girl-next-door as she did in Woody Allen's minor but quite delightful work "Scoop" (2006).
Those of us who grew up with Robert Redford take great pleasure in seeing how he enjoyed this casting-against-type role here. Over the years he has done so much, in every respect, that he deserves having some fun. The rest of the support cast have all turned in respectable performances. Samuel L. Jackson does what is expected of him. So do Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Stan Lee obviously has fun with his cameo (watch for him when Steve Roger is trying to find a Captain America "uniform" for the grand finale). Talking about cameos, I have to mention Hayley Atwell who really impressed me in "Bridehead revisited" (2008). Here, in additional to her performance in this brief cameo, special tribute should be paid to the makeup people.