Spotlight on: |
THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014) |
Plot |
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has been targeted for assassination. Captain America (Chris Evans) is there when Fury gets hit and follows the person who took the shot. It is later learned that this mysterious shooter is known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Before Nick Fury was gunned down he revealed to Captain America that S.H.I.E.L.D. (the organization that they work for) has been compromised and that he should trust no one. Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) later asks Captain America to confide in him all that he knows and when Captain America does not Pierce turns the entire weight of S.H.I.E.L.D. down on our hero’s head. Soon Captain America finds an ally in Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and together they formulate a plan and a way to strike back. |
Character Development |
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) just stepped off the last movie set and walked onto the set of this film without a break in their steps and that condition stayed the same during the course of events of this film and I image that direction will continue to go on unchanged in the next film. Like the doomed Titanic their fates are locked in and won’t be able to grow. |
Acting |
The stunt work and fighting choreography went into overdrive to complete this film, as well as a bucket load of special effects and a lot of digital disaster porn, but there was hardly more than the occasional grunt and wince in the reaction to a bullet or stab wound. Even with Robert Redford on the cast the lines were read with hardly any weight to them. The villains were cold and calculating without any depth and the heroes were wooden without any real warm. It seemed that everyone was trending water until the credits started to roll. |
Overview |
If you have seen the last Captain America film then you will be rewarded in viewing this one because a few facts are worked into the storyline. It is surprising in how the creators wove those details in. But no matter how talented the craftsman there was no hiding all the twists and turns. This isn’t the Game of Thrones. No one of any importance was going to be thrown under the bus. I believe that everyone that uttered a word survived. |