‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ (2014) raises the MCU bar

This blog series chronicles my first viewing of the complete MCU movie saga. I’ll examine each film under various categories that reflect popular discussion points. Next up is the ninth film, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014):

STRENGTHS

The most libertarian comic-book adaptation this side of “V for Vendetta” (2006), it’s wonderful to see that Captain America (Chris Evans) embodies the ideals of America and not the principles by which it actually behaves. And frankly, he’s easier to root for than V. Amid his character growth, the comic-book movie action is present – boy, is it ever – and the narrative unfurls like a gripping Tom Clancy-style spy thriller.

WEAKNESSES

If someone is drawn into this movie by its title – as in: “Nice! A full story about the Winter Soldier!” – they would be disappointed, as there’s not a lot of depth to the eponymous character.

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HEROES

Who would’ve thought a guy named Captain America, whose uniform is essentially the stars and stripes, would turn out to be the great libertarian superhero? But it makes sense, as the 21^st century faults that may be blurry to our minds are crystalized for someone who has an immediate basis for comparison to 70 years ago.

We already knew Cap is a great action hero; here, he becomes a great voice and fighter for liberty, even if the anti-liberty forces are in the U.S. government itself. It starts as a lonely crusade, but he quickly draws allies like a magnet, including Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) and Sam/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), who has mastered a set of high-tech wings.

VILLAINS

World Security Council head Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) is the best kind of villain – one with unwavering belief in what he stands for, and who sees himself as the hero of the piece. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) – known as Cap’s best friend Bucky Barnes pre-brainwashing – is a less complex villain, but still a very personal one for our hero. The Winter Soldier stands out in action scenes thanks to Henry Jackman’s theme, which includes a hint of a screeching sound, perhaps a parallel to the metaphorical scream inside the assassin’s soul.

WOMEN

Cap’s group of trustworthy allies includes Natasha and Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders), and they chat with each other enough that “The Winter Soldier” passes the Bechdel Test. It seems Cap might be trading a strong woman of the 1940s – Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell), whom he visits on her deathbed – for a strong contemporary S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Sharon (Emily VanCamp), although that is just hinted at through Natasha’s teasing to Cap that he should ask Sharon out.

MIRROR TO REALITY

Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely roll the security-state problems of the 21^st century into one grand narrative. The nod to comic-bookiness is that the villains all secretly work for Hydra, rather than simply believing in the state uber alles, as is the case in the real world.

Plus, we learn that a digital version of Toby Jones’ Hydra scientist from “Captain America: The First Avenger” has orchestrated all the world’s horrors of the past 70 years in order to get people to willingly surrender their liberty; in the real world, there’s no need to coordinate chaos – an evil organization simply needs to capitalize on it (as the villain of “Iron Man 3” brilliantly does).

Digging into specifics: The Insight weapons platform can pinpoint and kill the individuals the state deems to be a threat – an overt metaphor for the spy state’s operations. The way this works in the real America – quietly making people disappear – is much more logical than brazenly killing them, since there will be collateral damage (what if a target lives in an apartment unit?) and blowback.

Through his uniform, Cap personifies the conflict that rises every time an athlete kneels during the national anthem: Does the flag represent what America stands for or what it is supposed to stand for? In Cap’s case, it’s the latter.

BEST ACTION SCENE

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) finds himself in an epic vehicular chase through city streets that would make John Wick cringe.

BEST COMEDIC MOMENT

“The Winter Soldier” doesn’t aim for overt laughs, but it has a nice sense of humor through witty dialogue. One that stood out for me is when Cap sarcastically asks if Fury has noticed S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by Hydra. Fury says the fact that they’re currently working out of a cave tipped him off. The quip illustrates that for all his defense of S.H.I.E.L.D. earlier in the film, Fury recognizes a line, and he has now stepped onto the side of the good guys.

WORLD BUILDING

Even as we get the full picture of how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates – answering to the Council, which is led by Pierce (along with the fact that Hydra has infiltrated the organization like a cancer) – Cap blows it all up by film’s end. We even see Garry Shandling’s slimeball Congressman from “Iron Man 2” arrested for being a Hydra member. But, of course, Hydra isn’t that sloppy: As we learn in the mid-credits scene, it lives on, and it holds Loki’s scythe from “The Avengers.”

FINAL THOUGHTS/EXPECTATIONS

“The Winter Soldier” is a total triumph, establishing Captain America as the embodiment of what America should be (and to a degree, used to be), rather than what it is. It’s also a rip-roaring spy actioner. I’m completely in the tank for future Cap films. In terms of the overall narrative, he has removed a cancer from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. government here, but the thing about cancers is that sometimes they come back. I have no doubt that will happen, especially given the mid-credits scene.