Captain
America: The Winter Solider
A movie critique by Matt Caswell
In the current age of modern cinema, large scale summer
blockbuster dominate the box office year after year and no studio has had more
repeat success then that of Marvel Studios. By producing several big budget
comic book adaptions many have criticized the studios lack of innovation in
storytelling, claiming they rater stick to a proven formula rater than
reinventing the tired wheel. Marvels’ solution to this criticism is simple,
each new film the studio puts out falls within the comic book movie genre but
also a genre of its own, as is the case for a favorite film of mine, not just
by the studio but maybe of all time, Captain
America: The Winter Solider, an edgy conspiracy thriller disguised as a
superhero flick.
The Story is one is misdirection and espionage and it all
centers around the titel character, Captain America aka Steve Rogers (Chris
Evens). Steve is a man out of time, unfrozen in the early 2010s and forced into
a future that has surpassed him, the story is one that has him trying to
re-find his place in the world. He is an expert tactician and a proven physical
force which makes a prime candidate for the intelligent agency SHIELD; they
take Rogers in and quickly he becomes one of there best operatives. But black
ops has a dark side as Steve realizes, after he learns that agents under his
command have had parallel objectives that put protecting people as a secondary
objectives, such as the lethal but loyal Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).
Things unravel fast but soon Steve founds out that he has been part of a
conspiracy that involves all of SHIELD, which as it turns out has nurtured
Hydra, a terrorist organization thought to have been eliminated after WWII. Push
comes to shove and eventually Steve and only a handful of others are all that
stands in the way of the world and those who seek to control it.
Superficially this movie seems like the expected Marvel
fare, yet the film is built upon the foundation of a political thriller giving
it more depth after multiple viewings. It has some of the finest action from
any movie in 2014, diversity in action including car chases, dogfights, and quick
hand-to-hand combat keep every encounter fresh and exciting. The sound editing
is sharp and impactful, The writing is crisp and provoking. This movie was
celebrated upon release and prospered both as a critical and box office hit.
Rotten Tomato’s settled on a 89% where as the audience rating placed it a 92%
and a A on Cinemascore [1,2]. Credible sources such as Roger Ebert.com count it
among the most fun of the many Marvel movies to come out over the years where
as Rolling Stones adds that it’s the depth of the movie that makes its punch [3,4].
An article published from Vulture.com by David Edelstein paints the movie as
one part CGI noise fest but other part intelligent conspiracy thriller such as Three Days of the Candor before it. In
my opinion Captain America: The Winter Solider is one of the best, if not the
best, genre film to be release over the last three years; the significance in
its message is one about truth and its skill in delivering a narrative is among
best of the many films I have seen nominated for best picture these last
several years. While not without its flaws, it’s the remarkable strengths of The Winter Solider that paints it as
both an exciting action adventure and a compelling political thriller.
While there are many players at work, it all comes back to
the title character, Steve Rogers, so lets begin there. As mentioned in the
summery Steve is a man without purpose in the modern times. When he was made to
be a super solider there was a war to fight and bonds to sell, so despite his
existence as a particular anomaly there was always work to be found. In 2014
this is a different story, especially in the universe Steve inhibits. The world
has changed, Steve Rogers isn’t the only superhero anymore, and those who once
remember him as such are slowly fading away. As his now 80 year old plus lover
Peggy Carter puts it “[Steve] saved the world. We rather mucked it up” [6].
However, as the movie slowly begins to unravel, it isn’t
Steve’s status as a super solider but his confidence in his ideals that make up
his strongest attributes. Natasha risks the lives of hostages to recover
classified Intel and Steve takes the issue all the way the way to SHIELD’s
director, Nick Fury [6], showing that one of Steve’s most important values is a
sense of trust. Then after seeing that Nick’s master plan involves the
construction of a constant “quantum surge and threat ” analysis Steve quits
SHIELD all together. Steve is constantly told to adapt to the times that people
can’t be trusted, but he rejects them and remains resolute.
If it hasn’t become overwhelmingly obvious by this point,
Captain America is a metaphor for America (crazy I know). At one point he was
the pinnacle of human potential and now, while still formidable in his own
right, he seems to have been matched by other forces of “good.” In this sense
SHIELD can be interpreted as what America, or rather the world has become and
they insist old-fashioned Steve to get with the times, to which he just can’t
do. Based on this initial set up it would seem that were in for a story about
America’s place in the world, or perhaps the death of the American dream, but
this is a superhero film so perhaps that would be a little to dramatic. No
instead this is a film about freedom and the toll and responsibility we have to
persevere it; Steve Rogers is an embodiment of this idealism so the story is
figured around him as its anchor.
Steve comes back into the story shortly after Nick is
attacked for having the classified information he recovered from the Lemurian
Star. All of the sudden he is sure that SHIELD is compromised, there is nobody
he trusts, and nowhere sure to turn to except to the perhaps the worlds biggest
boy scout for help. As the plot moves forward more and more characters begin to
doubt there place in the world, and characters like Natasha Romanoff find
themselves drawn to Steve to complement there disillusionment. Natasha has
worked as an assassin for SHIELD as a means of her own redemption from the KGB,
but after leaning that those she served could have darker intentions she is
uncertain of herself, and begins to doubt the good she thinks she’s done. But
to Steve it doesn’t matter as he assumes the good in her regardless, and in
return he earns her loyalty [6]. Again we see that Steve’s greatest
“superpower” isn’t his formidable stature but his ability to inspire others
even when they most doubt themselves. Connecting this to the larger symbolism,
its not America’s status as a superpower that makes us strong but what we can
represent at out best.
American symbolism aside, the larger conversation at play in
the film is one of freedom vs. security and the price we need to pay for each.
Nick Fury sees three airships that can take out any potential threat without
warning as a necessary precaution that needs to be taken with today’s world,
but to Steve he refers to it as “holding a gun to the world and calling it
peace” [6]. Already the movie engages its audience in its larger themes but it
goes one step further. As SHILED is later revealed to be Hydra, we see that
their leader Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford)
believes humanity to be a threat to itself and intends to use the
technology Nick invented to protect people to usher in a new world order.
Clearly the message here is pro freedom and that relinquishing our freedoms for
security comes at the risk of losing that freedom all together, but there is
more at play here. Surprisingly we have to dig even deeper to grasp the full
scope of the message in this film.
Lets discuss the other title character now, Steve’s old best
bud from 1945, Bucky Barns, otherwise known as the Winter Solider. Bucky seems
to be a bit of an enigma in this story as he appears toward the third act of
the narrative to oppose Steve as both a physical and emotional foil, he seems
just there to add stakes to the story and set the franchise up for the sequel
to final. He seemed out of place in this political thriller upon a first
viewing, an interesting character yet inconsequential to the larger themes at
play. However after subsequent viewings Bucky’s connection to the theme began
to make more and more sense, his placement and situation is critical to
understanding the larger message at play.
The Winter Solider is the embodiment of Hydra’s vision for
humanity both in body and in will. Bucky is experimented on and augmented just
as Steve was until he became the perfect killing machine. Unfrozen until his
next mission, he carry’s out his objectives relentlessly (as we learn from
Natasha) until his target is eliminated at which point Bucky’s mind is wiped
and he is frozen until his next assignment. Already a parallel can be drawn
between Bucky in this movie and Shaw from The
Manchurian Candidate, as both are brainwashed soldiers who are used to
forward a darker political agenda, whether this was creator Ed Brubaker’s
attention or nor [7]. What is clear is that the Winter Solider is a killing
machine devoid of will and choice, trained to be the worlds most effective
assassin and neutralized until the next target arises. Heartless? Yes. Efficient?
Absolutely! Pierce’s goals main seem inhumane and cruel, but just as Plato’s
allegory of the cave laid out the enlightenment of men who ventured to the
forbidden light, it would seem he has seen a future for humanity that may hold
some credibility. He is not a villain who twirls his mustache and constantly plots
the hero’s demise, but a complicated human being who is willing to sacrifice
his humanity to shape the world into something better then himself. The direct
foil to Pierce in this respect is Nick Fury who when asked if he has the
courage to take the next step into the future by Pierce replies “..[he has] the
courage not too” [6]. Nick Fury is willing to make sacrifices but refuses to
sacrifice his humanity to do so, he keeps his eyes on the greater good even if
he sometimes loses his faith in everyone else.
Now if Fury is the direct foil to Pierce then who else could
the direct foil to Bucky be other then Steve. Though they may seem to represent
two very separate ideals, Steve’s relationship with SHIELD and Bucky’s
enslavement to Hydra share some eerie similarities. While SHIELD isn’t
brainwashing Steve they were manipulating him by withholding information. Nick
calls it compartilization and “nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows
them all” [6]. Once Steve learns about project insight he resigns and refuses
to apart of a corrupt ideal, but imagine how many missions he completed for
SHIELD before then. Within this system Captain America is to SHIELD as The
Winter Solider is to Hydra. It’s a complicated parallel but the answer to this
struggle of freedom vs. security ends up being one of truth and in this case
the truth is being withheld.
Within the narrative as decade long secrets come to the
surface uncovering truth seems to be the definitive solution to the crisis
Steve and SHIELD faces. Toward the climax of the film Nick wants to salvage
what’s left of SHIELD but Steve says that it all has to go, that everything
needs to come on the table and SHIELD would have to die in order to take hydra
down with it. It doesn’t just stop there, when confronted with the possibility
of having to kill his best friend in order to complete his mission Steve
rejects this and decides to appeal to Bucky’s humanity in order to save him;
through the truth he saves Bucky from himself and recovers what too many
believed to be lost.
It would seem in this world of intrigue, espionage and
danger the shinning beacons that once stood for freedom have been dirtied and
forgotten. “Cap” is a relic of the past and he tries to adapt to a changing
world, but the more he learns what the world has lost the more he clings onto
the ideals of the past, and by extension of that the hope that he may save his
friend. Now we can see the big picture. Not so subtly the film is discussion
about freedom and security but underneath that is a greater narrative about the
freedoms we have to lose within the political landscape, plus the rise of
surveillance, and the responsibility we have to remain a hold of them. Steve,
disillusioned by his place in the world, put his faith in SHIELD whose ideals
seemed to correlate with his own until he learned that they don’t. In order to
retain what’s precious to him he embarks on a hunt for the truth in order to
preserve whatever freedom he, and the world, have to lose. As the Captain
himself puts it “The price of freedom is high, but it’s a price [he’s] willing
to pay” [6]. Sacrifices may always have to be made the truth can maintain that
bit of hope and regain what may have been corrupted.
And as the climax of Captain America: The Winter Solider
comes to an end, and Steve has practically sacrificed himself to save the life
of his friend, we are presented with an image of this hope. Bucky Barns, the
tormented and broken sole dragging the body of man dressed in the colors of the
American, flag through the mud to safety. Alone and uncertain of the world he
ventures forward into the unknown by himself to recover whatever he thinks he
may have lost leaving the hero who it seems gave his life to save his own
(except not really because there’s got to be a sequel so ya caps fine, but
that’s not the point). Its powerful stuff as it shows just how ready we are to
get our hands dirty without thinking of the consequences. Potentially the film
may be pointing out how dirty we all ready are, but there is always hope
through truth to preserve whatever freedom we may think we have lost.
Truth seems to be the definitive weapon agains many of the
sinister personalities we have seen in political film throughout this semester
such as Jim Talor in Mr. Smith Goes to
Washinton, and Diana Christensen in Network,
to even Roger Smith in Roger and Me.
The truth often gets lost when things get complicated and that is when our
freedoms become the most vulnerable. We seek securities to recover from this
lost but even sometimes this can be a half measure or in the case of Captain America: The Winter Solider a
dangerous one. As an action, adventure extravaganza Captain America: The Winter Solider delivers the goods but as a
political thriller it takes it one step further, discussing a potentially
dangerous trend in military and personal escalation in the modern world
addressing themes of surveillance, compartilization and the sacrifice of basic
freedoms. I haven’t even had the chance to discuss the opening panning across
national monuments or some of the more complex character dynamics. It’s a movie
not without flaws, there are plenty of things that could make this movie
stronger and solidify it even further but to me its pretty damn close to a
masterpiece as it extends itself accessible to all ages and with the depth of
some of the savviest political thrillers. To say I love this film is an
understatement. It is quite simply one of my favorite films of all time and I
to this day I ponder new parallels and character motivations. The sign of a
great movie is that it sticks with you after the screen is dim and this is one
that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Citations
1.
Captain America: The Winter Soilder. (2014).
Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/captain_america_the_winter_soldier_2014/.
3.
Travers, P. (2014, April 3). Captain America The
Winter Solider. Retrieved April 25,
2016, from http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-20140403
4.
Henderson, O. (2014, April 3). Captain America:
The Winter Solider Movie Review (2014) I Roger Evert. Retrieved April 25, 2016,
from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-2014
5.
Edelstein, D. (2014). Edelstein on Captain
America: The Winter Solider. Beneath the CGI, an Old-School Conspiracy
Thriller. Retrieved April 25, 2016 from http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/review-captain-america-the-winter-soldier.html
6.
Feige, K., Russo A., Russo J. (April 4, 2014). Captain America: The Winter Soilder
[Motion Picture]. United States: Marvel Studios.
7.
Axelrod, G., Frankenheimer, J. (October 24,
1962). The Manchurian Candidate [Motion
Picture]. United States: MGM.
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