Captain America: The Winter Soldier*

Columbus would have been better!

 

For the most part, I would agree, though I still can't understand the motivation of the bad guys. The movie mentions what they want to achieve, but it's never really clear why the bad guys seem to think this is worthwhile. I wish I could expand on this, but I can't really say much more without spoilers.

Apparently there's different lists for different countries.

--Geoff

 

Actually was a hair quieter than I expected where I saw it on Friday. The second showing on Saturday was turned up a little better.

Volume is up to the theater, not the film.

 

I saw the movie this past weekend, and had a great time. Loved the balance of action and story, and seeing Robert Redford was a pleasant surprise. The Captain America franchise has been a really great so far, and to be honest I wasn't expecting much when it kicked off.

Also, if anyone here in LA has yet to see a movie at the AMC Prime theater I highly recommend it. It was the first time I've gotten to sit in a theater in a soft reclining seat, and I felt like a giddy kid pushing the buttons to adjust it to my liking.

 

Is that theater in Burbank?

I saw it at the recently renovated Chinese Theatre in IMAX, the seats weren't as nice but the ambiance and the 94 foot screen made up for that.

 

Yes, that's the one in Burbank. Sorry I forgot to specify. I've not yet seen a movie at the Chinese theater. Will have to do that soon. 94 ft screen sounds amazing.

 

I don't think you could say it better than "ve vant vorld order!"

The reveal with Gary Shandling was a riot. (Note that his name was "Senator Stern," which was an in-joke from Iron Man director Jon Favreau to radio shock jock Howard Stern.)

Aaaaaa, it's fake Imax: double-stacked 2K projectors. Not even 4K.

How's the sound at the new Chinese Imax? They had tons of problems with dialogue in the past, to the point where they could never pass THX certification. All the smaller theaters were certified by THX and Dolby (at various times).

 

This is very true. Most films are made to play at a nominal "7" on the official Dolby theatrical playback spec, but some theaters goose it a little one way or the other. All of this is supposed to be aligned to a standard SMPTE program level of 85dB. I saw Captain America at the Arclight, which generally has very good sound, but I brought along my earplugs just in case. Didn't need 'em -- the volume was exactly where it should have been. About the only thing I felt was about 3-4dB too loud was the end credit music.

BTW, for anybody who goes to see the movie: be sure to stay for the entire end credits. There's two important additional segments that are part of the film, one that paves the way for the inevitable sequel.

 

No issues with sound or projection, the 3D was FAR superior to any film I have seen at the Arclight.

 

I haven't gone to many movies recently and those I have I had not been too impressed with. I had nothing to do on Tuesday afternoon and Captain America was the movie that was starting closest to the time I arrived at the theater (and that's how I chose it). I was pleasantly surprised as I didn't expect much but was pretty entertained by it.

 

*** spoilers ahead ***

True, that's the end goal, but I guess I was surprised by the number of people who were bad guys, from the highest ranks downwards, signing on to Nazi ideology.

*** end of spoilers ***

--Geoff

 

Nein! Hydra ideology!

Hail Hydra! (I laugh every time they say that.)

I was at the Arclight theater #1 in Sherman Oaks, which is their main Dolby Atmos room, and it sounded extremely good. Strictly 2D for me. If I get out to see it again, I'll go for the 3D.

It's rare these days I like a film enough to want to see it again, but I really thought Captain America was that good. I would agree with the previous comments that this is more a spy/adventure film than it is a superhero movie per se, but that's kind of how the S.H.I.E.L.D. comics were, too. This is as much a movie about Sgt. Nick Fury as it is about Steve Rogers.

 

Never been to the Arclight in Sherman Oaks, I live in East Hollywood so theaters on this side of the hill are much more convenient.

 

And that was part of my problem with it. This seemed like a SHIELD movie, not a Captain America movie - we spent so much time with Fury and Black Widow and whoever that poor Cap got lost in the shuffle.

It kind of reminded me of "Man of Steel" in that it took an inherently "light" character and tried to plop him in a "dark" tale, and I didn't think it worked. "Winter Soldier" is okay but I think it's too long, too convoluted and just wrong in terms of tone...

 

I still haven't seen it but I want to! Big Cap fan here.

I just saw Man of Steel on HBO recently and to me the biggest flaw of that film isn't that it is dark (which it is) but that it's kind of boring and dour. There is no elation at all over anything. Just really flat.

The first Cap movie though was really well done and it's because it was set in the 40s. Cap in comic books was often treated like a goody two shoes... but the comic book The Invaders really used him well by placing him in war times. It was gritty and real. And doing that in the movie was smart. I was not a big fan of seeing Cap with a gun originally in the Ultimates. But, it made total sense. Who would ever go into a war zone without a gun?!?! So I like the more realistic update they are showing in the movies. But I don't think they've turned him into Dark Captain America (or Nomad or US Agent haha).

 

I disagree that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was somehow "too dark" or that the character was lost amidst everything else going on. To me it felt like an almost perfectly balanced comic book tale, well-directed, written and acted. I enjoyed the first Cap film but think this one is even better, in fact I would rank it just below the Avengers and the first Iron Man film.

P.S. - I thought Man Of Steel was a complete piece of crap, this movie is infinitely better.

 

***************Vague Spoiler Alert************************

I almost agree with you completely, except that I ever so slightly favor the first Captain America film to this one. For all this one nails, it shares a serious flaw with many of Marvel's stories. Trying to avoid spoilers, I'll simply say it at times seems to make a gutsy plot twist which it then quickly erases. Visit that well one too many times, and much suspense is forfeited.

Still, this is a good, enjoyable film. (And yes, Man of Steel is horrible...)

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I recognize that I'm in the minority when it comes to "Winter Soldier", as it seems like everyone else loves it. I didn't DISlike it, but I thought it lost steam as it went - too convoluted and not especially interesting. Again, it just seemed like "SHIELD Featuring Captain America" than anything else.

Occasionally I get the feeling that the suits at Marvel involved with the franchises involved care too much about having all the various characters integrate. Why can't a Captain America movie be about Captain America? Why does it need to tie to Avengers and whatnot?

Sometimes I think it would've been better for the various franchises if "Avengers" hadn't been such a big hit...

 

I think the plan has been to integrate all along, I don't think they view them as separate franchises, just different pieces to the same larger universe. We've had crossovers into TV as well with S.H.I.E.L.D. and there will be 4 more Marvel TV series coming on Netflix in the near future (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage & Iron Fist). Production begins on those series this summer in NY.

 

That's the way the comic books were too though. So it's consistent at least.

 

The mainstream critics and surveyed audiences seem to disagree with you:



Box-office wise, the film has made $324 million as of today. (It'll have to make $400M to break even, and I'm betting we're assured of it going quite a bit higher.) Industry wags are curious as to whether Cap can withstand competition from the Rio 2 cartoon, but I think it'll squeak by.

 

The complete lack of any mention of Hawkeye in this movie would argue against your point.

 

Does this mean that I'm forced to go along with what everyone else thinks? I already acknowledged that I'm in the minority about this one - obviously a lot of people liked it much more than I. Am I not allowed to have my own opinion?

 

"Hawkeye"? You're getting your series confused!

 

Yup. "They didn't!" followed 10 minutes later by "not again" from everyone who's been watching Agents of Shield...