Captain America: The Winter Soldier review: How does it impact Infinity War?
By Mike McNulty
Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures; promo poster for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
A sequel that’s not only better than the original, Winter Soldier is the definitive Captain America film that’s also a great conspiracy movie, too.
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In my article ranking the Marvel Studios films, I alluded that transplanting Steve Rogers from World War II to the present day turned him into an outsider. But in truth, Steve always was an outsider. Both before and after he gains powers, others treat him like an outcast, or are telling him what he can and cannot do. In spite of this, Steve’s sense of right and wrong, and his commitment in upholding those virtues no matter what the cost, never wavers.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) brilliantly puts Steve’s ideals to the test, not just by inserting him into a different era, but in a different genre. Whereas Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) is a war movie filtered through a Golden Age of Hollywood pastiche, Winter Soldier is a techno thriller full of espionage, covert missions, shadow governments, double-crosses, and conspiracies. Instead of trying to force Steve into playing John Wayne, it tries forcing him into playing Jack Bauer from 24.
Not only does this make Winter Soldier into exciting, suspenseful, and even politically relevant superhero film, it makes for a great action movie all its own. Even today, it’s still one of the best entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one with major ramifications for later movies, not the least of which was turning brothers Anthony and Joe Russo into instant big-name directors.
Yet what was it that made Winter Soldier work so well? Was it just because it was a well-made superhero action movie? What about its flaws, as it must have had them? And since this is a series looking back on the Marvel Studios films in the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War, what effect, if any, does Winter Soldier have on that film?