This morning my sweetie-wife, a friend, and I went and caught an early show of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the most recent addition to the ever growing franchise that is the Marvel Cinematic universe.

Starting with Iron Man, Marvel Studios has been building a shared universe setting for some of their hero properties which culminated with the end of ‘phase one’ The Avengers. Last year saw the start of ‘phase two’ with Iron Man 3, and that phase continued with Thor: The Dark World and now Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

If you are one of those people who have seen all the cinematic universe films to date, then you will likely be pleased with this film. It builds nicely on the material established before hand and extends and reshapes the direction of the cinematic universe. If you have not seen the preceding movies, then this one may have a couple of section that feel overly expository, but you will still be up to speed on critical backstory.

Captain America: The Winter Solider continues the evolving story of Steve Rodgers, 5’4” 95lb 4-F war volunteer transformed into the world’s first super hero by the serum/process that made him a 6’3”, 210 lbs epitome of human ability, Displaced from his own culture and time by a prolonged ice-nap, and now having found a place in the world after the alien invasion of New York City, Steve is a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. specializing in hostage rescues and other heroic feats. A man with a simple worldview and believing that things can still be classified into right and wrong, he’s out of place amongst spies and assassins.

The film is a success in that it manages to be two sequels in a single story. It is a sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, the elements of that movie are critical background to the plots and obstacles  Steve faces, both physical and emotional, while the story is also a worthy continuation of the alien invasion from The Avengers and the after-effects of that disaster on S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council. This balancing act of simultaneously serving two masters is admiralty well done, something the other films of phase two have not done as competently.

In addition to Cap, The Black Widow, and Nick Fury,  this film also introduces a number of new characters to the cinematic universe, including The Falcon, a high flying war veteran.

The movie moves quickly, the two hours and fifteen minutes speeding right on by as one set piece action scene leads into another. However there is enough plot and character to carry a real story, so in my opinion this film avoided the dread, “we fight, then we fight some more, and we end it with a bigger fight.’ There are a few fairly predictable turns to the plot, and I for one would like to see a little more originality in the idea of politicians both good and bad, but I suppose that will have to wait for my own material.

The films small faults and missteps are far from serious and I would recommend seeing this one in the theater, though nothing in the visual work screamed a need for 3D.

p.s.

I have no idea how the television show ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is going to deal with the fall out of this chapter in the cinematic universe. It’s really big. I mean like blowing up Vulcan big.