One bright spot in Marvel Studios' behemoth of superhero features is that they always move the ball forward. In an era when action franchises are content to repeat themselves, Marvel's ongoing multi-film saga feels like the serials of old. It actually has inertia, evolving its setting and characters while tantalizing loyal viewers. Such is the case with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the second film focused on defrosted super-soldier Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). The stark good-vs.-evil battle lines of the previous Cap feature are appropriately muddled for an age of drone strikes and inescapable surveillance.
Winter Soldier' story concerns three colossal death-dealing ships created by intelligence Über-agency S.H.I.E.L.D.---flying juggernauts that will detect and eradicate enemies anywhere on the planet. This disturbing plan coincides with the appearance of the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), a villainous mercenary with a bionic arm and might to rival the Captain's. Along with master spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), aerial warrior Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and the ever-present Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the Captain becomes a fugitive from a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
Known for their television comedy work, directors Anthony and Joe Russo aren't the obvious helmsmen for a comic book blockbuster, but they take to it well enough, offering a grim complement to the retro earnestness of Joe Johnston's first Cap film. Winter Soldier's action is intense and copious, offering more bullets and blood than previous Marvel features. It's shocking, but also consistent with the film's tone of paranoia and moral confusion. While there's nothing especially remarkable about Winter Soldier, fans who have followed Marvel's episodic epic this far will find it a gratifying, thrilling chapter.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens Friday, April 4 in wide release.
