Captain America - The Winter Soldier (2014) - The defiant Hero

A retrospective of the superhero films of the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe'. Based on articles by Matt Goldblatt in Collider Magazine, April 2015.

'Iron Man 3' completely ignored the meta-narrative of the Marvel cinematic universe. 'Thor - The Dark World' largely stayed away from it. 'Captain America - The Winter Soldier' changed it irrevocably. It is the first and only film of Phase Two of the Marvel cinematic universe that completely reshaped the future of that universe. The film not only found the right character for this in the form of Captain America (Chris Evans), but also provided her with the right supporting character in Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). This continued in the film the relationship whose foundation was already laid in 'The Avengers', and which allowed her to develop her own profile (Unlike her modest debut in 'Iron Man 2'). Even if the film does not directly address the fear of the state and the population of superheroes, it shows that S.H.I.E.L.D., despite the victory of the Avengers in New York, does not want to rely solely on superheroes in the future, but because of the powerlessness in the face of battles with aliens as in New York, continues to develop and build weapons. The theme of building 'so-called' defensive weapons is appropriately chosen, as Captain America's weapon of choice is his shield, a classic symbol of defense.Even though a leitmotif of the film is the span between security and privacy, the real conflict of the film is the problem of how best to protect people (including from themselves).'The Winter Soldier' repeatedly addresses the fact that 'Captain America' is indeed a super soldier - but he does not allow himself to be instrumentalized as a crude weapon by his superiors. Captain America is the ideal citizen in uniform. He makes his own judgments and becomes furious when he learns that the hostage rescue involved in the first act was staged so that Nick Fury could obtain classified information.A weapon is used to be used. But Steve Rogers does not allow himself to be used as such by S.H.I.E.L.D..

The 'Winter Soldier' (Sebastian Stan) himself, is the exact antithesis of the 'upstanding soldier' (And thus also fulfills the familiar Marvel trope of the antagonist as a distortion of the protagonist). Although the character initially holds only the function of the villain who, because of their shared past, causes the protagonist to stumble at crucial plot turning points, he acquires a much greater significance for the plot as a symbol. At the beginning of 'Winter Soldier', Steve Rogers is still trying to find his place and identity in the 'brave new world', and has to cope with the fact that 'his' America has changed fundamentally in 70 years - and not always for the better.(In the 'Avengers', Joss Whedon has him say: "I heard we won the war - but they didn't tell me what we lost.")In comparison, 'Bucky' has already completely forfeited his identity. HYDRA has reduced him to a blunt, mindless weapon. He is as inhuman and emotionless as the Helicarriers that HYDRA is determined to install over the States.While Captain America is again held up as a dark distorted image of the protagonist with the Winter Soldier as the antagonist, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directors Anthony and Joe Russo make an effort, whenever possible, not to disregard the central themes of the film. This effort cannot be overstated in light of the prevailing mentality among blockbuster creatives.Even the vast majority of the films in the Marvel cinematic universe are not distinguished by a stringent theme or the establishment of a consistent style in each sequence. That sounds harsh, but it's not meant to be. But this is one of the reasons why 'The Winter Soldier' stands out so much from the mass of Marvel Studios films. What Joe Johnston started with the first 'Captain America', grounding the superhero film with a more realistic setting, is consistently and brilliantly developed in 'Winter Soldier'.

'Winter Solider' is cleverly crafted throughout, and scenes like the chase with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Captain America's fight in a glass elevator, are not only fantastically choreographed action sequences, but they also stand as stand-ins for the theme of paranoia when, in Nick Fury's case, police officers - and in Steve Rogers' case, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents - suddenly pose the threat. It is a rarity not only in the Marvel movie universe that such sequences have a narrative subtext in addition to fights.Skillfully, the Russo brothers sprinkle in all sorts of hints that S.H.I.E.L.D. has degenerated into an intolerable government agency whose moral actions have become more than questionable. The emblem of S.H.I.E.L.D. is no longer round, but now has sharp militaristic features.Captain America's costume has lost its intense white and red, and is now made of a pale blue and silver. In the opening sequence, his shield has also lost its intense color. The symbol of Captain America has degenerated into a mere weapon. And only the man Steve Rogers, who wields this shield, is still capable of thinking for himself and questioning the dubious actions of his superiors.

 The reason for the moral steadfastness of Captain America's main character in the face of possible brutalization is rooted in his idealism. Of course, it also helps a do-gooder like Steve Rogers to have a pragmatist like 'Black Widow' at his side to help him carry out the more deficient aspects of her agent activities (no aspect of her missions is somehow dishonest, but the moral ambiguities of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents she masters - in contrast to Cap - with ease).Steve Rogers is and remains morally upright in every situation. And this helps the film not to lose traction.This - almost old-fashioned to call - black and white view of good and evil makes the moral gray area in which Captain America moves, only more visible.In the final analysis, however, the plot must then blacken the gray areas to make it clear: Yes, it is evil and wrong when the film's second antagonist, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), argues inhumanely, "You save 7 billion by sacrificing 20 million. "The film makes it clear that American foreign policy in the Marvel film universe after World War II consisted primarily of the U.S. using brute force to advance its interests without regard.(One could argue that this approach is not unique to the Marvel film universe. )In the MCU, while the CIA has not attempted to eliminate heads of state in the Middle East in order to protect American oil interests, a clear (and apparently intentional by the screenwriters) line of connection still exists when considering how the HYDRA organization abuses 'Winter Soldier' to adjust the progression of history to their liking.(It is even hypothesized in the process that Nazi scientists directly influenced America's domestic and foreign policies.) Rhodey (Don Cheadle) has told Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in 'Iron Man 3' that the terrorist 'Mandarin' is an 'American problem'. But that's nonsense. 'Captain America - The Winter Solider' makes it clear that the real problem is America itself. A thoroughly heretical message that is nicely packaged as a superhero film.

A phase in which American cinema took a critical look at its own country's dubious machinations at home and abroad already existed in the 1970s in the form of the conspiracy thriller. This genre emerged as a direct result of America's dubious Vietnam War. And it was precisely this genre that Marvel Studios wanted to serve with 'Winter Solider', to show that it was possible to enrich the superhero movie genre with borrowings from other genres. Robert Redford was also entrusted with the role of Alexander Pierce for precisely that reason. Redford would not only lend his acting gravitas to the film, but serve as a reference point to his role in the 1975 conspiracy thriller 'The Three Days of the Condor'.But there is a significant difference between a box office hit like 'The Winter Soldier' and a conspiracy thriller. The Russo brothers' film can cite as many references of this genre as it wants, ultimately a modern superhero film cannot follow in the footsteps of a 'The Three Days of the Condor' because, per se, the plot of a superhero film ends on a hopeful note. (One could argue that the films of Marvel's comic book rival DC, with their darker underlying mood, lean more toward the conspiracy thrillers, but even the epic battle of 'Superman' (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) in the third act of Zack Snyder's 'Man Of Steel' (2013) ended with a happy ending.)Real conspiracy thrillers, especially those from the '70s, are almost drowning in pessimism. Government institutions are too powerful to be stopped by an individual. 'The Winter Soldier' is filled with spectacular action sequences that convey the message that state paranoia leads to an escalation of violence. However, these sequences are exactly what should excite and engage the audience. True conspiracy thrillers are mostly silent films that avoid escalating violence, because violence in these films always means seeing the powerless suffer under the powerful.

'The Winter Solider,' for all its echoes of a vanished genre, remains an escapist fairy tale. And Marvel Studios doesn't want you to be put down (or radicalized) from one of their fairy tales. The simple (and fairy tale) solution, therefore, is that the entire military-industrial complex must be torn down in order to preserve the democratic Western world. An admirable but unfortunately deeply naive notion. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. is connected to HYDRA to the core, everything must be broken up and all the dirty secrets of these organizations are made public on the Internet, as has happened in our world with the help of Wikileaks.In a 70s conspiracy thriller, no one saves the world. Putting the fate of the world in a handful of upstanding citizens in uniform to take on a secretive and corrupt army is the reality escape that 'The Winter Soldier' provides us. And the film does so in a remarkably well-done manner.'The Winter Solider' gives the Marvel cinematic universe its first major shakeup. None of the films of Phase Two of the cinematic universe had followed up the aftermath of the Battle of New York so consistently. ('Avengers - Age Of Ultron' will continue that progression) S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't focus on preventing another alien invasion and no one drops a remark like, "Hey, remember that magic scepter of Loki's? Does anyone know where we put that thing?" (These, perfectly valid, questions are not exhaustively answered until 'Avengers - Age Of Ultron).This film focuses on the question of how much power to grant the military-industrial complex in the Marvel Universe. But these questions are conducted with the background of the Battle of New York. That is why the resolution of the agent organization S.H.I.E.L.D., which has always played a weighty role in this film universe since its beginning with 'Iron Man', is so significant.

One can criticize that the climax of the film was basically just an increase of the climax in 'Captain America - The First Avenger'. There are now several parallel plot levels, but basically Captain America is just fighting a distorted image of himself again. In a flying fortress that must be destroyed before it destroys an American metropolis.This form of climax is the repetitive form in phase two of the Marvel movie universe. A gigantic something performs a spectacular crash landing.Still, in 'Captain America - The Winter Soldier', the numerous positive achievements of the plot outweigh the fatigue caused by repetitive tropes.The film is the only one to date that fundamentally reshapes the landscape of the cinematic universe - and this is true for future films down to the television series "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.", which was previously spurned by audiences. (Which will only awaken from its slumber through the events of 'Winter Soldier', and then rise from superficial characters and tepid storylines to previously unimagined heights.)'Iron Man 3' and 'Thor - The Dark World' are fun, but don't take advantage of the possibilities offered by the meta-narrative of the Marvel cinematic universe.There are a few allusions here and there, but for the big picture, these films remain inconsequential.So far, the Phase Two films had its heroes disregard, abandon, or alter this meta-narrative. Phase Two's final film would ask the legitimate question, "What the hell actually makes heroes superheroes?"