CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - The Man, the Movie, the Mythos

Directors: Joe and Anthony Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie
Runtime: 136 mins.
2014

Part 1: THE MAN

Captain America is a wiener.  This character trait is an established fact, as undeniable as the claim that Spider-Man is a smart-ass, or that Superman is a wiener.

Think of it this way.  Of all the people you know, how many of them would say that Captain America is their favorite superhero?  I have an inkling that the number is zero, but if not... how many of those people would have said Captain America was their favorite hero before, say, the release of The Avengers?  I feel like we've narrowed the sample size to one dude living in Colorado.

How is it, then, that Captain America: The Winter Soldier has achieved such popular and critical success, to the point that some are heralding it as the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to date?  And, despite this near-universal acclaim, why do people still feel the need to preface their thoughts on the movie with some variation of the phrase, "I was never a big Captain America fan, but..."?

It has to do with the history of what Captain America means.

He sure puts the "hit" in "hitler" amirite?

Captain America Comics #1 debuted in March 1941.  Our hero sprung to life not only in the heart of the Golden Age of comic books, but in the middle of World War II.  Later that year Pearl Harbor would be bombed, dragging the rest of America into the Hitler-punching conflict.

One glance at that comic book cover will assure you that Captain America was never subtle.  Check out that piece of paper on the ground that says "SABOTAGE PLANS FOR U.S.A.".  Also the fact that Cap is literally punching Hitler in the face.  Imagine how exciting these comics were when they debuted, in the pure surface-level sense of wish-fulfillment.  Captain America was a crucial cog in an enormous propaganda machine, a concept that Captain America: The First Avenger explored directly in some of its more interesting moments.  Captain America was America's hero, a symbol of our superior politics, a bastion of peace, justice, and the American way.

Then WWII ended.  Think of how American history has unfolded since then: the Cold War... Vietnam... Watergate... Iraq... etc. etc.  Cap didn't have any Hitlers to punch anymore.

He sure puts the "super" in "superior genes" amirite?

Americans adapted and became more cynical, but Captain America still had to wear the stars and stripes.  It's in his name, after all.  He represents an idealized version of America, one that we have come to scorn and deride more often than not.  In our post-colonialist, post-patriotic, post-modern time, Captain America strikes us as a hollowed out symbol, still spouting archaic rhetoric, still beating up the sensationalized bad guys, still distant and unsympathetic--lost in his own nonexistent ideal world.

But there is one thing that Captain America does better than any other superhero (with perhaps one caveat).

Every superhero has their own unique struggle that makes them relatable and appealing to us puny humans.  This is an aspect of superhero fiction that was really teased out by Stan Lee and his contributions to the Silver Age of comic books: Spider-Man can't balance his personal life with the demands of superheroism, the Hulk can't control his own inner demons, Iron Man struggles with substance abuse on several levels, the X-Men deal with issues of identity and social change.  What, then, does Captain America bring to the table other than a shield and an appetite for apple pie?

Captain America's central conflict is of the personal vs. the political.  In the worst Captain America stories, the two are seamlessly folded into each other, making him the aforementioned hollow symbol.  But in the best stories, Captain America is an individual who is uncertain about his public representation (The First Avenger) or has qualms about the political entity that he is embodying (The Winter Soldier).  Because he is such an overt symbol, Captain America is uniquely positioned to make us question our assumptions about government, loyalty, democracy, justice, etc.  Cap's best conflicts are not only about the enemy, but are also about problematizing our understanding of "the good guys", and they even explore the fertile ground of what it means when your abstract values conflict with the embodiment of those values.

Side note: When I said that Captain America does this better than any other hero, my one caveat was Superman.  Superman is another Golden Age hero who is difficult to dramatize, and has therefore spent a lot of time being a wiener.  But his best conflicts are also the ones that breed uncertainty in him about what he represents.  Of course, there are several key differences, namely Superman's status as an alien, other, outside eye.  But I digress.

The First Avenger fell short because Cap's conflict was too clear-cut.  HYDRA is bad--I go kill HYDRA.  It's golden age stuff.  But The Winter Soldier propels Cap into the age of post 9/11 paranoia, where the personal and political are having a secret war.

He sure puts the "die" in "winter soldier" amirite? ...I'll stop.

Part 2: THE MOVIE

The Marvel movie franchise has been astute in selecting personnel to helm their films.  The out-of-left-field choice of Joe and Anthony Russo to direct The Winter Soldier may have seemed foolish, considering they are pretty much only known for the 2006 film You, Me, and Dupree.  Not a stunning resume.  Yet they have managed to craft an engaging, funny espionage thriller with a clear tone and style that never waver, and in the process have invigorated a franchise that frankly floundered straight out of the gate.  Major kudos are in order.

Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are in the employ of S.H.I.E.L.D., carrying out black ops missions under the guiding hand of the by-now-familiar Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who carries out his own agenda under the watchful eye of his boss, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford).  When the flesh hits the turbines, so to speak, it becomes clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised and that Cap and Black Widow need to strike off on their own, with the help of newcomer Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and discover the secret behind the malevolent force that has been lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ranks--a force embodied by the sinister assassin known only as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

First, I'll say that the performances are spot on.  From a long-awaited expanded role for Black Widow, to the manic scene-chewing grit of Samuel L. Jackson, to a playful turn for Robert Redford, these actors really know how to have fun while bringing gravitas to a comic book film.

This movie is Marvel's darkest yet (notwithstanding the subtitle of Thor's second film).  The tone is grim and the menace is real.  The Russos really tap into America's post-9/11 paranoia.  The Winter Soldier is all about issues of freedom and trust.  Not since the Cold War have we been so suspicious of government--only this time, it's our government we are wary of.  S.H.I.E.L.D., the ominous cloak-and-daggers organization that ostensibly makes the world a safer place, becomes an entity to question rather than count on.  "Gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen," Fury intones as he reveals S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new project to Captain America--Project Insight, a trio of high-powered smart helicarriers.  Obviously this already suspect outlook does not come to fruition as planned, and our heroes are thrown into the chaos of mysterious signifiers, nebulous threats, and the rising of a hidden darkness.

Don't worry though!  The movie's funny, too.  It's no The Avengers, but TWS is all the better for not attempting to replicate Whedon's playground.  Instead, the comic relief is reserved and well-placed enough to perfectly complement Cap's grim turn.

The plot and themes of this movie, while not exactly subtle, are intelligent and highly functional.  The movie doesn't spoonfeed its audience; rather, it takes us along for the thrill ride.  And a thrill ride it is: the action in this film is the best we have seen from Marvel's two Phases thusfar.  In fact, it's head and shoulders above the rest, with the exception of, again, The Avengers.  That movie's action was sheer character-driven joy--TWS is doing something different.  The action is gritty, intense, intimate.  From a spec ops nighttime boat raid, to the explosive airborne finale, to the best car chase I've seen in years, the action is plentiful and gratifying.  Not only is it visceral, but it feels real.  The CGI is (relatively) minimal, and it is masked well.  The action informs us about the characters in the most engaging of ways.  The movie doesn't succumb to the oft-alienating shaky cam craze--we can see every sliver of action unfold in brutal clarity.  And the shield...

The shield may have just become the coolest weapon in the Marvel movies outside of the Iron Man suits themselves.  Unlike the first movie, Cap doesn't just tote it around for an occasional toss.  He uses his shield like an extension of himself.  He blocks bullets, he breaks falls, he busts through doors, he boomerangs it into enemies, objects, warships... something about its usage is pleasing, harsh, and elegant.

Which makes it all the more chilling when The Winter Soldier enters the scene and snatches the shield from the air with his metal arm.

The Winter Solider represents both the coolest part of the film, and one of my only issues with it.  They did so many things right.  His design is spot on.  We know we're dealing with the baddest of badasses from the first second he appears onscreen, and we're never disappointed with that expectation.  He's an absolute force of nature onscreen.  I'm hard-pressed to think of any recent villains whose appearance caused stomachs to sink like this guy, since maybe Heath Ledger's Joker.  This is aided by the great score and sound design; when the Winter Soldier appears, we are often treated to an almost subliminal screeching that really undercuts our comfort level.

(Some minor spoilers ahead that I do not think would ruin the movie-watching experience but if that makes you uncomfortable you can skip down to Part 3.)

I just wish he was better integrated into the story.  As many of you probably know, it turns out the Winter Soldier is actually Bucky Barnes, Cap's old friend who we saw fall to his "death" in The First Avenger.  I tell you this because it's a widely known plotline, but also because the reveal, while a well-constructed moment, does not mean much to the story.  Cap learns that his enemy is a brainwashed (or at least memory-drained) version of his old friend, but proceeds to behave almost exactly as he would have otherwise.  Their relationship is telegraphed to us, but it doesn't mean much because it hasn't been developed sufficiently (The First Avenger sort of dropped the ball on that one, to be fair).  Not only this, but the Winter Soldier says nothing for the first two acts of the film, and barely speaks during the third.  This does wonders for his mystique, but when we're supposed to care for him as a person we come up empty.  The fact that the Winter Soldier is such a compelling character is almost entirely thanks to the excellent action sequencing, in which his battle tactics give us a sort of physical insight into his character's intensity, cold cunning, and resolve.

It's a real shame, because if this arc were better handled, Bucky's presence could have firmly planted the cherry on top of the thematic ice cream cone of Cap's struggle with the personal vs. the political.  Here we have an enemy agent, who is as dedicated to the forces of evil as Cap is dedicated to his own political affiliations--but this agent used to be a person who meant more to Cap than anyone.  We never really explore the richness of that dynamic, especially because Barnes's dedication to evil is a false one.

That's okay though, because Cap's personal vs. political struggle is still a fully fleshed-out conflict thanks to some excellent plotting surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D., and a great character turn for Nick Fury.  We see Cap work for S.H.I.E.L.D., question S.H.I.E.L.D., forsake S.H.I.E.L.D., dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D., and come to terms with the kind of work S.H.I.E.L.D. means to accomplish.  Cap isn't just a weapon anymore, nor is he a simple symbol.  He's a human character with wants, needs, qualms, and questions.  This is the Captain America who compels us.  The man who must decide the fate of the nation he's supposed to represent, a nation that he loves, but one that disturbs him, confuses him, and doesn't sit as well with him as it used to in the good old days of Nazi Germany.  But over the course of this film, Cap finds things to believe in and fight for once again.

Part 3: THE MYTHOS

We are still fighting the Nazis today.

Think about it.  How many films, and more recently video games, have offered up Nazis, or Nazi-substitutes, as the baddies that our heroes get to beat up on?  The most brazen and satisfying examples of this are probably the Indiana Jones trilogy and the early entries of the Call of Duty franchise (or really, any squad-based shooter that came out over the course of like fifteen years).  These franchises are similar in that they are both a whole lot of fun.

Why are we still fighting the Nazis?  It's certainly not because they're still a threat.  With the exception of scattered pockets of neo-Nazism (here's looking at you, American History X), we wiped out that danger long ago.  And it's not like their brand of fascism is still something we are struggling against, writ large.  We put that great evil away into a box, and we wrapped a nice bow around the package.

No, we're still fighting the Nazis because it makes us feel good.  War is a drug, and World War II was our last righteous war.  Nothing is more satisfying than victory in a conflict against a dehumanized enemy who have provoked us into righteous anger.  On top of that, if we had any moral qualms remaining, the Holocaust smooths those over.  Basically, in WWII we triumphed over the ultimate evil--in the process reinvigorating our tattered economy and sense of national pride--and we have been searching for such purpose ever since.

Before I continue further, I want to make something clear: I am not claiming the Axis powers were the ultimate evil, but rather than the (victor's) narrative we have constructed around them paints them as such.  We need to believe in Hitler as the essence of depravity to reinforce our own American values; we need to believe in Nazi Germany's wretchedness to feel so good about our own participation in such a catastrophic conflict.

Enter our beloved Captain.  Nothing makes us feel as good as beating up on Nazis, and nobody beats up on Nazis like an embodiment of American values.  He punches Hitler, for God's sake.  Captain America is another piece of the narrative of righteous victory we have constructed around the atrocities of WWII.

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this review, time has passed, and America has become cynical.  We don't believe in our infallibility anymore.  We don't believe in our leaders in the same way.  And we question our values and their legitimacy on a daily basis.  Where does the old Nazi-puncher fit into this world of moral gray?

He doesn't--and that's what makes him a relevant character.  Once the Capsicle is unfrozen, he realizes that his straightforward values are discordant with the world around him.  This is why TWS finds a much more compelling narrative than The First Avenger could even attempt.  Cap wasn't even fighting Nazis in that movie--he was fighting the extra evil Nazis with alien superscience and a red-faced leader.

Thus the complicated double consciousness of TWS.  On the one hand, Cap is made compelling by dealing with the evil on his own soil.  Emptied of symbolic relevance, he must navigate the uncertain waters of espionage as an individual struggling with his political entity, rather than just struggling with the fists of the enemy.  When S.H.I.E.L.D. is the enemy, who is the friend?  This crisis is a rich one, especially because it taints the former purity of our great American hero.

The other side of the coin is that it isn't just that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised... it is compromised by the remnants of HYDRA, the modern incarnation of the aforementioned Nazi ultimate evil.  HYDRA has hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ideology, for their own sinister, controlling, chaos-neutralizing purposes.  In a sense, then, we are still just fighting Nazis--in Marvel's universe, at least.  The enemy on our own soil is once again othered, which returns TWS safely into fun summer blockbuster territory.

But in a sense, that double consciousness is what superhero films can offer us.  The best of them push us to question our values and mores, while still reinforcing the humanist impulse that "with great power comes great responsibility".  We can still change the world, for the better, through our actions.  Even though the threat may not always be black and white, there are always Nazis to fight.

This is what a battle of good and evil boils down to: it's compelling, comforting, and problematic.  But Captain America: The Winter Soldier is fully aware of this double consciousness.  It unsettles Captain America's formerly firm footing, while still reinforcing his importance and meaningfulness in our vastly changed political landscape.  Ultimately, we have to place our trust in Cap to call the shots.  This is why Nick Fury, the most notoriously mistrusting of figures, assembled the Avengers in the first place.

3.5 / 5  BLOBS