Captain America 2 Film Review

The filming of a fight scene of Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans.

Warning: Some spoilers inside, so read at your risk.

I got a chance to watch Captain America 2 last night as Smart, Discovery Channel, and Luminox teamed up for a block screening at the Power Plant Mall. The sequel to the Chris Evans film, formally titled "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", focuses on Evans, as Steve "Captain America" Rogers, still transitioning to the modern-day life while working for the S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson).

The movie started with the S.H.I.E.L.D. forces saving their comrades from an Algerian rebel group without any casualty. However, Steve noticed Natasha (Scarlett Johannson) saving some files to a USB, prompting him to confront Nick on why she was allowed to do something on her own, leading to Fury revealing the "Project: Insight" to Steve. The opening fight scenes were awesome, and the way they did the scene was realistic.

Fast forward to the appearances of Robert Redford as Pierce, the antagonist in CA2. Pierce is a S.H.I.E.L.D. official who has a secret plan to use the Insight as a weapon of mass destruction. He's the mastermind in the assassination plot of Fury with his own prized ward, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), as the hitman. It's the first time I saw Redford as a villain (he has been known to do good portrayals of the lead male character), and he did it in style. Redford's portrayal of Pierce is a perfect example of what an antagonist should be: psyching the lead character to tell that the supporting cast members are the bad guys, convincing some people that he's the good guy, and keeping mum to everyone his true intentions.

Now, onto Fury's death. SLJ's role was chased in the middle of the film by no less than his team. He ended up at Steve's apartment to the surprise of Rogers, but Fury got killed by the Winter Soldier there. He handed Steve a USB, the same USB Natasha used at the start of the film, and told him not to trust anyone. After Pierce declared Rogers as a fugitive, the latter realized that the earlier is the enemy. The development of the film from Fury's death scene would make the audience easily understand the plot of the film.

Now, who is the Winter Soldier? To the surprise of no Captain America comic readers, he's Bucky, Steve's friend who he thought got killed in action. But Bucky was brainwashed and was being to believe that Steve is an enemy. In the end, however, Bucky would remember who he is and who Steve is. With Sebastian Stan inked a nine-movie deal, expect more of Bucky soon. The consistency of his story in the movie with the comics is great.

Overall, Captain America 2 bettered its prequel in style. Marvel did a tremendous job in filming the motion picture. By the Vladimir Putin Rule, I give Captain America: The Winter Soldier a 14 out of 10.