‘America’ is packed with action

Kyle+Arensdorf

Kyle Arensdorf

By Kyle Arensdorf

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The “Aquaman” of the Marvel Universe, Captain America, gets his second feature film. With half the strength of The Hulk and Thor, Captain America keeps up with his Marvel counterparts with his boy scout-like leadership intangibles. Oh yeah, and a shield.

My objections to the premise of the superhero Captain America aside, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was my third favorite Marvel movie to date.

It’s better than the original and is jam-packed with action scenes to carry the entertaining but slightly too lengthy plot.

Where the first installment in the two-part series (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) lacked in excitement to drive the bland historical plot, the second made up for it in wall-to-wall action throughout.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is now well-versed in his superpowers and shows them off in a bevy of ways that he didn’t in the first “Captain America” and “The Avengers.” When Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers, with the help of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), goes on the defensive against the duplicitous agency.

At S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers must deal with bigwig Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), who is in charge of a defense project that would give S.H.I.E.L.D. the power to zap millions of threats and potential threats with the push of a button. Not only this, but Rogers must deal with his own personal objections to the lack of privacy the project would evoke.

Redford is perfectly cast as a seemingly innocuous character turned Hydra member. He relishes in roles in which he can play his traditional understated “Redford.” His casting in this film is an interesting one. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” has a very paranoid feel to it, sort of like the typical paranoia films of the 70s with which Redford molded his career.

My only objection to the film was in the treatment of the titular villainous character, the Winter Soldier. He is featured as a dark, sinister enigma that doesn’t know anything but the task at hand, whether it be a search and rescue mission or a murder.

I thought they had something with that character, but what they had built was lost when he removed his mask, although it was a requirement of the plot. However, the final fight scene between the Winter Soldier and Captain America is one for the ages, and not in the way you’d think. This fight scene elicits emotions in its play on brotherhood and compassion in a way that I haven’t seen before.

It isn’t the best Marvel installment, and it could benefit from some drastic editing, but “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” definitely sets the bar for this summer’s blockbusters.