When the Avengers movie was released in 2012, fans of the Marvel universe got to see their favorite superheroes team up to beat some bad guys to a pulp and save the world. This also marked the end of Phase I of the Marvel movies, and made fans excited, yet curious, as to how Marvel would be able to top these seemingly unbeatable movies.
However, the success of first two movies in Phase II (Iron Man 3 and Thor 2: The Dark World) got fans rightfully excited about Captain America’s second stand-alone movie: “Captain America; The Winter Soldier.”
After being frozen for nearly 70 years and then being thrust immediately into an inter-dimensional war during the Avengers, Steve Rogers (aka Captain America, played by Chris Evans) is still trying to get used to a very different world than he remembers; it’s a world where terms like the “internet” and movie references seem to fly right over his head. Yet, some things never changed like his unbreakable shield and his ability to kick bad guy’s butt.
Rogers has now been recruited as a full-fledged member of the spy organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. He has been tasked on various missions with fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Natasha Romanov (aka Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johannson).
However, after multiple cases of shady business, Rogers soon finds himself in the middle of war for the very soul of S.H.I.E.L.D. and (like every other super hero) the protection of the free world. The days of good guys on one side and bad guys on the other that Steve grew up with are long gone. The lines are blurred and enemies lie everywhere.
Given the advice “trust no one” from Director Nick Fury (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson), Steve is forced to fight alongside the Black Widow and Sam Wilson (aka The Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie) in order to discover who is attempting to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. and why.
And just when it seems Rogers is getting adjusted to the new world, his old life from WWII comes and smacks him right in the face with the reemergence of an old enemy, and a new threat arises in the form of an unexpected rival.
The conspiracy/superhero movie takes the series in a darker direction with a much more serious theme. This movie ties many aspects of other Avengers movies together and will make people go back and rethink how everything connects. The movie is truly a game-changer in the Marvel cinematic universe.
The cross between intricate storyline full of plot twists and explosive action movie has been giving many people things to cheer about and broke the boundaries for what to expect not only from this movie, but also Marvel movies in general.
“I was expecting an exciting action-packed movie and was not disappointed,” Kevin Cardella, a Penn State student and Marvel movie fan, said. “It went above and beyond my expectations. The whole movie was absolutely amazing. Then the plot twist hit and it blew my mind.”
“Captain America; The Winter Soldier” has gotten outstanding reviews and crushed the box office in its first two weeks in theaters, earning the best opening weekend for April in box office history. Super hero fans were excited to see Captain America back and better than ever.
“Usually the sequels of movies are not as good as the original, but this was a 100 times better than the first Captain America movie,” Liz Gramlich, another Penn State student and fellow Marvel fan, said.
It’s these kinds of movies that have people constantly not knowing what to expect from Marvel Studios, yet also constantly bringing them back. “Captain America; The Winter Soldier” is yet another explosively successful installment in Phase II of Marvel movies and just gets fans more excited for other upcoming titles coming out of Marvel Studios.
Paul Alberici
Lions Eye staff Writer, paa5102@psu.edu