For a man out of time, Captain America’s finger is on the pulse.
The defrosted Marvel hero, last seen in “The Avengers,” is in the right place in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” His 2011 debut was set in World War II, while this rousing, terrific film is a product of our era, full of dangerous drones and stolen digital intel.
A great international thriller, it engages the world at large yet stays focused as a sharp cast led by Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford support the star-spangled main man.
At heart, “Cap” — Capt. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) — is still the ordinary patriot he was before a 1940s experiment gave him a body to match his spirit. Frozen in a plane crash fighting a Nazi offshoot called Hydra, he strides through the 21st century jotting down the questions he encounters (like, “Star Wars”/“Trek?”).
This Greatest Generation guy, though, can’t square his new mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. boss Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Steal info the U.S. security director (Redford) needs to stop evildoers before they do evil. Truth, however, becomes collateral damage.
Rogers and cohort Black Widow (Johansson) get worried just as Fury comes under attack. For help, they turn to Iraq veteran Sam Wilson (Mackie), who dons high-tech, retractable wings to become Falcon.
The shadowy bad guys have another weapon — an assassin called the Winter Soldier, who, like Rogers, is superstrong, a product of an earlier age — and closer to Captain America than anyone knows. This masked mystery with a metal arm is used by old and new villains to “maintain freedom” — yet as Cap says, it’s a version of freedom that looks a lot like fear.
Parents, take note: For all its heart, this is a tougher, more morally complex movie than its predecessors. Young kids carrying their miniversions of Cap’s famous shield may be in for a jolt.
Adult moviegoers, though, will find a smart, action-packed film with DNA that includes “Three Days of the Condor” and the Jason Bourne flicks. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo ground their very vulnerable heroes in a recognizable reality while never skimping on massive set pieces, kinetic hand-to-hand fights and a secret lab ripped from the comics pages.
That balances a final battle that feels a bit out of control, as well as a multiheaded baddie conspiracy embedded in Marvel lore.
Yet Evans is again a charismatic, gallant guide, as Johansson amps up the provocative playfulness. Redford adds a sense of cold war craftiness, especially in an homage scene to “The Manchurian Candidate.” And Mackie earns his wings as a cool addition to this world of avengers and defenders. (A salute to costume designer Judianna Makovsky for the balance between bold and believable.)
They all bring their A game, for a bracing superhero film that uses its brain as much as its brawn.
Evans brings his game for a superhero film that uses its brain as much as its brawn.
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