Some people might say I’m easily excitable. I’m not sure if it’s a flaw in my personality or an attribute. Regardless, it was with this sense of excitement I would experience going to the movies when I was a small child. Somehow, Marvel are able to keep bringing back this feeling with every new film set in their universe. Is it my inner (and outer) geek rising to the surface, or my inner child enjoying the chance to come out and play again?
The last time we saw Captain America (Chris Evans), he was saving the world with the rest of the Avengers in New York. We find him now living in the most American Landmark filled city, Washington DC. When director of S.H.E.I.L.D. Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) is attacked and something appears amiss within the organisation, it's up to the Cap and his Avenger pal Black Widow (Scarlett Johansen) to write the wrongs and best the mysterious Winter Soldier.
SWITCH: 'CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER' TRAILER
The 'Captain America' sequel is much darker than its predecessor; gone are the days of the Captain’s blinding patriotism and 1940s sensibilities, replaced by a man trying to find his place in a world he no longer fits into. Evans is still the perfect choice as the All-American poster boy and seems much more at ease with his character than Johansson, whose moments of comedy often fall flat next to her male co-star.
What is most interesting in 'Winter Soldier' is its setup for the next few Marvel universe films – especially ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’. Without giving too much away, it goes almost without saying that you must stay until the end credits to get the full value of all of Marvel's movies. Fanboys everywhere will be cheering in their seats once they see it.
The 'Captain America' sequel is much darker than its predecessor.
You (or I) can easily get sucked into the Marvel hype machine, but this is something that we do willingly, time and time again. Yes, we know the story will be about good guys versus bad guys, yes we know that there will be explosion after explosion after explosion, yes we will guffaw at the lack of believability of what we are seeing. We'll gasp at the references to other Marvel movies, and groan at the need to balance all of that high action with (sometimes) clunky chunks of exposition. But we let ourselves go along for the ride! For the two and a half hours, we let ourselves get taken into this world and love every minute. It's the magic of being transported by a film that Marvel does so well, making me feel like that excited five-year-old who just couldn't wait for the lights to go down.