When I saw Captain America a few years ago my review was pretty much, “better than I expected,” because I had no preconceived opinion or emotional investment in the character. Even going into this second movie, I thought this would be an entertaining film, but Cap was never what Superman was to me, so even a moderately entertaining movie would be a win.
As it turned out, the movie was even better than I expected. Cap is still making his way in this new world in which he finds himself. But the movie doesn’t really keep hitting that note. Instead the movie is a fairly mature and grounded (for a superhero movie) political thriller. It’s a lot like an amped up Bourne Identity. The action set pieces were big and visually spectacular.
The character of Captain America is fairly black and white in his moral compass. So what’s interesting is how he reacts and deals with the characters around him who have more shades of grey. The main two are his relations with Nick Fury, but more so with Black Widow. I enjoyed seeing more of Scarlett Johansson in that role. This is the first movie that really gives her some time to play the character.
So overall the movie is worth the price of admission for me. That’s two Captain America movies that have surprised me. This second movie is better than the first, because with the origin story dealt with, it can spend the whole movie on characters and action.
Dispatches from Obscurity 