I can never discuss these shows
without thinking about the characters’ origins, so let me first say something about
Captain America. Captain America was
created by the iconic team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. It made sense that a couple of Jewish
cartoonists from New York would create a patriotic hero who was shown punching
Hitler on the cover of the first issue.
But I think they were mostly worried about earning a living, not
creating a cultural icon who would, over 50 years later, be starring in a major
motion picture. Nevertheless, the idea
behind Captain America, the little guy who wanted to do his part and became the
big hero for us all, still inspires writers and thrills readers and moviegoers
all these decades later.
To give a little more credit,
Bucky was also created by Simon and Kirby.
Nick Fury was created by Kirby and Stan Lee. The Black Widow was created by Lee, don Rico,
and Don Heck. Finally, the Falcon was created by Lee with Gene Colan. If you don’t know comics, just let me tell you
the above list of creators constitutes nothing more than a group of
legends. The creators that brought us
Captain America: the Winter Soldier were certainly standing on the shoulders of
giants!
As to the movie itself, it is
simply fantastic! It is certainly one of
my favorite super-hero movies, and I’m sure many others rank it this high,
also. Part of this is the handling of
the action and overall plot. Captain America
works best when handling challenges that are just a little above those of the
real world. CA:TWS does this extremely well,
with Cap fighting mostly normal strength-level humans, with the exception of
the Winter Soldiers himself. Unlike
Thor, Iron Man, or Superman, the things Cap does are things you can almost see
a real person being able to do, if he’s in really, really good shape! Likewise, the Black Widow and Falcon succeed in
the same way as to be just human enough, yet pulling off the most remarkable
things! The tech in the Marvel movies
looks like the things we will experience here in the real world in 5 to 10
years.
Kirby Cap! |
The other aspect of the film
that makes it great is the characterization. The moral dilemma of how much
power should belong to those who are the protectors is a good dilemma for Cap
and Fury. Steve is able to hold onto his
ideals despite the changing of times, and this shows us how well the writers
understand the character. Cap isn’t
perfect, but he’s always striving to do what is best. The Falcon is a perfect partner, for he is
the modern version of Cap-another dedicated though haunted soldier. The Black Widow also has a great story arc,
as she comes to face her troubled past and tries to move beyond it.
I guess that sums up my
thoughts pretty well. I’ll add just one
thing: I really liked the guy who played Alexander Pierce. I’ll have to find the time to see if he’s
done anything else of interest!