By Renee’ Collins
Rating: 4.5 (Out of 5 Reels)
I enjoyed the first installment of the Captain America franchise and knew I was going to give the latest version a look. Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier (IMDB).
Chris Evans is the perfect choice to portray Captain America because he is the all American guy next door with a heart of gold out to protect and save the world who just happens to be easy on the eyes. Evans does well in these types of roles but I cannot say he is an extremely good actor because I have only seen him in these types of rolls which don’t stretch the acting limits. Scarlet Johansson is back as Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury as well as Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill and all portray convincing and strong roles again. New to this mix is Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon the new sidekick helping the Captain fight the bad guys. The villain in this installment is Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier portrayed by Sebastian Stan a character bent on killing whomever he is told no matter the cost to life and property and he makes a great addition to the cast as well.
The plot line is simple, direct and not as campy as the first installment. As expected the special effects in this film are spectacular and in this case truly add to the overall movie experience. I hoped this sequel did not fall flat as I believe the subsequent Iron Man films did and I am ecstatic this one is not. This is simply a well-made and acted film that will make enormous amounts of money for the franchise and cement more sequels in the future and I am glad for it.