Reel Reviews

Captain America: The Winter Soldier -- I really wanted to give this flick a positive review, and intended to do so up till the moment I sat down at the keyboard. This film brings likeable qualities to the screen: Chris Evans does a good job of conveying Cap's earnestness, many of the action sequences are typically audacious (a trait shared with its predecessor), the plot even takes a stab at some serious philosophical questions. But...this doesn't seem like a very well thought out movie. The surprises aren't all that surprising, the major reveal doesn't make a great deal of sense (and why "The Winter Soldier"? I don't recall that ever being explained), and the ending largely devolves into the same orgy of destruction we saw in the first Avengers flick. If you're big on the whole Marvel universe, you probably want to watch this one for completeness, if nothing else--just don't pay for it; get it from the library or TV. If they want your dollars, the producers need to do better than this.