SPOILER ALERT:
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It's Bucky Barnes.
Not that that came as a surprise to anyone who knows the Winter Soldier story. Or anyone who saw the previews. Or anyone who saw the first Captain America movie (which, in the interest of full disclosure, I did not). The only person in the movie theater who's surprised by the reveal when it happens is Cap himself.
The thing is, the reveal doesn't really take anything away from the movie -- if anything, it became it's primary selling point. "What will Captain America do when he finds out about this?" But that leaves out so many of the other things that are going on in this movie... and I'm still not sure if that's a problem or not.
Because there are a lot of other things going on in this movie, to the point that the Winter Soldier arc almost becomes an afterthought. It's this sort-of mash-up of different themes -- freedom vs. security, sabotage, reconciling your past, accepting your present -- that could easily have led to a mucked-up mess, but it doesn't. Again, though, it did seem like the Winter Soldier wasn't the biggest part of the movie and he probably should have been.
Not to say that the other elements don't work, though. It's a spy movie in more than a few ways. It has action without being overtly action-y, the elevator scene excepted. (And even that was a pleasant surprise to me, in that only one person was being targeted.) It was also the best thing to happen to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- it was just before the movie came out that the show started to get good, and the HYDRA arc that began in the film gave the show real stakes that it just hadn't had up until that point.
I'm convinced they stack the casts of these movies in particular so that Chris Evans doesn't have to carry any more weight than he's capable of. Going into The Avengers, both Chrises were my biggest concern, but Evans especially had never really impressed me in the things I'd seen him in before. But even with his limitations (and perhaps because of them, in a way) he's perfect to play Cap -- he looks the part and he can do the earnestness and steely resolve that the character demands. And even though the Iron Man/Cap relationship (and, separately, the Tony Stark/Steve Rogers relationship) is the most important one in the Avengers, Black Widow is the perfect counterpart for him in this movie.
Robert Redford. Robert Redford in a Captain America movie! What a time to be alive. He's going to stand out because he's Robert Redford. But how he stands out... man.
Playing the part of Washington, D.C., tonight will be... Cleveland? U.S. 6 doesn't go to D.C. ...
Props to whoever got a copy of WarGames into Steve's hands.
Sup, GSP. How you doin', girl from Revenge. (I spent the entire movie trying to place her because there are about six or seven other actresses that she looks like who also would have made sense in that spot. Good thing I'm already a "stay through the end credits" guy.)
I guess you need some kind of verdict. If you're a Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, this movie is nothing less than a game-changer. Big things happen and they have real, concrete consequences not only for the people in this movie, but for a lot of other people in the MCU who aren't in this movie. It's not annoying filler like Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World. It's the best -- and most important -- post-Avengers MCU film so far.
Also of some note: Cap gets through this entire movie without firing a single gun.
Also also, breaking into Fort Meade to steal the last Falcon suit better be at least a deleted scene on the Blu-ray.
So that's Loki's staff. Those... do not look like the right hands.
