Captain America: The Winter Soldier - a Review

I am pretty much the worst person to have with you in a movie theater when the film in question is an action/adventure type. It has to do with learning styles.

Let me explain...

Because I'm a visual learner and have a vivid imagination, I see things and feel them viscerally and then I react audibly. (Of course, you could chalk this up to the fact that I'm Cuban, but that's not important right now.)

Anyway, the "reacting audibly" (in a movie theater) part is where it becomes problematic for someone trying to quietly enjoy the film in question.

My daughter, Lucy came with me to the pre-screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier a few weeks ago. Lucy is the type of learner who takes in all the information and digests it and then later discusses the conclusions she has come to.

Me? Not so much. I see it. I feel it. I. AM. RIGHT. THERE.

Although I enjoyed the first Captain America film and am a big über-nerdy fan of the entire Marvel Universe, I was not prepared for how awesome this film was. Again, I'm a big fan of the franchise anyway.

I'd have to say that unless you've seen the original Captain America: The First Avenger and also The Avengers, you won't appreciate this film as much as we Marvel über-nerds will. You totally need Steve Rogers' back story, particularly when they do the reveal of The Winter Soldier. I may or may not have yelled loudly, "No way!" at that point in the film, but that's not important right now. Lucky for us, we happened to have seen it with a theaterful of equally über-nerdy Marvel fanboys, so there was no call for my removal from the theater. Also, everyone was thinking the same thing.

The Winter Solder is slightly different than the other films in that it has an element of being a political thriller, which I appreciated. And one of the best, most jaw-dropping, did-they-just-do-that car chases in any film ever. (I'm talking all the way back to The French Connection. Wait. Did I just date myself?)

What I appreciate most about Captain America is that Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans - *sigh*) is a true conservative hero. The old-school, moral, fight-for-what-is-right type.

"You hold a gun on everyone on Earth and call it protection," he says. "This isn't freedom, this is fear." I can't think of another film where they've ever discussed the moral implications of trading in freedom for security. I was impressed. Also, I may or may not have loudly yelled, "YES!" at that point, but again, that's not important right now.

Did I mention that I tend to react audibly when I get engrossed in a film? And believe me, I was completely engrossed in this film.

I don't want to spoil anything, but for all my fellow Marvel über-fans (and you know who you are), I just have three words for you:

The. Elevator. Scene.

I'm not going to give any more away. I'll just say that Lucy and I both enjoyed the film tremendously.

Also, her arm is healing quite nicely from the bruises incurred while sitting next to her mother who enjoyed the film so much that she provided both action and adventure. Learning styles, people.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, April 4th, 2014.