"Captain America: The Winter Soldier": Leads the Blockbuster Brigade

By Michael S. GoldbergeriBerkshires Film Critic
Print Story | Email Story

Popcorn Column
by Michael S. Goldberger  

Walt Disney Studios
Captain American (Chris Evans) finds truth, justice and the American Way has changed since WWII as he and Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) find themselves at odds with the TPTB.

Much care is taken by directors Anthony and Joe Russo to make "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" everything fans of the Marvel Comics franchise might desire. Yet The Great Unwashed will be hard put to distinguish it from the mass of blockbuster adventure yarns splashing their special-effects laden agitations across the silver screen this time of year.

Folks who mistakenly wander into theaters showing this sequel to 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger," the ninth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will doubtfully become converts. But who needs 'em? The box office doesn't lie. Exhibiting the zeal of religious fanatics, true believers will find ample gristle to chaw on and minutiae aplenty to mull over their cheese fries.

out of 4

The no-expense-spared, $170 million panoply of cutting edge, filmic possibilities feeds the phenomenon, providing adherents with a techno update/variation on the Greek and Roman myths. And yet happily, those living outside its enthusiastic pale won't necessarily need a libretto or glossary to follow the story. Although a tad complicated, it's not obscurely convoluted.

But while Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, handsomely depicted by Chris Evans, again busies himself making the world safe for democracy, it's the subtextual stuff that the sociologically inclined will find compelling. With the passage of time, this genre, primarily intended for adolescents of all ages, has expanded its gray area, specifically as it applies to governments and morality.

That's a good thing, eh Mr. Darwin? Nowadays kids pick up earlier on the hypocrisy of their age. Having such forthcoming uncertainty strewn throughout their heroic pulp fiction hopefully arms them with the healthy skepticism they need to preserve American ideals.

It's changed a bit since Captain America creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby dreamt up the superhero at Timely Comics, the predecessor to Marvel, ostensibly to hearten kids while we fought the Axis powers in WWII. Not much gray warranted there.

By the very nature of his character, a throwback from the 1940s frozen in suspended animation and thawed to fight the good fight, Rogers spans the generations and embraces the changing scenario. Captain America harbors old-fashioned values, and yet is entirely aware of the necessity to merge them with the contemporary folkways, mores and technology important to his world-saving career.

Because I am beside the point, but wished to report on the accuracy and correctness of this rendition, I donned disguise and filtered my way into a cell of Captain America diehards where the film's faithfulness to the source material was being debated. What I could decipher among the esoteric references was that screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, adapting Ed Brubaker's story, picked and chose freely from the body of Captain America lore. The quorum deemed this kosher.


I stayed for a short while afterwards, comfortable that my masquerade had gone undetected, and enjoyed the little repast that was offered. My confidence emboldened, I remarked to a fellow on my right, "Good potato salad, huh?"

"Yeah, not bad," he remarked, adding, "You know, those are Wonder Woman sneakers you're wearing." Grabbing two chicken wings and a brownie, my irrelevancy vanished into the night.

That noted, it bears informing that all the movie's main players successfully etch the sort of characterizations required of their comic book personae. While the baggage of his time-travel travail causes its angst, we never doubt the altruism of Evans' Steve Rogers. Scarlett Johansson is complexly glib and sultry as his super cohort, Black Widow, and Samuel Jackson as their mentor and boss, Nick Fury, is a hip old font of wisdom.

So that works, and so does all the action, especially if you like your colorful kaleidoscope of f/x punctuated with sonic boom explosions, unremitting gunfire and cacophonous crunching. But strip away the big screen framing and what's left is the sort of perfunctory plot that fuels those mystery series any given night on TV.

You know the drill. In this go-round, all is not what it seems at S.H.I.E.L.D., the secret agency for whom Captain America fights the good fight. And as is par for the course whenever someone questions the authority of an institution gone bad, said doubter is branded a traitor.

The story's two warring ideologies, S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. HYDRA, might very well be a metaphor for the divisiveness that, Toynbee would probably agree, currently poses the greatest threat to our country. The movie offers vicarious respite from this and other looming challenges.

Thus, addressing the proverbial bottom line, the amusement value can be judged on a sliding scale that takes into account how much of a devotee you are. However, I believe even Captain America wouldn't think it un-American to wish his "Winter Soldier" episode didn't take what seems like all spring to make its occasionally entertaining point.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier," rated PG-13, is a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo and stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and  Samuel L. Jackson. Running time: 136 minutes

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Simon's Rock Awarded Freedom to Read Grant

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Bard College at Simon's Rock was awarded a Freedom to Read Grant by the Newburger Schwartz Family Foundation. 
 
The grant was awarded to support the Alumni Library and Bard Queer Leadership Project in building a more robust collection of queer scholarship, starting a Queer Book Club, and hosting Drag Story Time events in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires.
 
According to a press release:
 
In response to current educational threats with book bans affecting schools and libraries across the country and further proposed legislation against LGBTQ+ people's access to basic rights and education, Simon's Rock is actively seeking to create inclusive and equitable spaces for queer individuals. 
 
The Bard Queer Leadership Project and Alumni Library will utilize the grant funding to expand the library's current collection of queer books in order to fully enable the longevity of the Queer Book Club and the Bard Queer Leadership Project. The Queer Book Club will be an intergenerational space, open to local middle school students through rainbow seniors and will partner with local community organizations, to discuss queer books and learn about LGBTQ+ issues and experiences. Bard Queer Leadership Project students will eventually help lead this initiative as part of their leadership project training. 
 
The Queer Book Club will host their first meeting on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. at the Alumni Library, with following meetings on April 27 and May 11. This semester, the selected books are "Obie is Man Enough" and "He/She/They," both by Schuyler Bailar, inspirational speaker and first openly transgender NCAA Division swimmer, who was a guest speaker in the inaugural Queer Leaders Vision Forum in fall 2023 at Simon's Rock. Schuyler Bailar will return to campus for a book signing and pool party at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. Participants in the Queer Book Club will receive a free copy of either book of their choice. 
 
The first Drag Story Time will be on Saturday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. at the Simon's Rock Alumni Library and is open to all LGBTQ+ affirming individuals. The event is in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires with local drag queens JV and Poppy DaBubbly. The second Drag Story Time will be Saturday, April 27 with drag queen Poppy DaBubbly and drag king Sativo Green.
 
View Full Story

More South Berkshire Stories