Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'
You can hear KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl's movie reviews on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM Fridays at 8:53am & 4:53pm.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl reviews "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," the latest installment in the Marvel Universe of films. This time, the titular superhero portrayed by Chris Evans continues to try to integrate into modern society while battling a new foe played by Sebastian Stan.
Jan Wahl Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
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CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (PG-13) 136 Min
This is Chris Evans' third outing as Marvel Comic's star-spangled superhero and it helps if you already know about this character—and most kids do. So let's just take this movie on its own: it's a wild adventure ride, a CG-filled action flick with a confused, paranoid political-thriller twist. It's a far cry from "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) or any other terrific political thriller, but there are multilayers of corrupt government and shadow organizations.
What anchors the gun battles, car chases and flyboys are Robert Redford as the high-level intelligence official who's full of low-down secrets, Anthony Mackie as the Falcon who has Cap's back and the smart and sultry Scarlett Johansson who's has lots of witty lines and tough moves. It's great that the female "help me" uselessness common in actions movies, is avoided, especially one that will be seen by so many young people.
There's lots of violence but it's not graphic –it seemed like there was a no-blood policy in effect. At two and a half hours, it's at least a half hour too long. It's pop-culture fun.
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Home Viewing/DVD: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, At Middleton, The Wolf of Wall Street, Frozen, Saving Mr. Banks and Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
