CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) remains my all-time favorite Marvel movie. I loved the combination of a super hero action film with a WWII movie. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, which I saw this morning, is another mixing of cinematic genres, this time placing the slam bang super hero fisticuffs smack dab in the middle of a modern spy film. The results are spectacular.

Before I get to a brief rundown of the film, here's how I scored the trailers I saw before today's feature.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2: I'm in.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: sign me up.

LUCY: Maybe. Looks interesting.

MALEFICENT: Pass.

CAPT AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER is two-hours plus of prime Marvel Universe  goodness. There's a lot going on in this movie including: Steve Rogers/Captain America, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Nick Fury, Sam Wilson/The Falcon, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), Maria Hill, Jasper Sitwell, Batroc (yes, Batroc!), Armin Zola, S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA, not one, not two, but three helicarriers, a Stephen Strange name drop, blistering action scenes, a lot of info dump dialogue, a labyrinthine plot full of secrets, moves and counter-moves, a lot of screen time in which Steve Rogers is not in uniform (as Tony Stark was not in armor throughout much of IRON MAN 3), a very puffy and bloated looking Gary Shandling (both Redford and Jenny Agutter (who has a small part in the film) have aged better), Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter/Agent 13, a James Bond style credit sequence and the now common teaser scene which ups the ante for the Marvel movie universe even more.

Remember how at the end of AVENGERS, there was a collective gasp of "Holy Shit! It's Thanos!" Remember how at the end of THOR: THE DARK WORLD, there was a collective gasp of "Holy Shit! It's the Collector!" Get ready folks because at the end of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, there was a collective gasp of "Holy Shit! It's ***** ******** and *********** and ******* *****! What this means for the upcoming AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON movie to be released next year remains to be seen but I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

I know I've said this before but I cannot emphasize this enough. In 1966, when I was ten years old, I was a regular reader of the Marvel comic book title TALES OF SUSPENSE featuring Iron Man and Captain America. Cap didn't get his own title until 1968 but I loved the character from the first time I saw him on the printed page. The work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and the stories they told in ten pages per month of the Star Spangled Avenger were some of my favorite comic books (then and now). The very idea of being able to go to a movie theater and see a full length, live-action (non-camp) major motion picture of CAPTAIN AMERICA was the stuff that dreams were made of. All we had was BATMAN (both the weekly television series and the 1966 feature film).

Never in my wildest fantasies did I imagine that I would one day see a film like this in which so many elements of my beloved Marvel Universe would be brought to vivid and dynamic life on the big screen.This movie made me feel like a ten-year old kid again and for that, I give it a big thumbs up.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLIDER. Recommended.