Friday, April 4, 2014

Captain America The Winter Soldier Un-Masked - Review and Commentary



 So apparently today was DM appreciation day and my gang of nine players decided to drag me kicking and screaming to the movies to see Captain America Winter Soldier. This was an incredible film. The story line sets a new gold standard for super hero films while really taking in a stab at echoing the political thrillers of the 70's and 80's. The overtones are over arching in this one. Shield is center stage throughout and things may never really be the same again.
Many of the elements of this film are tied directly into the first Captain America film.
Re watch it before going to see this one

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 This film throws the audience in the deep end of the Marvel Captain America pond and doesn't let up at all. The theater was cheering at certain parts of the film and visuals are very well done. The action never stops with several key plots running at the same time even though this film.The movie  is PG -13 film and the violence is pronounced and as extreme as we've seen perhaps a bit more then Avengers.
This film stars : 
The Winter Soldier is a well crafted movie and the plot ideas here are not so much taken from the Winter Soldier Marvel Comic series as they are reworked into the movie Marvel universe to a very well done effect. So far as I've seen everything about this movie lives up to the previous Captain America movie and turns the volume up to eleven. 
This film puts Steve Rogers in the driver's seat of the movie and then gives  the action over the Black Widow and the Falcon. There's lots happening here and there's still more coming. I've got to see this film a second time to see every single thread in this one. 


This is perhaps the best Marvel film that I've seen to date and there are some major tie ins to the other films especially the Avengers and the rest of the movie Marvel universe. The ideas here fly fast, the plot elements are bold and comic book like. This however is one of the darker Marvel films to date and it goes a long way toward capturing the air of paranoia and fear that is in the air right now. That fear is taken and turned into a very loud, fun, and one hell of a ride to take a date to. 
The performances here are fun and gritty with just the right level of violence and mayhem to keep things moving very quickly.
This is a film that your going to want to see again and again to get everything. This one opens cans of worms and the door for many more things to come from the world of the Marvel movies. 


OSR Gaming In The World Of 
Captain America The Winter Soldier
 
If you are playing an old school Marvel Super Heroes Rpg campaign using the Marvel movie assets of these films. There are years of plot hooks and ideas just waiting for a DM & players to exploit.
 This one has everything from ties at the end of Avengers, Iron man, to loose threads that tie directly into the Agents of Shield television series. The idea of everything from clean up crews of Shield agents to complete rogue elements of mercenary super heroes dealing with the blow back and events of this film are all there.
After the events of Winter Soldier there are going to be a boat load of agents questioning their place in the world and Shield. This opens the door to many possibilities for DM's to exploit into full blown campaigns.
The elements of Winter Soldier make the inclusion of individuals of exceptional abilities and powers not only a necessity but a need for this world. This is a world that needs heroes and capes like now. The state of things in the aftermath of Captain America is even more shaky and ill suited then the alien invasion of Avengers.
While everyone was cheering on Cap and the rest of the cast. I kept looking at the destruction going on throughout the film and thought who besides heroes are going to be able to cope with some of this? Sure the police, military, and more are there but boy a group of PC's sure could get right into the thick of the destruction seen even in the trailers and help.
 The technology here is bleeding right along the edge of real world into the heights that we've seen in the Marvel movies before. There is some very cool hardware and many of the ideas here might need the touch of a group of super powered individuals to help balance the odds. Seems to me that there is more then enough room to open the door of a couple of Pandora's boxes on some other special Shield projects. Those that might release a couple of second stringers right into mix to help clean thing up and get the world right.
 All in all I think that Winter Soldier presents a unique opportunity for a DM to get right into the old Marvel Universe and get the ball rolling right away on a campaign in the 'Aftermath of Winter Soldier.'
Sounds like a real catchy name for a campaign doesn't it. 

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