Review of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," DVD version

Review of

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, DVD version


Five out of five stars

S.H.I.E.L.D is a subsidiary of Hydra

 The world is rapidly changing, but the deepest changes are well hidden. S.H.I.E.L.D, the organization dedicated to protecting the United States and the world from the greatest of criminal threats, is compromised by Hydra, the most powerful criminal and terrorist organization in the world. In the Marvel universe, Hydra is the main opposition group to S.H.I.E.L.D.

 Nick Fury, the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, becomes suspicious of factions in his organization and he engages in some questionable actions. One of the main ones involves the hijacking of a S.H.I.E.L.D ship, and Captain America is one of the operatives sent to regain control of it. While on the ship, fellow agent Natasha Romanoff takes the time to download some information, making Cap suspicious regarding the operation and he confronts Fury.

 With extremely high level Hydra agents within S.H.I.E.L.D, it is not long before Cap and Natasha become fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D and Fury is apparently assassinated. Hydra has recruited a mercenary known as the Winter Soldier, a man captured by the Soviets and turned into an extremely deadly and efficient force.

 S.H.I.E.L.D is about to deploy a system of three helicarriers that will be aligned with satellites to target people considered threats. Hydra has developed an algorithm that identifies all people considered threats to itself and the plan is to simply have the system kill them. It becomes a battle between S.H.I.E.L.D factions, with Cap, the Falcon and Natasha fighting desperately to reprogram the system so that it will not engage in mass killings.

 The battles are intense, there is a lot of gun and missile play, but the most significant is the hand-to-hand fighting between Cap and Hydra operatives including the Winter Soldier. It is extremely well choreographed as the opponents knock each other around a great deal. The action is intense, yet there are moments of human passion and compassion, where the heroes demonstrate that despite their considerable strengths, they remain human to the core.