I think the movie was OK. But it could've been sooo much better. The quirkiness of the protagonist as played by Andrew Garfield in this series is good at times and irritating at some other times.
I just loved the chemistry between the lead pair, even though the supposed heartbreak lacked intensity. After watching this movie, I now have a huge crush on Emma Stone :-D
She has indeed played the part very well. The other win in the casting/performance department is Sally Field. I loved her as Aunt May.
The best part of the films for me were the bullet time sequences and the action sequences in the beginning. But the villains were very disappointing. Electro should've been the only villain with maybe a hint of Green Goblin entering at the end. The role of Electro should've been written better, especially the transition from Max Dillon to Electro and his powers/weaknesses exactly. Like it is never clear how he can absorb the electricity from an entire city but can still be "over-charged" like a battery somehow...
I did enjoy the 3D and the sequences when Spiderman swings through the city. All in all, it was OK, but not great. Could've been so much better, with a little intensity and depth in the performance. For a moment I felt that if Marvel Studios-Disney had the rights to Spiderman then they would've done so so much better. But alas, that's only wishful thinking for now.
@Pradeep: Yes, fair point when you say that a large part of the audience is going to be the general audience. I am also included in that :-)
I myself felt exactly the same i.e. pining for more on the winter soldier when I first saw this movie. But somehow, interestingly, this movie has turned out to be on of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, IMHO.
Let's hope that the other movies would continue to better this one. I'm little skeptical about Marvel deciding to make Ant Man(going to be released after Avengers 2) though. I just hope it does justice to the fan base that they have acquired.
I personally thought this movie was amazing. I did think that something was off. And I felt it was the way things ended, or the way the final choice made by Noah was treated. I felt like there should have been some stronger reasoning about why he did what he did in the end.
That apart, I felt the way the story moved, especially the convictions that built up inside Noah were portrayed beautifully. It was amazing to see the philosophy behind the decisions that he took, save the most important one towards the end.
I think this review is more as a general audience, which probably is most of the audience right now, including myself. But, what we as the general audience fail to keep in mind is that these movies are based on comic books. And the treatment of the winter soldier is bang on in that regard. The twist and the coup by the "other" organization is exactly based on the comic books.
In fact, if you follow the TV series, Agents of SHIELD, then this movie is in between the 16th and the 17th episodes. So I'm pretty happy with the way MARVEL studios has planned out their cinematic universe. I think the trailers made us expect that this movie is mostly about Cap battling against the Winter Soldier. I know that it feels disappointing when the Winter Soldier was denied a meatier role. But, we have to consider other factors. These movies are building up on top of each other. Sebastian Stan has a 9 film deal with MARVEL, so we are definitely going to see more of him.
Many comic book fans actually LOVED this movie. They feel it is the best movie to come out of MARVEL so far. Frankly speaking, up until now I thought Cap was the second lamest Avenger, the lamest Avenger being Hawkeye. But after this movie Cap is as formidable as any one else. What is interesting to note is that Cap is the only one whose character has developed some depth. Other characters simply don't have this kind of moral dilemma. So this makes Cap even more amazing. The other reason this movie is awesome is obviously the meaty role given to Black Widow.
About being superficial, I think we need to realise one thing here. There has been a fundamental difference between DC Comics and MARVEL. In the DC Comics, the characters always have deep personal conflicts and battles. At MARVEL, characters were designed to be part of a shared universe, so the team always counts more. Or, to put it differently, it is the effects of an individual on the whole that matters more at MARVEL. Whereas in DC, the transformation and progression of a single character through his/her own inner battles is the primary focus which brings about change around the character. This is fundamentally why MARVEL movies have humor as a large part of their universe.
Anyways, I would suggest you follow the TV series as well, because there is a lot of interesting stuff happening over there too :-)
I could barely sit through this one. I found it to be a disappointing and horrible movie. Kangana Ranaut is totally wasted.
I think the movie was OK. But it could've been sooo much better. The quirkiness of the protagonist as played by Andrew Garfield in this series is good at times and irritating at some other times.
I just loved the chemistry between the lead pair, even though the supposed heartbreak lacked intensity. After watching this movie, I now have a huge crush on Emma Stone :-D
She has indeed played the part very well. The other win in the casting/performance department is Sally Field. I loved her as Aunt May.
The best part of the films for me were the bullet time sequences and the action sequences in the beginning. But the villains were very disappointing. Electro should've been the only villain with maybe a hint of Green Goblin entering at the end. The role of Electro should've been written better, especially the transition from Max Dillon to Electro and his powers/weaknesses exactly. Like it is never clear how he can absorb the electricity from an entire city but can still be "over-charged" like a battery somehow...
I did enjoy the 3D and the sequences when Spiderman swings through the city. All in all, it was OK, but not great. Could've been so much better, with a little intensity and depth in the performance. For a moment I felt that if Marvel Studios-Disney had the rights to Spiderman then they would've done so so much better. But alas, that's only wishful thinking for now.
@Pradeep: Yes, fair point when you say that a large part of the audience is going to be the general audience. I am also included in that :-)
I myself felt exactly the same i.e. pining for more on the winter soldier when I first saw this movie. But somehow, interestingly, this movie has turned out to be on of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, IMHO.
Let's hope that the other movies would continue to better this one. I'm little skeptical about Marvel deciding to make Ant Man(going to be released after Avengers 2) though. I just hope it does justice to the fan base that they have acquired.
I personally thought this movie was amazing. I did think that something was off. And I felt it was the way things ended, or the way the final choice made by Noah was treated. I felt like there should have been some stronger reasoning about why he did what he did in the end.
That apart, I felt the way the story moved, especially the convictions that built up inside Noah were portrayed beautifully. It was amazing to see the philosophy behind the decisions that he took, save the most important one towards the end.
I think this review is more as a general audience, which probably is most of the audience right now, including myself. But, what we as the general audience fail to keep in mind is that these movies are based on comic books. And the treatment of the winter soldier is bang on in that regard. The twist and the coup by the "other" organization is exactly based on the comic books.
In fact, if you follow the TV series, Agents of SHIELD, then this movie is in between the 16th and the 17th episodes. So I'm pretty happy with the way MARVEL studios has planned out their cinematic universe. I think the trailers made us expect that this movie is mostly about Cap battling against the Winter Soldier. I know that it feels disappointing when the Winter Soldier was denied a meatier role. But, we have to consider other factors. These movies are building up on top of each other. Sebastian Stan has a 9 film deal with MARVEL, so we are definitely going to see more of him.
Many comic book fans actually LOVED this movie. They feel it is the best movie to come out of MARVEL so far. Frankly speaking, up until now I thought Cap was the second lamest Avenger, the lamest Avenger being Hawkeye. But after this movie Cap is as formidable as any one else. What is interesting to note is that Cap is the only one whose character has developed some depth. Other characters simply don't have this kind of moral dilemma. So this makes Cap even more amazing. The other reason this movie is awesome is obviously the meaty role given to Black Widow.
About being superficial, I think we need to realise one thing here. There has been a fundamental difference between DC Comics and MARVEL. In the DC Comics, the characters always have deep personal conflicts and battles. At MARVEL, characters were designed to be part of a shared universe, so the team always counts more. Or, to put it differently, it is the effects of an individual on the whole that matters more at MARVEL. Whereas in DC, the transformation and progression of a single character through his/her own inner battles is the primary focus which brings about change around the character. This is fundamentally why MARVEL movies have humor as a large part of their universe.
Anyways, I would suggest you follow the TV series as well, because there is a lot of interesting stuff happening over there too :-)