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deannieI also wrote the commentaries during my initial watching of the films. Often in this house a film can take me up to a day or two to watch (for instance, I was interrupted by an abrupt and unscheduled end to naptime at about 35 mins into Winter Soldier and got back to it 8 hours later. Gives me more time to think about the scenes I'm commenting on, but I do not watch parts and then come back and comment. Which means I probably comment on things in a way that is totally and completely wrong in the final analysis.
But that's the fun, right?
Again, drop in that disc and play along.
Your commentary begins here....
Seriously, five minutes in and I'm already loving the more laid back Steve. I know, we had the whole Avengers thing to loosen him up, but still, the whole scene with him and Sam? Sets a nice tone for both characters.
And Natasha is just awesome and fantastic and I'll have to figure out how to write her because I loves her much and I'm starting to crave some bad ass girlfic. And the deadpan flirting with the uber-self-assured Sam? Sigh!
On to the cynicism. Poor Steve! The modern world not quite what you thought it would be, huh? Looks like Howard Stark and the World's Fair might have sold you a bill of goods. Though honestly, the spooks were assholes in your time, too.
Holy body count, Batman! (sorry, wrong universe) That's some prodigious killing you two got going for you. I kind of love predictable yet fun battlefield badinage. Have I mentioned? And hot women in catsuits beating the ever-loving crap out of men and then sashaying away. I kind of love that, too.
Wait. How is Batroc such a badass? Isn't Steve like, the hottest, coolest, fightingest thing ever?
*Drops dead as Cap takes off the helmet.* Best "I will fuck you up" look ever. Also, awesome flying spinny kick thing! Wow.
Sigh. Poor disillusioned, Steve. God, I loves you. /is pathetic
If only people would really build buildings as cool as the ones they create for science fiction films. Except the Gherkin. That should have stayed a Doctor Who wanna be building.
Nick? You look tired. Still cool, though. And bloodless. And conniving.
I like that elevator discussion. Is random. And fun. And did I know that Steve liked to pry into EVERYONE'S life like that? Was he like that in the first movie and I just didn't notice? I'll have to rewatch....
Wow, Nick. What big guns you have. If you really think Steve's gonna cheer this on, I think you are mistaken.
"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection."
See?
Translation of that entire Project Insight scene:
Nick: This is the new world, old timer! We need big guns! Flamey things! We need to kill them before they kill us, and you need to realize that the world has changed.
Steve: I seem to recall some fascist dumbasses saying almost exactly the same thing 75 years ago. The world hasn't changed at all. And neither have I you young whippersnapper, so cope.
Steve at the Smithsonian. OH MY HEART! Just... wibble.
MARVEL I HATE YOU! I knew you were going to bring Peggy into this! Damn you!
Oh, Steve... and Peggy... sniffle.
(Actor aside: this is the most understated character I've ever seen Chris Evans play and I am happily impressed.)
I'll stop the movie now to expound on how much I like the "man out of time" trope. When it's done well, it's wonderful. And so far, while predictable (watch yourself "back then", find the people who have lived, loved, and died since you left, etc.), it's very nicely done. None of the usual anvils. I continue to be surprised by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Press play now. :)
You locked yourself out of the files, eh? That's a fun trick. Freaked out a bit, are we, Nick? Also, I smell time travel. Or alternate universe. Either way... SQUEE! (unless I'm wrong, in which case, sigh.)
Hey, it's Robert Redford! Didn't even know he was in this film—added bonus! The extant chairs for holographic people are kind of silly, though. And I love the Algerian comment. People are stupid, even in the World Security Council.
Tony Stark? Not going to love the birthday party. Thinking he'll send one of the robo-Irons to attend. If he's not having a panic attack. :)
Sigh. Yeah, I guess Steve actually is kind of suffering from PTSD in his own way, isn't he? He's home again, but nothing is the same. He can't fit in. The people who understood him aren't there any more...
Sam's kind of awesome. But honestly, Steve can never get out. He has to know that. He won't even be able to die of old age, I'm betting. Just go along being Cap until he's killed. Which would seem to be something that would take a lot.
But Ultimate Fighting would be a great side job.
Which brings up a thought: Did Steve get back pay for the last 70 years? Because that'd be awesome.
I love Hill. She's just so... agent-y. Like Coulson. Sniffle.
Oh Nick. You didn't see the car crash coming? Silly man.
Okay, I know this is DC, but seriously?! Come on, people! Broad. Daylight.
(I can't even imagine how much fun and how much of a pain in the ASS this car chase must have been to film. Seriously. I wish I had their job!)
He cut his way through into the sewers? Completely awesome! (And a good way to get all those wounds infected.)
Emily VanCamp! Dude, the bit awesomes keep on coming!
Again struck by how completely self-possessed Steve is for a man who lived the majority of his life as a 98-pound weakling who had never been kissed. I'd say it was the serum, but there was that discussion with Peggy in the car before the serum, so it's not that. It just seems to me that he wouldn't have learned to deal with women so well so quickly... *thinky thoughts*
How very Nick to figure out a way to set Steve completely on alert with one small action: turning on the record player. And the look on Steve's face when he tells him ears are everywhere. "God damn it, sonny, aren't I even safe in my own damn home!?"
Oh dear. Seems someone else knows about your wife, Nicky! OUCH!
HA! She be SHIELD too! Awesome. Spy pillow talk for you two, unless she's one of the ones you can't trust at all... Which she probably totally is.
Well that was a lovely and completely destructive little pursuit, Stevey. How many people and how much property is SHIELD going to destroy today?
AH, Natasha... Your humanity is showing.
I love that Natasha is just standing there over his body, completely flummoxed, almost waiting for him to wake up. Because he has to wake up, right? He's Nick Fury. He's not dead. He's not. (by the way, I'm thinking he's totally not. You can't kill Nick Fury, but it's better if you think you did.)
Stevey? You'd better hope no one has a fiend on for Hubble Bubble before you get back, my friend.
Okay, I would never have trusted Robert Redford in the first place, and one line just solidified it. "Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?" Because if we get you pissed off enough, you'll totally turn on him, right? Oh, how little you know of Steve Rogers, my friends.
Funny, I totally believe that Nick would do that. I could even believe he DID do that. But I do not think it means what you think it means. Unless you think it means he was doing it to keep things safe from the baddies, in which case I think it means what you think it means. Or he didn't do anything and Redford did, which also would not surprise me.
Ah. So Redford says he doesn't believe Nick was a bad guy. That's good.
Except I still kind of think Redford's a bad guy. We shall see.
No, Steve, no! Don't trust Robert Redford! Don't trust him! DON'T!
\o/ Yay, Steve! You awesome!
Does Steve know who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are? I think he should.
And of course, his team is bad. I know it. They just now this second walked into the elevator and I KNOW they're baddies. BADDIES, STEVE!
So nice that he immediately turns to face them. No one has his back now, so he faces everyone.
And then he moves to the front to get a better look at Rumlow and to give himself both exit and maneuvering room...
Back slightly to center to make sure he can't be cornered. And...
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Heh. Loves it.
That was cool. And all kinds of OW. And why did you not think he would jump out of the elevator? Because, if I knew I was going up against Steve Rogers, I'd've considered the possibility.
Ladies and Gentlemen? The wonders of Vibranium.
Cap 1, Big ass fighter plane, 0.
Oh Emily! Prepare to be disillusioned, my dear.
Natasha 1, Cap, 0.
Can I say that, after her awesome "breakdown" in front of Loki in Avengers? I can never believe Natasha when she shows emotion. Except when Nick was dying. That I buy, but her whole being rattled when Steve is slamming her into the wall? I'm not sure she can sell me on this yet.
Steve trusts her, though. And she's franchise, so... likely not a baddie.
Back to Redford, who I still call baddie. I love that no one in the WSC sees the least possibility that maybe Nick was trying to flush someone or something out of the woodwork. Stupid bureaucrats. Playing right into the Winter Soldier's hands (which is good, because this would be a VERY short movie if they didn't).
Chris Evans has very pink lips. I have noticed this before and I continue to wonder why his make up artists don't cover them up better.
HEE! Love the using the Apple store. For all your espionage needs!
"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." "Yes, they do!" Such a fun exchange!
Okay, you're NOT uncomfortable after that? Because I should hope your pants are a little tight, Cap.
I knew this car conversation was coming, and I've been waiting with bated breath. It did not disappoint. I love that Steve doesn't want to make up a new life. He doesn't want to "start over" like Peggy said. He wants to be Steve Rogers, born 1919, just emerged from a 70-year hiatus, you know?
Okay, pause. "It's not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, not dead."
How is Steve dealing with the sexual freedom of the 21st century? I mean... has he had sex? He and Peggy never got the chance (which is all kinds of tragic!), but... has he been making out with people? He doesn't sound like it. (I'm tabling slash for the mo, because I don't see Bucky/Steve and I don't want to see Steve/Howard because that would make Steve/Tony unbearably awkward.)
STEVE: You know it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone is.
NATASHA: Yeah. (beat) Who do you want me to be.
Natasha Romanoff in a nutshell, my friends!
Ah! Back to Lehigh! Good times.
Oh Steve! Pining to be a 98-pound weakling. Sob.
"Who's the girl?" Okay, Natasha, now is not the time to bring that up.
"If you're already working in a secret office, why do you need to hide the elevator." Um... Have you met ANYONE in this universe? Come on, Steve!
Okay, have you ever seen Vincenzo Natali's Elevated? Short film. Very violent. In an elevator. When Steve and Natasha hit bottom, I totally had a flashback to the end of that movie. Hint: It didn't end well.
He's seen War Games? Oh God, now I picture Steve, pathetic in his room, watching movies to get himself up to speed. I wonder what he thought of Speed, actually....?
Okay, sorry, born 1918. The movie came out in 2014, so I thought... ANYWAY, hi, Zola! Long time no hear! You are even more annoying as an AI, just for the record.
"You are standing in my brain." Seriously? Yuck.
See, now, here's where the woman in me who ATE UP the paranoia and dystopia in The Losers comic book does a happy little dance and runs around my head screaming. Because yes. This. Hydra was based on the belief that humanity cannot be trusted with its own freedom. So, too, really, was SHIELD, they just didn't quite realize it. So Natasha (for now) has the most naive line in the entire film: "That's impossible. SHIELD would have stopped you." Of course they wouldn't, Natasha. SHIELD and Hydra want totally different things, they think, but SHIELD is just too naive to understand that their actions will lead to the same end, eventually.
Um... Steve, killing Zola? Not the smartest move you've ever made, baby.
Also, if I'm right about the time travel? I say let's go hook up with The Doctor and book our asses back to 1945 and cap this guy, yeah?
Buried alive! Buried alive!
They are alive in there, right?
Oh, Steve... You are in a fucking WORLD of hurt, baby. How fast can you run with Natasha in your arms?
Also, lose the shoes, dude.
TOLD YOU!!! Robert Redford equals BADDIE!! (Was kind of afraid I'd be wrong on that one and end up looking stupid. Because I never look stupid, right?)
Dead Renata. Moral of the story? Never forget your phone. It could save your life one day. But not Renata's. And not today.
Oh, Sam! I loves you!!!!! Come on in, Steve and random hot lady, I'll protect you! A good man is shaped by circumstance but ever remains a good man. (Natasha is a woman, so I'm not sure she lives up to the maxim because I'm still not sure she's really a good woman.)
Although I'm clearly wrong. Wonderfully disillusioned Natasha—two words I'd never've though I'd put together.
But math (and my lack of information regarding Black Widow—and WHY is there no Black Widow movie you sexist pigs!?): Natasha was born in 1984 (love the Orwellianness) and the KGB was officially disbanded in the 1991. Wha huh?
NATASHA: If it was down to me to save your life—be honest now—would you trust me to do it?
STEVE: I would now.
Most important question Natasha has ever asked, clearly. I love that Steve doesn't answer it halfway.
Oh my God in Heaven, I have a new cinematic love and his name is Sam Wilson. YOU ROCK, my dear!
I dislike Gary Shandling in every form. Including this one. Will he end up dead, soon? Because that would be convenient to my cause.
I meant the fictitious senator, by the way, not the real Gary Shandling. I don't have anything against him personally, I just don't like to watch him.
Sam, you are hot. Really. Hot, hot spy.
Okay, please don't suggest that it's not Steve's style to throw you off the roof with Natasha right next to him, because you know damn well it IS her style and then you'll be all kinds of dead. Or you'll mess the crotch area of that moderately priced suit.
"The 21st century is a digital book." Makes you rethink that Facebook account, now don't it?
My, my... Eliminating threats before they become threats... Where have I heard that before?
Fuck! OW! OW and fuck! Steve! Shit—Sam! God damn! Ugh! Natasha!
(I pretty much go on like that for this whole action sequence.)
Where's the Falcon rig? Seriously. Good time for a Falcon rig right here!
FUCK! Are you kidding me! How is he (Winter Soldier/aka Steve's former bestie) even alive!!?? Oh BUCKY!
That is Bucky, right? I'm not always so good with faces, but he has lovely eyes, and I usually notice those. Gonna feel brutally stupid if I'm wrong.
Question: Do bullets bounce off Steve? Because, dude, even with the wonder of vibranium, statistic dictate that he has to have a FEW holes in him, right?
Indeed. That is TOTALLY Bucky. Fuck.
Interesting. Is the Winter Soldier a KGB monster under the bed, told to baby spies at the their handlers' knees? Because who knew Natasha could be so afraid of something...
The fight between Steve and Bucky is epic! Loves it. Hoping Bucky doesn't know who the hell he is, because this could get awkward if Steve ever finds out—which of course he will, else why make it Bucky, right?
OH STEVE! "Who the hell is Bucky." Thank goodness for that, then.
YAY SAM! SAM'S THE MAN!
Speaking of The Man. Leave. Now. All of you. Hello, shock, I get it, I do. LEAVE!
Oh dear. This is a problem.
Yeah, I did sort of wonder what happened to Bucky in that room where Steve found him. I don't know that I believe the current thinking, though—that Bucky survived the fall. Maybe clone? I mean, they'd've noticed that he was Cap-like before, wouldn't they?
You all know Natasha is eventually going to pass out from blood loss, right?
Okay, aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper AGENT HILL?
Again with the cutting through the floor! Maria, you've learned from the best.
Two pints of blood? I'm thinking, since she only comes with 8 or 9 pints total, and she's not a supersoldier, if she'd lost that much, Steve'd be carrying her. Maybe a pint.
"She'll want to see him first." Oh Nick. Natasha is going to kick your ass, blood loss or no blood loss.
HA! I told you: NOT DEAD! (I'm two for two!)
"I wasn't sure who to trust."
The look on Natasha's face there CRUSHES me. (And again, I say WHY is there no Black Widow movie you sexist pigs!?) And the little nod of,"Well, yeah. No one trusts me. Even my surrogate father. And I must bear that burden because I am Russian." AHHHHHHH!!!!
So it IS Bucky? Whack.
Oh dear. Perhaps this isn't the time for you to remember who you are, Buck. Maybe... later?
Oops.
OOOOH. Bucky! LIFE IS SO HARD WHEN YOU ARE A DEFROSTED SUPERSOLDIER!
(and only one other person will understand that, Bucky. Find him.)
Oh that look on Bucky's face, like he's GLAD to be wiped again. Like he wants an out from the pain of knowing he should know something but not being able to figure out what it is... *sigh*
"You see, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." *snerk*
Also, you said you had a sliced spinal cord or something. Should you be up?
"We're taking down SHIELD." Oops. Didn't figure on that, did you, Nicky boy?
"I do what he does, just slower." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh the slashfic.
STEVE AND BUCKY! BUCKY AND STEVE! (Sorry, I know I'm shouting a lot, but I got tired, many years ago, of superhero stories with no characters. These have characters! I loves them.)
And while Sam has a point here, he has to know that Steve isn't going to give up on Bucky. My thought is that Sam's going to make it his duty to take Bucky out if Steve can't because he is just that awesome.
STAN! He makes me happy whenever he bit parts. Small part, BIG impact, as always.
I'm thinking Steve going back to his original uniform was calculated to spark Bucky's memory (because somehow I'm sure a current CA suit could have been "found"), but at least subconsciously, I don't think Steve wants to be associated with his new life anymore.
Thinking Sam could use some lightweight body armor though. Ugh.
Cap, you really are so dramatic. Peggy was right. *sniffle* Awesome line, Sam.
And now SHIELD explodes from within. Yay?
Oh come on! RUMLOW is just gonna stand down? Who thought that?
Obviously EMILY. Poor girl. At least she gets to keep the hand.
Um, Cap? Sam? Maria? Should we, perhaps, be hie-ing our asses to the helicarriers? Like, now?
Now is good. Damn, I loves watching him fly! Awesome effect.
The problem with having a conscience is that it often gets you killed, Councilman Singh. I expect your comeuppance soon.
HAWLEY! You awesome, girl! Are we sure Joss didn't write this? (By the way, Joss? WRITE A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE NOW!!!!)
Oh my God, it was Natasha. And she is hot and... Are we sure Joss didn't write this? (By the way, Joss? WRITE A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE NOW!!!!)
The whole helicarrier assault is awesome cool, but Cap? Please, I know you've been frozen, but drag yourself into the 21st century and use a throat mike. A blue tooth. SOMETHING! The wrist communicator is super cute, but SO 20th century.
And where's Bucky?
Okay the whole thing to get Sam into the array? Sexy hot.
Oh. There's Bucky. On second thought, could he be elsewhere? Kthanxbye.
Have I told you I have a serious squick about people being sucked into plane turbines? No? I HAVE A SERIOUS SQUICK ABOUT PEOPLE BEING SUCKED INTO PLANE TURBINES!
Seriously, Nick, you said spinal cord damage. Are you hopped up on superhero juice, too? Damn!
Hey! Back off Chicago, dude! No EMPs here, thank you! Get those helicarriers in the air NOW! (hides computer and blu-ray player)
"I could bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing 20 million." New math, my friends, New Math. I seriously doubt there are only 20 million threats to global security walking his world today.
"You know you're a lot heavier than you look." Predictable badinage! Love it!
You tore my wing off, asshole. THE HELL!?
Oh, but Sam, you are so much more than your suit, honey!
Steve is going to cry again and that is going to make me cry and NO, BUCKY remember. Remember!
Ah! He can be shot. Everyone else in the movie is just REALLY good at missing.
Rumlow? Shut up. I want you schooled and expelled. You bother me.
Okay, seriously? I'm gonna have a heart attack before Steve manages to get the damn card in the slot!
Fuck. Gutshot. Poor Cap. NOW GET UP AND PUT THE CARD IN THE SLOT!
Really, Cap? Sacrificing yourself again? You need to stop crashing big planes with you in them. Better yet, stay out of big planes altogether, okay?
Poor Bucky. Poor Steve. Poor everybody.
Nick, you are so cute. You really do love your ragtag little crew, don't you?
Okay, first, it's taking an awful lot of firepower to bring these things down and second, I do hope DC is evacuated, because we're leveling it when these crash.
SHIT! RUN SAM RUN! I expect to see you in Avengers 2 next year, man!
Awesome catch, guys. Good thing Sam loves to fly. :)
And Steve, I love you, but you are stupid. This is dumb. Don't say "I'm not going to fight you" and throw away the shield like you're Luke Skywalker. Beat the hell out of him now, and save his mind later. If he is unconscious and you are saved, he is still alive and so are you. If the helicarrier crashes and buries you both and you are dead, he can't remember you, see?
"Cause I'm with you to the end of the line."
Which is right about... now.
Marvin Gaye is ALWAYS sex music. I know you know that, Sam.
Are you kidding me!? DE RUMLOW DIE!
Natasha rocks. Not giving her her own movie is a travesty.
And I wonder if they meant to make the statement I saw with Nick dressed as a black man in a hoodie. Trading one target for another.
Okay, that was a very lesbian look Natasha just gave when they were talking about Sharon. "She's nice." And you'd know, wouldn't you, Natasha?
Credits! Age of Ultron looks... suitably dark and creepy. And Bucky. Oh, my Bucky! I don't think it's fair for us to have to wait until 2016 until you come back. What's say you hang out with the Avengers next May, yes?
Now I really do need to go watch Agents of SHIELD, because I wonder what they did with it once Winter Soldier happened.
And I have to write the Cap fic that's been trying to burrow its way out of my brain since I started watching Winter Soldier (which, for the record, took 52 hours to watch. Seriously. Welcome to my life on the weekends (if I hadn't had deadlines on Friday, I'd've watched the whole thing in one go).
