Cap 2 Redux
I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier last night for the second time (*GLEE*) and have a list of various thoughts and second impressions behind the cut. I was amused at what I'd forgotten or misremembered after the first viewing. I typed up some notes last night when I made it home, added a bit today, and then put them mostly in order of events in the film.
Sam's definitely fanboying Steve there for a few minutes. His eyes sharpen up a bit at the Marvin Gaye part - seeing the man behind the image - but Natasha's text message interrupts pretty quick. (Later, at the VA, he's much more in counselor mode and who Steve needs right that minute.)
Sam's expression/attitude towards Natasha when she pulls up in the car is... kind. He doesn't leer at her or even the car, just looks fond. I honestly have no idea precisely what they were aiming for there because he really didn't seem even wistful to me. It hit me upside the head the first time and again the second. So I have a new head canon which ties in with the file she later flipped open and recognized a mission he'd been on with apparently only the briefest glance at a photograph. I think he's met her before, or, rather, considering she "didn't know he was there," witnessed her in action. I don't know what went down, but it had to be a unique situation that led to him smiling affectionately at her presence there in D.C., picking up Steve. Like he was glad to see she was okay, ostensibly whole and hale and doing well.
"Okay, that one's on me."
"Damn right it is."
Steve's cranky and not buying Natasha's light hearted attitude. She aims and misses at Steve a lot this movie. She keeps trying to figure out the right persona to get him to trust her and he keeps shutting her down. There was really a lot of Natasha character stuff happening around the edges of the whole movie and it was fantastic.
Project Insight and concealed carry parallels? I don't know if that was what they were going for or not but it kind of felt like it?
Tony's going to be unhappy when he finds out what they were using those improved rotor designs for (especially considering he was one of the targets).
Steve crashing through closed double steel doors and tearing them half off their hinges. Steve diving through the side of a glass elevator, down a half dozen stories, through a glass ceiling, down a few more stories, and landing on his cushiony... shield. Steve back flipping, front flipping, and generally treating a fighter jet like an oversized 3D trampoline. What has he been eating?!
Nat: "What do you want me to be?"
Steve: "How about a friend?"
Nat: *disgruntled, disquieted, and/or confused*
Eyelashes.
That was definitely Nat pointing out the Peggy picture to observe Steve's reaction as nothing else makes any actual sense to me. She keeps trying to get a lock on Steve, but he keeps confusing her. Mostly by being straightforward. (Later, at Sam's, he tells her he's always honest. Which would have been sweet if it weren't a LIE, Steven Rogers, I saw the first movie. Natasha just looks at him like he's adorable and probably insane.)
Natasha's phone is ~*~magic~*~ (obviously a customized Stark model)
Holy mother of god, those shoulders. I actually winced on Chris Evans' behalf both viewings. I keep flashing back to him saying something about gaining so much muscle mass for the first Cap movie that it actually ached all the time. I am vaguely curious if him being a bit smaller - relatively speaking - during The Avengers and then apparently bulked back up for this one was an actual directive or unintentional.
That Sam had that file/information ready at a moments notice was fascinating. Or odd. Either one.
Me, after the scene at Sam's house, "It didn't have to be a straightener. She could have done that style with a blow dryer and a round br- wait, that seems about as likely."
"Shouldn't be a problem." Wow, you could drive a big bang through that fic opening.
Bucky said more in the vault than I remembered, and there was more security outside as well as in. I'd forgotten completely that he backhands one tech across the room and the one guard warning Pierce some variation of, "He's unstable."
The movie overall needed a few more Steve and Bucky flashbacks. Not even whole scenes, just scattered here and there. For example, quick flashbacks during the vault scene and, later on, Bucky seeing a double vision of Steve then and now would have been good on the helicarrier.
MARIA HILL'S EVERYTHING ♥ ♥ Seriously, she was just all around awesome. (Later on the helicarrier! ♥ ♥)
At one point it's implied Fury didn't know if he could trust Natasha and she looks pretty uncomfortable with that. First Steve and now *Fury*. She really thought she was passing for more trustworthy than that, damnit. (This movie makes it pretty obvious that Fury is actually occupying a large part of the spot fandom has always assigned to Coulson in relation to Natasha.)
Sam, "He's not the kind of guy you save, he's the kind of guy you stop." and "He may not give you a choice." Which is interesting in particular because a) his day job is helping save people that other people may have already written off, making the statement more damning, and b) as contrasted to his later line about "When do we start?" - has he changed his mind at that point after Bucky saved Steve, or is he just following where Steve leads, full stop?
Sam's batshit crazy. He and Hawkeye are going to get on like a house on fire. To be fair, all the Avengers are certifiable in one way or another, I just feel like there's complimentary psychosis there.
Bucky can fly a fighter jet. (Not a surprise, just a notation.)
Bucky saying, "Who the hell is Bucky?" was probably to underline the point that he'd had his mind wiped again, or that there were ~*~memory issues~*~ happening (just in case you didn't get that already), but it was actually kind of jarring and felt OOC for that particular moment.
eta:
princessofgeeks let me know it was a comics canon reference. Not being in the know at the time, I think I would have liked it a bit more if they'd gone with a slightly different delivery (more frustrated, maybe?) or shifted when it was said a bit later, but I don't know how those choices were affected by the canon they were referencing. As much of a joy as this movie was and continues to be fannishly, I shall leave off splitting hairs now. ;)
Bucky: The only antagonist in this movie smart enough to shoot below the shield.
Natasha's conspicuously half-zipped uniform top during the bit where the helicarriers are crashing is pretty hilarious. Like they filmed it in order, made it almost all the way to the end, and said, "Damnit! We've hardly shown any cleavage!"
Steve has at least 3 bullet wounds including one in the thigh and one dead center of his abdomen, but he still manages to lift that very large, presumably very heavy beam up enough for (a scared, confused looking, oh god that was horrible) Bucky to slide out. There wasn't a lot of holding back in their earlier fight, and he fights back a bit after freeing Bucky, too. It isn't until after he deliberately drops his shield that he gives up, which throws Bucky into a hell of a tailspin. That makes sense in that Bucky finds himself in the role of the bully and fighting the bullies is what Steve does and who he is. I can completely believe that the idea of Steve not fighting back is the antithesis of Bucky's whole subconscious foundation of the universe.
Bucky only displays confusion (vault, primarily, but also during the final fight) and fear (bank vault and fighting Steve/trapped under the beam) and reactive rage (again during the final fight). In the final after credits scene he looks a bit confused, but mostly sad of the "quietly anguished" variety. I would also accept an argument of "terrified sneer" at one point in the bank vault when he's laying back in the mind wiping machine/torture device.
There's an armed guard outside Steve's room and another patrolling the hallway. No obvious uniforms.
Natasha's congressional appearance was weakly scripted overall, but there are other things to recommend it.
NATASHA AND STEVE'S BURGEONING FRIENDSHIP I say "burgeoning" because Natasha has to go and figure out who she is first, besides being a reflection of what she thinks the other person wants. It'll happen, I think she just has to figure out how to let it. (I feel like I should give Natasha room to adjust herself as she sees fit. I don't think she's going to change so much they wouldn't be friends. Does that make sense?)
Relatedly, I've heard of people comparing Bucky and Loki, which is hilarious, because if Loki's like anyone, it's Natasha. If she can figure out how to show people what they want, then she can get them to do her bidding, whatever that may be. Natasha's a trickster, a sleight of hand, and this should be really, really obvious after she literally out tricked him in The Avengers.
"You don't have to go with me."
"When do we start?"
Crossposted to Dreamwidth where there are
comments. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)
Sam's definitely fanboying Steve there for a few minutes. His eyes sharpen up a bit at the Marvin Gaye part - seeing the man behind the image - but Natasha's text message interrupts pretty quick. (Later, at the VA, he's much more in counselor mode and who Steve needs right that minute.)
Sam's expression/attitude towards Natasha when she pulls up in the car is... kind. He doesn't leer at her or even the car, just looks fond. I honestly have no idea precisely what they were aiming for there because he really didn't seem even wistful to me. It hit me upside the head the first time and again the second. So I have a new head canon which ties in with the file she later flipped open and recognized a mission he'd been on with apparently only the briefest glance at a photograph. I think he's met her before, or, rather, considering she "didn't know he was there," witnessed her in action. I don't know what went down, but it had to be a unique situation that led to him smiling affectionately at her presence there in D.C., picking up Steve. Like he was glad to see she was okay, ostensibly whole and hale and doing well.
"Okay, that one's on me."
"Damn right it is."
Steve's cranky and not buying Natasha's light hearted attitude. She aims and misses at Steve a lot this movie. She keeps trying to figure out the right persona to get him to trust her and he keeps shutting her down. There was really a lot of Natasha character stuff happening around the edges of the whole movie and it was fantastic.
Project Insight and concealed carry parallels? I don't know if that was what they were going for or not but it kind of felt like it?
Tony's going to be unhappy when he finds out what they were using those improved rotor designs for (especially considering he was one of the targets).
Steve crashing through closed double steel doors and tearing them half off their hinges. Steve diving through the side of a glass elevator, down a half dozen stories, through a glass ceiling, down a few more stories, and landing on his cushiony... shield. Steve back flipping, front flipping, and generally treating a fighter jet like an oversized 3D trampoline. What has he been eating?!
Nat: "What do you want me to be?"
Steve: "How about a friend?"
Nat: *disgruntled, disquieted, and/or confused*
Eyelashes.
That was definitely Nat pointing out the Peggy picture to observe Steve's reaction as nothing else makes any actual sense to me. She keeps trying to get a lock on Steve, but he keeps confusing her. Mostly by being straightforward. (Later, at Sam's, he tells her he's always honest. Which would have been sweet if it weren't a LIE, Steven Rogers, I saw the first movie. Natasha just looks at him like he's adorable and probably insane.)
Natasha's phone is ~*~magic~*~ (obviously a customized Stark model)
Holy mother of god, those shoulders. I actually winced on Chris Evans' behalf both viewings. I keep flashing back to him saying something about gaining so much muscle mass for the first Cap movie that it actually ached all the time. I am vaguely curious if him being a bit smaller - relatively speaking - during The Avengers and then apparently bulked back up for this one was an actual directive or unintentional.
That Sam had that file/information ready at a moments notice was fascinating. Or odd. Either one.
Me, after the scene at Sam's house, "It didn't have to be a straightener. She could have done that style with a blow dryer and a round br- wait, that seems about as likely."
"Shouldn't be a problem." Wow, you could drive a big bang through that fic opening.
Bucky said more in the vault than I remembered, and there was more security outside as well as in. I'd forgotten completely that he backhands one tech across the room and the one guard warning Pierce some variation of, "He's unstable."
The movie overall needed a few more Steve and Bucky flashbacks. Not even whole scenes, just scattered here and there. For example, quick flashbacks during the vault scene and, later on, Bucky seeing a double vision of Steve then and now would have been good on the helicarrier.
MARIA HILL'S EVERYTHING ♥ ♥ Seriously, she was just all around awesome. (Later on the helicarrier! ♥ ♥)
At one point it's implied Fury didn't know if he could trust Natasha and she looks pretty uncomfortable with that. First Steve and now *Fury*. She really thought she was passing for more trustworthy than that, damnit. (This movie makes it pretty obvious that Fury is actually occupying a large part of the spot fandom has always assigned to Coulson in relation to Natasha.)
Sam, "He's not the kind of guy you save, he's the kind of guy you stop." and "He may not give you a choice." Which is interesting in particular because a) his day job is helping save people that other people may have already written off, making the statement more damning, and b) as contrasted to his later line about "When do we start?" - has he changed his mind at that point after Bucky saved Steve, or is he just following where Steve leads, full stop?
Sam's batshit crazy. He and Hawkeye are going to get on like a house on fire. To be fair, all the Avengers are certifiable in one way or another, I just feel like there's complimentary psychosis there.
Bucky can fly a fighter jet. (Not a surprise, just a notation.)
Bucky saying, "Who the hell is Bucky?" was probably to underline the point that he'd had his mind wiped again, or that there were ~*~memory issues~*~ happening (just in case you didn't get that already), but it was actually kind of jarring and felt OOC for that particular moment.
eta:
princessofgeeks let me know it was a comics canon reference. Not being in the know at the time, I think I would have liked it a bit more if they'd gone with a slightly different delivery (more frustrated, maybe?) or shifted when it was said a bit later, but I don't know how those choices were affected by the canon they were referencing. As much of a joy as this movie was and continues to be fannishly, I shall leave off splitting hairs now. ;)
Bucky: The only antagonist in this movie smart enough to shoot below the shield.
Natasha's conspicuously half-zipped uniform top during the bit where the helicarriers are crashing is pretty hilarious. Like they filmed it in order, made it almost all the way to the end, and said, "Damnit! We've hardly shown any cleavage!"
Steve has at least 3 bullet wounds including one in the thigh and one dead center of his abdomen, but he still manages to lift that very large, presumably very heavy beam up enough for (a scared, confused looking, oh god that was horrible) Bucky to slide out. There wasn't a lot of holding back in their earlier fight, and he fights back a bit after freeing Bucky, too. It isn't until after he deliberately drops his shield that he gives up, which throws Bucky into a hell of a tailspin. That makes sense in that Bucky finds himself in the role of the bully and fighting the bullies is what Steve does and who he is. I can completely believe that the idea of Steve not fighting back is the antithesis of Bucky's whole subconscious foundation of the universe.
Bucky only displays confusion (vault, primarily, but also during the final fight) and fear (bank vault and fighting Steve/trapped under the beam) and reactive rage (again during the final fight). In the final after credits scene he looks a bit confused, but mostly sad of the "quietly anguished" variety. I would also accept an argument of "terrified sneer" at one point in the bank vault when he's laying back in the mind wiping machine/torture device.
There's an armed guard outside Steve's room and another patrolling the hallway. No obvious uniforms.
Natasha's congressional appearance was weakly scripted overall, but there are other things to recommend it.
NATASHA AND STEVE'S BURGEONING FRIENDSHIP I say "burgeoning" because Natasha has to go and figure out who she is first, besides being a reflection of what she thinks the other person wants. It'll happen, I think she just has to figure out how to let it. (I feel like I should give Natasha room to adjust herself as she sees fit. I don't think she's going to change so much they wouldn't be friends. Does that make sense?)
Relatedly, I've heard of people comparing Bucky and Loki, which is hilarious, because if Loki's like anyone, it's Natasha. If she can figure out how to show people what they want, then she can get them to do her bidding, whatever that may be. Natasha's a trickster, a sleight of hand, and this should be really, really obvious after she literally out tricked him in The Avengers.
"You don't have to go with me."
"When do we start?"
Crossposted to Dreamwidth where there are
comments. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)