What's in a name? Well, if you're a modern science-fiction movie, not much. Disney/Marvel and a lot of other studios are indulging in a trend of giving their movies evocative-sounding names that don't really have much bearing on the plot. For example, the titular world of Thor: The Dark World was more of a dull green and only had maybe 10 minutes of screen time. With a title like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, you would expect that the story focuses mostly on the two characters it refers to. But Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, has less screen time in this film than he did in the first Cap movie. They try to build suspense by pushing him to the shadows for two-thirds of the film, but the payoff is incredibly underwhelming. He and Cap only interact a handful of times, all of which brief, and Rogers only knows that it's Bucky for the last two. Though there was a fight-scene between them at the end, it was peripheral to the main story. His involvement is a sub-plot at best, with a sense that they're setting up the Winter Soldier storyline for a later film, which would be fine if his name hadn't been in the title. Surely the next time we see Captain America and the Winter Soldier clash should be called "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and not the story that merely establishes their conflict. The underuse of the Winter Soldier does speak to the larger problem of misplaced focus rampant in this film. Even Captain America comes across as just one part of an ensemble cast, with the action constantly being drawn away to characters like Fury and Alexander Pierce, to the point that it feels like an Avengers 2 prologue rather than a film about Cap. Still, it's a fantastic movie with a great story - possibly one of the best entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far - but it was no more about Captain America than The Avengers was. Like this article? Any weird moments to add? Let us know in the comments section below.
