Drawing a line on violence
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (12a)
Running time 136 minutes
Rating:***
You would have thought that, armed as he is with a nifty shield that slices bits of everything, a six-pack to die for, and the ability to jump from high buildings and land on the pavement without damage, Captain America would be someone most bad people would want to avoid. But no, just when he was settling down to a relaxed session of acclimatisation with 02014, after being frozen for 60 years, along comes a deadly new foe, the Winter Soldier. Captain America (Steve Rogers / Chris Evans) is ready to step up to the mark, but finds the enemy is shadowy, nameless, and formless (unless he wants to get a swift kick in). Even his boss, surly Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) is little help, just talking gnomically about trusting no-one. And that is really the main plot of Captain America: The Winter Solder – an internal fight within S.H.I.E.L.D that threatens the organisation struggling to combat a rising tide of terrorism in the world. At the centre of the battle are three giant airborne aircraft carriers, capable of wreaking havoc on a grand scale that the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) wants launching, while Fury does not. There ensues much combat between rival elements in the organisation, attacks from the soldiers of the Winter Soldier, and political grandstanding by all and sundry leading to what must be said is a good plot twist right at the end. There are three issues worth mentioning in the film which could easily be dismissed as the latest standard comic book adaptation. First, the film is visually superb, one of the best yet at convincing the audience that they are watching real action. Secondly, the underlying message, that a deeply-buried organisation can trigger terrorist action worldwide as a means to achieve its own ends, is delivered subtly and with great craft by directors Antony and Joe Russo. Mind you, looking at the origins of Captain America in 1942, just before America’s entry into WW2, as a great patriot, ready to defeat any foe that comes as no surprise. The third point is more difficult, and one that depends on your point of view. Having watched a great number of films over the years, you get a sense of what to expect in those classified as U, PG, 12, 12a and so on. This film is rated 12a, but for me what you get is not what I would expect. There is frequent and detailed images of deadly attacks on people, some are on faceless beings that you often see in films such as this, but many are clearly identified, and they are killed with knives, shields, fists and much more, all accompanied by suitably awful sound effects. For me, the level of violence as depicted in this film should have made it a 15 classification, and I can imagine that it is only the absence of gouts of blood that stops it being an 18. Something perhaps for adults to consider when making their choice of film viewing for children over the Easter holidays.