A Cinematography Review of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the 12th movie in the chronological timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU as its more commonly abbreviated. The movie tells the story of Captain America (AKA Steve Rodgers) being used as S.H.E.I.L.D's attack dog - something he didn't sign up for - to take care of Director Fury's dirty work. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (commonly referred to as the Russo Brothers), this was their first time directing a movie within the MCU and had a lot of pressure to deliver the next chapter of the fan favourite Captain America's story, and they definitely delivered.

From a cinematographic point of view, the scene in which The Winter Soldier's identity is finally revealed to the audience is an absolute masterpiece. The camera tracks Natasha (AKA Black Widow) as she sprints through the street, telling civilians to get clear of the area and out of the danger zone. She is hit with a bullet and collapses, ducking behind a car and scanning the area around her. It then cuts to a first person perspective, with the camera moving frantically over the crashed cars and rubble as she tries to spot The Winter Soldier, panicked and wounded. The camera then switches to a mid shot of Natasha, still searching for her attacker, when suddenly he jumps on to the bonnet of another car behind her and aims his rifle at her. As his boots connect with the metal, a sharp musical sting plays.

Two close ups within the Winter Soldier's reveal scene

As the music swells it cuts to a shot of Steve (AKA Captain America) sprinting in to assist his ally in the fight. It then cuts to a shot of The Winter Soldier's masked face, and although the mask only allows the viewer to see his eyes, you can still see the fear in his expression. As the two super-soldiers battle it out, the orchestral theme song in the background matches the tempo of the fight perfectly. The camera follows The Winter Soldier's fist as it moves through the air to collide with Steve's shield, and from there the camera changes frequently as the fight between the two men goes on. At about halfway through the fight, a high note can be heard that gets increasingly higher and louder as the blows being traded get more and more vicious and desperate. Steve grabs The Winter Soldier's face and he gets flipped over Steve's head, dislodging the mask and falling to the floor. He rolls, stands up, and the camera changes to a close up of the back of his head. As he turns, The Winter Soldier's identity is revealed. The camera then shifts to a mid close up of Steve's face, showing the confusion and grief across his face as he realizes the person who had been trying to kill him this whole was his childhood best friend. In that moment, Steve can only utter a single word. He says Bucky's name, but Bucky doesn't even know his own name. A close up of Bucky's face as he asks "Who the hell is Bucky?" shows the audience he has no idea who he is and makes the viewer feel sorry for what he has become.  The camera angle then changes to show Sam Wilson (AKA Falcon) swooping down and kicking Bucky to the floor before he has a chance to attack either Steve or Natasha. The scene then ends with Bucky aiming his gun at Steve, before panicking as an RPG is fired at him and running away, using a car as cover.

Lots of various shot types are used within this short two minute scene

Another example of the excellent cinematography is the final scene of the movie. After a long and hard battle, Steve completed his mission of stopping Hydra's plan to kill thousands of people by hacking into the helicarriers and redirecting the targeting system so they instead shoot each other, destroying themselves. Bucky had been ordered to stop Steve and failed. As the helicarrier begins to fall apart, steel beams had landed on Bucky, and he was unable to lift them off of him. Instead of Steve abandoning him and leaving him to die, he decides to save Bucky and try to get through to him. A two-shot of the men show Steve grunting in pain as he lifts the beams off of Bucky's body, waiting for him to wriggle free of the debris. Once Bucky is free, a lot of close ups and mid shots are used as Steve tries to snap Bucky out of Hydra's control, with Bucky refusing to see sense and punching Steve every time he says something. In a rather moving and emotional turn of events, Steve drops the shield and tells Bucky "I'm not going to fight you. You're my friend." the close up shot of the shield falling to the floor hundreds of feet below them signals that he refuses to hurt the person in front of him, and is actually the only time Captain America has ever given up in a fight. Bucky still refuses to see sense however, and the camera changes to a two shot of the men standing opposite each other, then Bucky charging at Steve, lifting him off his feet and slamming him to the floor. He growls at Steve, "You're my mission." and begins pounding him with his metal fist over and over whilst repeating that phrase over and over between punches. As he goes for the final blow, the camera angle changes four times within around ten seconds. The first is of a close up of the damage Bucky has caused to Steve's face as he tells Bucky to finish his mission, and the second is of Bucky's confused yet angry face as he listens to Steve talking. The third is of Steve's pain filled expression as he says the same thing Bucky used to when they were kids. He mutters "I'm with you till the end of the line..." and that snaps Bucky out of his enraged state. The camera angle changes once again to a shot over the shoulder of Steve, with Bucky straddling and pinning down Steve, fist raised and ready to punch him again, but with a look of horror as he realizes his mistake. It almost looks as if Bucky is going to start crying. In the background behind them, more rubble is falling and the floor they were fighting on is damaged. A full shot shows Steve as he falls into the lake below, then switches to a second full shot of Bucky hanging onto a metal support beam as he watches Steve fall. All the while, a sad violin piece plays in the background as Steve falls from the helicarrier, plunging into the water below in a similar fashion to the way Bucky did in the previous Captain America film.

Music is used throughout this movie, enhancing and adding to the viewing experience. Most of the time in MCU movies, the music is created by using orchestral instruments... however, = The Winter Soldier's theme is a collection of sounds from his past. The Winter Soldier's true identity, as the audience find out at the end of this scene, is James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes; Steve's childhood best friend. He somehow survived the fall from the train and was kidnapped and tortured by Hydra, erasing all of his memories and turning him into an unstoppable killing machine. Some other sounds that were used within this piece of music, such as screaming, motorbike engines, and whirring machinery. All of these sounds are linked to The Winter Soldier's past. The sound that starts off The Winter Soldier's theme song is the scream Bucky cried out in the first Captain America movie, slowed down and distorted with auto tune to create an eerie sound. Back in the 1940s, Steve and his team "The Howling Commandos" (of which he was one of) could often be found driving on his motorcycle, and still occasionally drives one today. Bucky's prosthetic arm is made up of robotic components that connect to the nerves in whats left of his arm, and often makes peculiar whirring noises when he moves it. These noises feature in the piece at several points.