Review 602: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a gripping, topical, politcally astute miniseries  by its two lead characters.

Set six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities and their patience.

 

The miniseries got off to a flying start with the premiere episode: New World Order which explored, to great effect, Sam and Bucky leading separate lives in an post-Endgame world. Sam had been handed the shield by Steve Rogers but felt that he wasn't worthy of taking up the mantle and carrying on his friends legacy. Elsewhere Bucky was trying to atone for his past as the brainwashed Winter Soldier. That coupled with the ending introducing John Walker (Wyatt Russell) as the new Captain America and the miniseries was off to a great start.

 

The primary themes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are Legacy, Patriotism, Extremism and Identity.

 

Legacy: The theme of Legacy and carrying on the mantle of Captain America is explored through the characters of Sam Wilson and John Walker; Sam was chosen by Steve to carry on the mantle but has misgivings and doesn't see himself as worthy of it. Walker, on the other hand, was chosen by the U.S. government and believes that he is a better embodiment of American values than Steve Rogers. Whilst he understands the stats and the legend of Captain America, he proves that has no clue as to who Steve was as a person, so he believes himself worthy of the title due to his service record, training and hero-worshipping, not by any merit of his character. Either way, it shows that a post-Blip world is a world that still needs Captain America.

 

Patriotism: Walker is a soldier who has done everything his country has ever asked and believes that he is a better embodiment of American values than Steve Rogers ever was. 

 

Extremism: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explores this theme (albeit to mixed results) through the Flag-Smashers and how they're willing to use extreme measures to create a world without boarders; The way it was during the Blip. They resemble the many, many real-world groups who try to fight the flaws of society and help the oppressed, only to become corrupted and hurt innocent people in the process. But Sam and by extension the show, isn't instead in labels like terrorist or thug because these words are used to escalate the conflict instead of actually solving the problem. The main antagonist Karli Morganthau (Erin Kellyman) is clearly as someone with good intentions whose gone too far but I don't think the writers are smart enough to provide her and the other Flag-Smashers with the nuance required to come off as morally grey.

  

This theme of Identity is very clearly explored through Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes & John Walker. Sam very much struggles the with prospect of taking up the mantle of Captain America and representing a country that doesn’t represent him. Bucky struggles with his murderous past as the brainwashed Winter Soldier and is trying to gain closure for all the crimes he committed yet he struggles with how people will perceive him and he’s got a lot of apologies to make. He’s very much a hero-turned-villain-turned-hero-again and is trying to adjust to life in the 21st century and post-blip without Steve. But thanks to a few wise words from Sam, he realises that the only way he can truly move on from that past is by opening up to those whom he hurt. John Walker is made the new Captain America because he has three Medals of Honour and is said to far exceed other soldiers in terms of physical abilities but deep down he fears that he may not have what it takes to be the new Captain America as greatly reflected when he fails to gain the respect he believes he deserves from both Sam & Bucky and the Flag-Smashers. In the end, he decides to stop trying to live up to Steve and instead be his own man, I just wish the miniseries had arrived at that point in a way that felt organic.

 

Sam is someone with a lot of emotional intelligence and is a very honourable person as shown when he tries to talk Karli down and makes it clear that he empathises with her plight but doesn't support it. 

John Walker, on the other hand, is very much a soldier first. He's very by-the-book and ruthlessly interrogates supporters of the Flag-Smashers without a second thought.

 

Director Kari Skogland's direction is sharp and viseral; flawlessly replicating the gritty, hands on style of the latter two Captain America films. Allowing for a neat and natural visual way to connect the miniseries to the movies and Sam and Bucky's story to Steve's. Notable is her handling of the main leads; with Sam, the camera is further back to capture his surroundings. And with Bucky, she uses Close ups and shallow focus  The cinematography is fantatsic, the score by Henry Jackman is pulse pounding and energy filled, the costumes are fantastic, notable among these is Sam's Falcon costume which more closely resembles his comic book counterpart. The production design and locations are splendid and bring out the flavour and dynamism of Madripoor in particular is a nerve centre of the criminal underworld filled with Neon lights and

 

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan play their roles of the two titular heroes effortlessly; Mackie, in particular, has truly stepped up from sidekick to leading man status. Because he use to counsel soldiers with PTSD, Sam empathies with Karli's plight and understands why she's doing what she's doing but stresses that the methods she's using are completely unacceptable. Similarly, he's also able to help Bucky deal with his mental issues and trauma he endured as the Winter Soldier and gives him some helpful advice on how to atone for his past crimes. That understanding nature helps to evolve their initial rivalry into a genuine friendship.

 

Bucky is someone whose done nothing but fight these past 70 years and suffers a lot of PTSD because of it, so he's trying to reconcile that and find his place in the world and make good after years of being a brainwashed assassin. Because he holds a deep personal connection to Cap's shield and regards it as the clostes thing that he has left to a family, he's understandably hurt when he learns that Sam donates the shield to the Smithsonian.

Both of them are dealing with the loss of Steve Rogers and the fact that he's gone is exposing their relationship. It's almost like they're feeding off each other as a point of blame for the loss of their friend. On top of that, they have this symbol to remind them that their best friend is gone.

Bucky holds a great deal of guilt for all his actions as the brainwashed Winter Soldier and its only when he joins Sam in confronting the Flag-Smashers that he realises that he has to stop blaming himself and make peace.

I was initially a little skeptical over the casting of Wyatt Russell as John Walker/Captain America/U.S. Agent; In the comics, Walker is a militeristic successor to Captain America after Steve Rogers retires and Russell didn't seem to fit the description due to his stoner-slacker image. Yet he definitely impressed throughout the season. Expertly capturing the All-American hero attitude whilst also bringing a cocky, arrogant side as clearly shown by how he looks down on Sam and Bucky as merely Roger's wigmen as opposed to people he could learn from. And is simply a brilliant foil for them.

Walker, ultimately, is a propaganda tool for the U.S. government, he's supposed to be the lead so Sam and Bucky can't start telling him what to do.

At the same time, it's made clear that Walker is under a lot of pressure to carry on that mantle and wants to do the right thing and embody the ideals of Captain America but, in the long run, proves incapable of living up to it. He also feeds directly into the conversation about what the shield means today. And he embodies a genuine desire to be good and to do good but that's not enough to be Captain America.  

The miniseries also sees the return of Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp); Sharon Carter is a character that I feel has never been given her proper due in either of the two Captain America sequels and personally, I felt that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier did little to reverse the trend. 

In this miniseires, we're introduced to a more jaded and cynical version of Sharon Carter who after seven years of hiding out have taken a toll on her. When Sam and Bucky find her, she's in a very dark place with a bit of an edge and a chip on her shoulders. 

Sharon's arc in this miniseries proved to be frankly bizarre It was strange to see such a wildly different take on Sharon given where we last saw her in Captain America: Civil War. I get that a lot of time has passed in between her helping Steve's faction of the Avengers, but the series never justified her oddly cold, ruthless and at times hostile behaviour towards Sam and Bucky.

 

We also see the return of Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), the main antagonist from Captain America: Civil War. In this mini-series we a version of Zemo that comes closer to that of his comic book counterpart depicting him as a member of Skovia royalty no less. About a third of the way through, he's "recruited" by Sam and Bucky to aid them in their fight against the Flag Smashers. As Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek put it "His role felt very similar to Loki in Thor: The Dark World: The villain for the previous film that gets recruited by the heroes to help them out in their latest crusade. He's done some pretty terrible things that cannot be forgiven but he makes for good company and their are times were you can't help but want to root for him and you go "You know, I might actually see his point of view".

 

The miniseries has a noticeable, intelligent and strong performer in Sam's sister Sarah Wilson (Adepero Oduye). Sarah is very much Sam's emotional centre making her feel like an integral part of the storyline even when she isn't.

 

Another notable player is Lamar Hoskins/Battlestar (Cle Bennett), Walker's partner. Hoskins is very much Walker's voice of reason; the two have known each other since High School, they've served in military together and gone on missions and they have a very believable and palatable report because of it.

 

Also worthy of note is Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), an Air Force friend of Sam’s. Early on in the miniseries, he's paired with Sam when they go on a mission to rescue a hijacked plane from some terrorists. Unfortunately, his character ends up feeling short changed in the long run as he more or less drops off the map after the first couple of episodes and only made a handful of appearances over the rest of the series.   

 

It's also worth pointing out the inclusion of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), that was one character I did not expect to see in this miniseries. In the comics, he's an early product of the U.S. governments attempts to recreate the Super Soldier Serum with Project Rebirth and even took up the mantle of Captain America.

Bradley in this series is the living embodiment of Sam's doubt. Isaiah tells the truth. He was in fact a successor to Steve Rogers during the Korean War but instead of being named the next Captain America, he was imprisoned and tortured for 30 years and turned him into a bitter and pessimistic individual due to all the trauma he endured.

Then, there's the main antagonist, the Flag Smashers, a group of morally grey antagonists led by the radicalised Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman). I was surprised by the inclusion of the Flag Smashers in this miniseries, given that in the comics, its just one guy as opposed to a team led by a young woman.

Linking their plight to the Blip helps to explore the ramifications of that and is clearly commentary on on wider societal issues in the real world, particularly the treatment of refugees and displaced communities. Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with their plight as the Flag Smashers claim that the world was better during the Blip and their attempts to "create a world without borders" comes across as too vauge and intangible. Too often, the Flag Smashers operate under a tell, don't show principle, lacking granular detail to give the conflict the spark it required and they come across as generic revolutionaries.

It wasn't a complete waste though, Kellyman was terrific in the role and definitely elevated a mostly half-baked character. She had a particular standout moment in Episode 4: The Whole World is Watching where she and Sam discuss their different viewpoints. Karli is meant as a stand-in for the disaffected millennials and Generation Y But that's not entirely how this works, it's not enough to be a mad bombing anarchist, you also need to be very charismatic presence who you could believe that others would follow on their campegin and Kellyman despite her best efforts doesn't come across as a credible anti-villiain. Also, while the Flash Smashers were forced out the homes they’d been living in for five years, it was not their home. The people who vanished because of the Snap deserve their homes just as much so really they come across as upset that they can’t continue to reap the benefits of a tragedy that’s been undone.

Ultimately, Karli is basically painting an idealised version of the world post-snapping and I don't think the writers realise this.

Their underdeveloped nature is only amplified by Zemo's presence. 

 

As you can tell, that's a lot of characters; to say that this miniseries occasionally struggles to balance all of them is something of an understatement. Too often it felt like they were just juggling a bunch of characters across the show and seeing where they landed.

All of that's fine and dandy until the finale: One World, One People where the miniseries goes in some fairly questionable directions. The finale has almost wall-to-wall action and a turn for Walker's arc that I just didn't really buy into. They've pulled the Sam and Bucky don't like John Walker card so many times over the course of the miniseries that bringing their rivalry to this conclusion just feels wildly out of character for all three parties. But the emotional beats did hit home hard and a speech delivered by Sam Wilson to indifferent politicians really reflects a lot of real world issues. He understands that loads of people will hate him for picking up the shield, a symbol that means alot of different things to people, and that the post-blip economic crisis can't be solved right away overnight but he wants the Senetors of the GRC to be willing to try and meet those who've been affected halfway.

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier flies, 4/5.

 

The Anonymous Critic.