Sam spreads his wings and Bucky fights his demons.
WandaVision was a swell start to
the new Disney+ Marvel series. It was a weird, psychological piece about grief,
about growth and just a fun story that helped shift two minor MCU characters
into big characters. Hopefully, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will do just
that for Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Enough preamble, let’s get to it.
We open on Sam in a black suit. He
has the Shield on his bed. He gives it a good, long look before putting it back
into a carry case. He remembers his conversation with Steve when he passed the
metaphorical torch to Sam.
“How does it feel?”
“Like it’s someone else’s.”
“It isn’t.”
We cut to Sam helping save a
captain kidnapped by a terrorist group called LAF. Falcon is told that he needs
to fly in fast and undercover to avoid violating any treaties. Falcon, the guy
who flies with a jetpack and artificial wings, is told to be subtle. Huh. On
the ground, Lt. Joaquin Torres is his info guy, uploading information to his
HUD as he goes.
I'm so glad they started adding color to his costume.
Falcon flies in. He circles around
to the cockpit, sees that the pilot is dead and a LAF goon is flying the plane.
The pilot sees Falcon but he falls back before the goon can get a good look at
him. Interestingly, the guy leading this squad of goons is none other than
Batroc the Leaper. I guess super goons aren’t as impressive as they used to be.
Batroc seems to be under the impression that the pilot, Louie, is an idiot. Win
for Sam. Falcon locates everyone through the plane’s hull with his HUD, and
sends his drone, Redwing, out. The drone slices the door off the cargo bay.
Falcon flies in and takes out several goons before one guy starts shooting at
him. Falcon’s wings form a shield that protect him, but unfortunately the
ricochet hits and kills Louie. The plan drops several feet before the autopilot
engage and levels off. Batroc faces off against Falcon, and oh, right, I forgot
this version is actually a fairly competent fighter. He’s able to hold off
Falcon long enough for his guys to bail and for him to follow, they’re all
wearing those squirrel flight suit things. To which, I have to point out the
stupidity of trying to escape in those gliding suits when you’re up against
someone who can literally fly.
Falcon flies off after LAF, their
guns slowing him down just enough that he doesn’t intercept them immediately.
They glide into a tight canyon where Falcon’s wings slice into the rock,
slowing him further, and then attack him with a helicopter. Redwing takes it
out. They take out the gunner from a second Helicopter before crashing it as well.
Falcon almost catches the captain, but another goon dives on him, distracting
him just long enough for them to land. Batroc gloats that Falcon won’t follow
once they’re over the border, just as Falcon lands in the helicopter opposite
him. He tossed a guy from the helicopter. Batroc shoots his pack before
grabbing the captain and flying off again. Falcon follows, but is slowed by his
damaged pack. Torres warning that they’re about to go into Libyan Airspace.
Falcon dodges around another attack helicopter as he chases Batroc. He takes it
out with its own heat seekers. Torres tells Falcon they need to fall back, just
as Falcon’s pack finishes self-repairs enough to let him zoom out at top speed,
grab the captain and blow up the copter. Batroc leaps out at the last second,
so we will probably see him again.
After the mission, Sam travels to
the city of Tunisia with Torres to celebrate their victory. They have lunch
while Sam makes some repairs to his wings. Torres points out that Sam has a
tech team that could do that for him, but Sam just laughs and says that anytime
anyone else fixes his wings some other new glitch pops up. A passing couple
thanks Falcon, the Avenger, for his role in bringing the wife back. Torres
tells Sam that things aren’t as calm as he might think. He tells Sam that he
kind of gets LAF, but another group called the Flag Smashers are the ones to
worry about. It’s a group of terrorists that believe the world was better
during the Blip, that want things to go back to a world united. Solid idea, but
I’m not a fan of Terrorism. Torres promises to keep an eye on things online and
tell Sam if something happens. Sam gets up to leave, and Torres asks Sam if he
knows anything about Steve. Sam just shrugs and says that he isn’t on a bunker
on the moon. That’s a conspiracy theory, Torres isn’t crazy.
This better be Wakandan diamond glass or something.
Sam arrives at an event honoring
the Steven Grant Rogers aka Captain America wing of the Smithsonian. Rhodey is
in the crowd as well. Sam gives a speech about honoring Steve’s legacy but
looking to the future. Sam, despite being given Cap’s blessing, doesn’t wish to
be a new Captain and puts The Shield into a display case. Afterwards, Sam and
Rhodey chat. Sam thinks that the world survived without Captain America for a
long time, and it’ll be able to survive after him, but Rhodey is less sure. As
they stand amongst Steve’s memorabilia, Rhodey says that he thinks the world is
broke and it’s looking for someone to fix it. The two part-ways, with Rhodey
saying he’ll be around.
Side note, I truly hope the Shield
is better protected than it looks. A glass case is no place for The Shield, it
should be on a Captain’s arm and/or hurled at enemies.
We cut to some fancy looking
foreign hotel. Some guys are going up to their rooms when Winter Soldier bursts
in. Winter Soldier kills a lot of people before finally grabbing his target,
crushing his windpipe as he whispers “Hail HYDRA.” A random young man witnessed
all of this; he tries to get into his hotel room but can’t get the door open.
He begs for his life, telling Winter Soldier he didn’t see anything. Winter
Solider pulls a gun on him…
Bucky wakes up with a start as he
kills the young man. Yep, that was a nightmare. No, I don’t know why Bucky
sleeps on his floor. Later that day in therapy, he lies about having Nightmares
and claims he’s doing better. His therapist, whom is ex-military and specializes
in PTSD and other trauma cases, knows he’s lying and calls him on his bs. She
also points out that a condition of his pardon is participating in therapy.
Bucky get’s annoyed when she starts writing on her notepad, and she just shrugs
and says “You don’t talk, I write.” Bucky tells her that he found someone on
his list, Senator Atwood. Bucky, apparently, has a list of people that he needs
to do something about, to make up for his actions as the Winter Soldier. Atwood was HYDRA affiliated and continued to
use her connections for shady deals. As we see how he handles the situation,
we’re told his three rules. Rule One, he can’t do anything illegal, his
therapist says over a scene where he uses a device to hack her car, lock them
in and drive it around to disorientate them. He says he just gave info to the
DA and wasn’t involved in the rest. Rule Two, nobody gets hurt, as he injures,
possibly kills, her fixer. Rule Three, the only one he seems to stick to, he
tells her he’s no longer the Winter Soldier. He’s James “Bucky” Barnes, and you
are a part of my effort to make amends. He walks off as the sirens draw close.
His therapist claims that he
doesn’t trust anyone, which Bucky disagrees. She takes his phone and points out
that he has less than 10 numbers in his phone and the only one he is in
consistent contact with Sam and he’s ignoring Sam’s texts. Bucky sighs and
points out that, excluding the calm he felt in his few months in Wakanda, he’s
been moving from one fight to another for 90 years. He wants peace but doesn’t
know how to get it. She calls him on this BS again, as a former solider herself
she knows that being alone is probably the most counter-productive thing Bucky
could do to find Peace. She tells him that he’s free and he asks, “To do what?”
 |
| Weird how this the average age of any Bucky's friends. |
Sam and Sarah Wilson have a great family dynamic.
We cut back to Sam who is driving
to Delacroix, Louisiana, to see his sister, Sarah, and her kids. Sam’s sister
seems like a fairly normal sister, these two have great banter. Things take a
turn, though when the banter ends and it’s brought up that Sarah wants to sell
their parent’s old boat. Sam is 1000% against it, as it has sentimental value,
but Sarah can’t make ends meet with it just sitting there taking dock fees. Sam
wants to talk to the bank with her, clearly planning to use his star power to
get her a better deal. She’s apprehensive but agrees to go along with it.
Meanwhile, Bucky returns to the
restaurant for his date. He brought her flowers, since, you know, he’s an “old
soul.” She asks some questions about Bucky; he answers honestly but she thinks
he’s being cute. He’s 106, and he’s a bit out off practice. They do something
kind of cutesy, playing battleship while taking drinks. They talk about Bucky’s
life, he’s honest-ish. Mentions he had sister, his parents are long dead (I
somehow doubt they made it to the 80s), that sort of thing. She thanks him for
spending time with Yori, as she likes the old man and knows he’s been suffering
since his son died. Bucky kind of freaks out and bails. He goes to Yori’s place
and gives him money for lunch. We see a picture of his son on a shrine… it’s
the kid Bucky killed in his nightmare-memory. After walking away, he opens up
his notebook and at the top of his “Amends” list is Y. Nakasima. Well, crap.
Okay, Torres, what did you think was going happen?
In Switzerland, Torres attends a
Flag Smasher rally he found info on online. Masks are handed out and they’re
told to put them on and run around. Most people do, just as some kind of
super-human smashes out of a nearby bank. The running, screaming people in
masks are the ideal cover for the goon and his crew. Torres tries to stop him,
but gets tossed around and a boot to the head. From the strength this guy
showed off, I think he should count himself lucky this brute didn’t cave his
skull in.
This MOFO. Oh and John Walker is there too.
Yes, the Senator is really the bigger asshole.
Meanwhile, Sam is at the bank with
his sister, trying to get the loan. While the accountant they’re speaking with
is clearly impressed with Sam, he’s not helping. He claims that the five-year
gap in Sam’s financial history, (you know, when he was blipped), lack of
consistent funds (Sam explains he’s mostly paid via donations), and an
abundance of people looking for funds (gotta look out for the white folks)
means he’s not a safe investment for the bank. … Yeah, if I’m being too subtle,
it’s quite clear he didn’t get the loan cause they’re Black. Dude has the
audacity to ask for a selfie with him. Outside, Sam wants to keep trying, but
Sarah is all kinds of done with this. Sam still won’t sell without trying to
save it. He goes to the boat and tries to fix it up, but it won’t start. He’s
interrupted by a text from Torres, telling him to get to a computer to look at
some secure files he sent. At home, he does, the files which includes a picture
of the Flag Smasher he met. Sam chastises Torres for not just monitoring online
like he said, but Torres just kinda shrugs. They note this guy is incredibly
strong. Sam clearly thinks something else is up, but keeps it close to the
vest. Sarah comes in and turns on the news. The Defense Department, same dude
that thanked Sam for giving them the Shield, reveals that the US government
thinks that the world is in peril, and needs a new symbol, a new shield for
America. And introduces the world to John Walker, the “new” Captain America.
Those MOFO’s gave him the SHIELD, you bastards!
So, this is a great beginning episode.
Sets up how the world is right now, with people still adjusting to missing five
years of life and that things didn’t just slide back into place after Thanos
was defeated. Sam doesn’t seem like he had the right amount of confidence in
himself to be the person that Steve knows him to be. I liked seeing him both on
the job, which we only got to see a little of in the movies, and at home with
his family. His sister Sarah is great, they’re banter is real fun and I like
seeing how she tries to keep him grounded. No pun intended. While it’s only
touched on here, the issue of race and of how being a Black man and a Superhero
work both with and against each other is a big part of this series. I liked
seeing Bucky dealing with his PTSD. While he’s undoubtedly in a better place
than he was when he was still the Winter Soldier, Bucky is still working
through what he did while he was HYDRA’s preferred Wetworks man. It was really
quite sad to realize that Yori was the father of the man that Bucky killed in
his nightmare. I’d hoped that Yori was an old war buddy, or maybe the son of a
war buddy, so finding out that Bucky killed his son was pretty sad. Oh, and
that reveal. As I said above, this is John Walker, portrayed by Wyatt Russel.
Fun fact, he’s the son off Kurt Russel and long-time partner Goldie Hawn. We
only get a cameo of his here, but be prepared to hate this guy. Even knowing
that Walker, who’s been Captain America but is also known under the alias US Agent,
was involved I still felt slapped when he came out with the Shield strapped to
his back. I promise you, this decision to hand the Shield to someone that was
chosen by committee will have consequence. Oh, and the Flag Smashers are an
interesting terrorist group. Obviously, they have a lot of power, but we’ll see
what they use it for soon. Have a good night, everybody.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50366773
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
No comments:
Post a Comment