Negative Truth

(Some SPOILERS for Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the fifth paragraph).

I've realized that sometimes I won't just keep quiet about my qualms about things, not because I want to be negative and don't want to be positive, but because I feel I am being dishonest if I don't explain why I didn't love something: a film, situation, or event.

After seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier the other day, I wasn't nearly as positive about the film as everyone else seemed to be. People were raving about the movie, saying it's the best super hero film so far. I was underwhelmed. I liked it, I thought it was good, but I didn't leave the theater feeling overly satisfied or impacted.

I kept racking my brain: what didn't I like about it? What didn't work for me? Does this matter? Should I say anything because I didn't like it as much as others, or should I keep quiet unless I affirm that it was well done? So far I have kept mostly silent, now and then telling people I thought it was really good. I did! There were some excellent sequences, lots of great acting, and a solid story overall. And I don't need to be negative. There wasn't anything I disliked about the film. Should I even say anything about my dissatisfaction about the film?

Thinking about it for a while, just telling people I thought it was good didn't entirely feel right to me. I felt I was being dishonest by not telling people my true perception of the film. But even to fully express my reaction, the feeling is still perplexing. Though there isn't anything in particular I didn't like, for whatever reason, the film didn't hit the mark for me overall. Maybe I didn't know enough of the back story or the history of the comics, but some of the twists were not what I was expecting. I wasn't shocked by the twists, but I didn't really know how to feel about the twists at all. It was like I was numb while things happened in the film. Events took place, and I barely reacted. In the aftermath, I didn't know how to feel.

(SPOILERS in this paragraph):
Parts that I did like were some of the biggest action sequences. The action in this film is very well directed. The camera tells the story, rather than cutting away from it for the mind to fill in the blank. My favorite sequence in the film is when Cap escapes SHIELD and takes down a jet in the process. Very exciting, very classic Cap, and very well executed. It was one of those moments where the whole audience jumps up after an amazing touch down--where you feel the excitement in your chest. I also really liked Captain America's character. They really get him and his inner struggle in this movie. He's just who I want him to be.

But maybe this is where it doesn't quite work for me. Even though we know who Captain America is and he's who we want him to be, who we know him to be, it doesn't feel very personal. It's like there are too many things going on in this movie, and we don't get a good chance to really get close and personal with the characters. Lots of events happen, lots of plot and exposition happen, and lots of action happens. Now and then we get a few lines from a character about how they feel, but it's so short, it's like a fly over of scenery. You get a glance of the richness below you, but before you get a chance to understand it fully, it's gone.

I'm not saying I want a heart throb drama, but my favorite stories have characters who I almost consider friends because I grew to know and appreciate them so well. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there's not enough time to get a deeper sense of who these people are. There is character development, and we know these characters better than we did before the film. But I can't help feeling like we're only scratching the surface of who these people are, and that makes me feel unsatisfied. I just needed to say that.