Falcon and Winter Soldier review (with some spoilers):
- more action-packed and straightforward compared to Wandavision, jumping straight into the action from the get go
- some great performances here, especially from Sebastian Stan (Bucky), Wyatt Russell (John Walker), and Daniel Bruhl (Zemo)
- Bucky and Sam have great chemistry, even though they start out annoyed at each other
- pacing is a bit odd at times; feels more like an extended movie than a weekly episodic series (especially compared to Wandavision, which took advantage of the weekly format really well)
- although a complete story by itself, this one felt more of a setup for future MCU storylines (again compared to Wandavision)
- while overall the season was good, I find Wandavision was the clearly better watch for me, though I suppose your mileage may vary if your preference is for action sequences
Ending spoilers follow:
(Spoilers)
I felt like so much of the finale was rushed.
Final confrontation and resolution with the Flag Smashers felt flat.
Wyatt Russell sudden redemption felt undeserved - we go from stripped of position to fighting buddies with Bucky very quickly; would have liked to see him publicly address Sam as Cap.
Power Broker reveal was underwhelming; would have preferred it was done via a post-credits scene, possibly via Sharon telling someone about how she had to kill Batroc because he was threatening to expose her (presumably the earlier confrontation would have been cut to omit the reveal). Overall, I would have hidden the secret more (it was really obvious), so that the reveal at the end would have had a better impact.
I wish Bucky’s redemption arc had played a stronger part in the finale, but I don’t know how.
Felt like they could have extended an episode or two to at least make some of these things more impactful.
Next: Loki in June!
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