Something is very wrong in the Marvel cinematic universe. Everything you thought you knew about S.H.I.E.L.D. and Steve Rogers’, aka Captain America’s, role in America has changed. A suspicious mission saving a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship from French pirates leads to Nick Fury being questioned by his international superiors about the true nature of his actions. Stranger still, a mysterious assassin known as The Winter Soldier has appeared, turning Captain America and Black Widow into fugitives with three shots.
Anthony and Joe Russo, taking over directorial duties from Joe Johnston, have taken an entirely different approach to world of Marvel. They have created a spy thriller using superheroes. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the most shocking and action-filled Marvel film yet. This combination of characters allows for a far more grounded approach than any of the other solo superhero properties so far.
Nicholas Winding Refn has a mission. As a writer and director, he wants to take the subject matter of action films and raise it to high art. It’s a really interesting cinematic philosophy so far removed from anything else happening in mainstream or arthouse filmmaking that it’s going to be totally hit or miss in its impact. The flaws are perhaps the most endearing parts of films like Bronson and 
Writer/director Derek Cianfrance and screenwriters Ben Coccio and Darius Marder take a huge risk in The Place Beyond the Pines. It really is three separate films loosely linked by the chronology of core characters’ lives. The style of Luke’s story is different from the styles of Avery and the sons’ stories. Everything from the cinematography to the scoring changes to reflect a new direction in the film.
The final few minutes almost make you forget all the cliched high school drama the characters are put through to artificially raise the stakes at the end of the film. For the first time since Luke’s story, the characters behave in realistic ways. Genuine suspense builds as you don’t know how far the next generation will take the unresolved conflict 15 years in the making. It’s shockingly good considering the hour of pablum and well-worn tropes shoved in after Luke’s story.
Elizabeth is the type of strong female character we need more of onscreen. She has been victimized but she is no victim and no one will stop her from living her life how she chooses. One key scene later on, a montage of hypnotherapy patients, sees her take an entirely different approach to her calm and brutally efficient demeanor in her office. A domestic violence victim wants to leave her abuser. Dr. Lamb preaches to the rafters the hypnotic suggestions this woman needs to begin picking up the pieces and live her life again. Elizabeth’s experience with domestic abuse is handled delicately and actually enhances the overall narrative of high crime and psychology.