The Lacking Action of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier 

the worst thing this show did was how it completely breezed through Bucky's confession to killing his friend's son. A scene which should have shaped Bucky going forward. It's like Bucky himself directed that scene.

I would have HATED to see Sam get the super serum in this show- I really think it would have gone against the message of this series and I am so glad they didn't go that route

I noticed the same problem in some episodes : the camera is way too close, so we can't see much of the action.. That's unfortunate when the fights choreography seems great :/

Bucky is the definition of when you fight the character vs when you get the character. In winter soldier, he could match up to Steve. Since then, he seemingly has lost all skill

It's honestly a crime how severely underused bucky is even in the series with his name literally in it. it's almost like the title was The Falcon and the ᵂᶦⁿᵗᵉʳ ˢᵒˡᵈᶦᵉʳ

I feel like a huge problem with Marvel's hand to hand combat is that the editors don't really seem to trust the actors choreography. If you look at the BTS of any movie or show, you'll see that the actors seem more than capable of pulling these stunts but once we go to the editing, its all chopped and shaky almost like they want to add a sense of uneasiness but the truth is that's not really the case. Movies like John Wick and even some DC films have proved that long action takes are not only possible, but far more enjoyable than shaky cam and quick edits.

I actually think Sharon's fight in the docks was the single best action sequence in the whole series - also the one I remember the *most* because I remember thinking at the time, this is the single best action sequence in the whole series. Well choreographed, well shot, well edited - didn't resort to cheap gimmicks, just well done.

The ELEPHANT in the rooom ,,Daredevil hallways fights still the best fist fights of the mcu

so i had no idea that they promised "movie quality" so i expected tv quality and i got pretty good tv quality so I was never that disappointed with the later fight scenes, they didnt look as good as the opening but yeah really rings true to "no expectations = no disappointment"

Yeah I feel bucky shouldn't struggle as much in fights considering he was once the most infamous assassin in the mcu

The Russos action sequence > Kari Skogland action sequence

Films don't make better action scenes than shows, compare Captain Marvel to Daredevil. It's just depend on how much time they allocate to each action scene.

I felt a lil guilty having reservations about the action of the finale, because the series was so great. But good to know I wasnt alone.

The Sharon Carter fight scene is definitely one I remember. I remember rewinding a part to see if a part was all one take (it wasn't), but the quality of the filmmaking did stand out to me.

It’s funny how he barely talks about the winter soldier in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

I just want to say I really appreciate how you critique things without malice. You're not saying we should hate this and it sucks. Just giving some valid criticism. Your videos are always a joy to watch, especially your videos on Captain America!

I hope he mentiones how in every "fight" scene there was like 20 different camera cuts. Completly unnecessary.

yes the winter soldier is supposedly a living legend super soldier with a vibranium arm who can take down a country in one night with minimal people (explanation from civil war) and . . . . . he is limited to punching and kicking. tbh i was hoping the action are as good as captain america the winter soldier movie or at least as good as the punisher or daredevil but. . sadly that is not the case

I feel like the show was just laying the character development groundwork for Captain America 4, now they've got the character development sorted they can go full action in the movie. It makes sense as character development takes more time than action sequences and could slow the movie down if they're going for an all out action movie.

I was hoping for some action from bucky on the level of the highway fight scene from WS. And I am really disappointed😞

For me, the worst aspect of the show by far was Karli. It really rubbed me the wrong way the way she was portrayed as this “fallen angel” with big puppy dog eyes and they still had her steal from the poor to feed the poor. Like, she genuinely believes it’s people’s own fault for dying, that it was ever okay to threaten Sam’s sister and nephews. I think they wanted to have her be like Killmonger but the difference was Black Panther never made excuses for his villainy, they dissected it. I actively rooted for the flag smashers to be stopped in the same way I wanted Aim or Hydra stopped, and I feel no shame whatsoever in referring to her as a terrorist. If the mask fits.....

The only problem I had with the action is that I wanted Bucky's arm to to have some special features like Klaue's

Agreed, and we've all complained on Bucky's weird power scaling. He went from giving Steve and T'Challa a run for their money, to struggling against teens with SS running in their veins But those Winter Soldier scenes, both in flashbacks and when Zemo was "controlling" him, were BAD.ASS🦾🦾

I finally understand why my partner who has ADHD struggled to understand what was going on. Appreciate this

For what it's worth, the FlagSmashers had the serum for what? A few weeks or months? Bucky's been fighting for multiple decades. Brute strength alone isn't going to match up to someone who has decades of experience.

If I'm a director, I would do something similar as the Netflix Daredevil series, filmed in one shot and following the Main Characters as they fight. No need for quick cuts, nor close ups, and SCREW shaky cam.

14:20 One of the most powerful weapon on Earth, the one that can withstand Mjolnir, was taken down easily by a chair.

I didn't think the series had little action. If you see the series as an extended edition of an MCU movie, it has exactly the same amount of action. At least two smaller action scenes at the beginning and end of each chapter, and two big fight scenes, one in the middle and another one right at the end. It's just that the character development scenes are stretched out and take their time. Which I am perfectly fine with. I really liked the series

I kind of wanted to ignore this discussion of the shows action, but it needs to be had.

My brother pointed out that he didn't like that Bucky was quite nerfed in this show compared to the films.

Thank you for putting feelings I had into cohesive thoughts. Your video highlights the inconsistencies I was grappling with.

It seems another problem is the over-reliance on "Super Soldiers". It meant something that Cap & Winter Soldier were the only ones. Even with their in-common enhanced abilities, they had enough diversity in how they fought that it made the action interesting. When EVERYONE'S (sans Falcon & The Dora Milaje) a super solider, unless you're doing the legwork to diversify in terms of fighting style and tactics everything blends together. Not to mention, also needing the right blocking and camera flow and editing to match as well.

I don't know who decided that shaky camera was a good idea. This is an action show not the Office lmao.

I honestly really liked that Sam didn't take the serum. Sam is not Steve, and giving him the serum would be like saying "be more like Steve" and that's not the point, Sam doesn't want to be an imitation (that's literally why he didn't like John). He's going to be captain being himself, and him being a regular dude it's part of his charm.

Bucky felt like a puppy following his master in the later episodes. He had something going on in the first few episodes and then suddenly his story just takes a break to follow sams, and never really links up

We really missed out on some sweet Sam sheild action, but what I feel the most dissapointed about is that we didn't get any Bucky going full winter soldier on everybody's asses (except for the short scene in madripor I guess but that was so choppy and badly edited that I don't want to count it). I actually feel that we didn't get enough Bucky stuff in the show period. Even in his own show he felt like the sidekick.

I enjoyed the series, and I did noticed the inconsistencies . It was ambitious to take on this project in a tv series format and all an all they hit a home run. The two hour films are just going to be more polished. That’s why I’m so excited for Cap 4. I hope Batrock comes back!

The reason Sam doesn't have the serum, and shouldn't, is his speech at the end of the show. He is in every way not the image of Cpt America; he isn't white, doesn't have blonde hair or blue eyes, and possibly most importantly, doesn't have the super serum. The whole point of him taking up the mantle is the idea that _anyone_ can be Cpt America, and it isn't restricted to what "America" wants it to be. If he had the serum, it would be easy for people to accept him as Cap in spite of his race with the idea of "Well, he's a super soldier. Cap's gotta be a super soldier, and we don't got many other candidates so I _guess_ he can be Cap". Additionally, if Sam had both the tech route in addition to the super soldier route, you'd basically be diminishing him by saying Sam needs tech in addition to the other stuff Steve had to be Cap.

Sharon fighting the thugs is probably my favorite hand-to-hand combat fight. It makes sense considering that Derek Kolstad (John Wick films) wrote that particular episode.

I really loved the assassination scene, the Madripoor scene and the warehouse fight and all the ways they used Sam's wings innovatively in the show and would've loved more solid action like that but I absolutely loved the character development moments in the show so I'm not complaining about the lack of action. Love the show anyways

We haven't gotten the poison of quick cuts out of our action movies yet. We need more treatment.

My least favorite thing is that the serum went from “Good becomes great, bad becomes worse” now it is oh super hero serum, whatever it does not matter what person you are the serum won’t make a difference.

I knew there was something with the show that wasn't clicking with me 100%. You sir, have put it very eloquently. For me, the were only 3 stand out action scenes in the entire series: Falcon's rescue mission in the first episode, Bucky's nightmare later in that same episode, and the 2 on 1 confrontation at the beginning of episode 5. I really wish episode 6 would've had the same level of quality as those previously mentioned scenes, specially because it was the climax of the show. It goes to show that pacing, editing and framing are just as important as choreography and emotional/story stakes when it comes to action in a series or movie.

So excited for this

the shaky cam in every single shot makes me want to claw my own eyes out with gardening shears

That 5th episode fight in terms of hits, stakes and choreography is a masterpiece, I'm annoyed by the camera that undercuts this.

You are totally right about the first action scene and the fight with Sharon. They definitely felt A grade and a lot more impressive and intense. Also the super soldiers were definitely nerfed and it was very frustrating to watch. If you watched Captain America 2 and then this series you would be either laughing or very confused.

0:01 to be fair there was gonna be a sequel to Logan that focused on Laura but Disney canceled it when they bought Fox.

I agree with most of the video until he says Falcon should have taken the serum. The whole point was he didn't need the serum to be cap. There also wasn't any serum left.

The worst part of the whole show was when the entire city of Madripoor was trying to kill Sam/Bucky, yet they had time to just talk loudly in an alleyway with Sharon while everyone randomly stopped going after them. Killed the immersion, same shit in Wandavision when Woo loudly beats up like 4 armed guards right in front of other guards and they dont even notice, its stupid

I noticed the same problem in the madripore bar scene. Bucky was unleashing his inner winter soldier and i was so excited for that scene, but i could hardly see let alone understand how he was fighting and what he was basically doing. Too many cuts scrambled my brain

Why are so many people disliking the video before it is even out? Are people that insecure that criticism of a show they enjoy is grounds for hatred? You haven’t even heard the man talk yet. There’s plenty to criticise about FATWS, doesn’t mean there is anything wrong about liking it. I might not have been keen on the show, but I loved Wandavision, and there’s plenty to criticise there too. No need to be so childish.

I think that there is an answer to why the show slowly declined in quality of action has to go directly to the pandemic, in the BTS the pandemic hit right at the first okay action scene, then they only get worst from there, I feel that they had the first half of the series including the training montage filmed before the pandemic, where they could spend multiple days on it, and then the second half of the series and the truck fight during the pandemic where they didn’t get as many days as they wanted on it

Sincerely hope this Bucky nerf doesn't last any longer past this show. Though I guess now that he's not A) trying viciously to kill anyone or B) defending himself from a wild Iron Man for being Steve plot fodder, I can't realistically hold out on any hope. I'm happy for Bucky's character but damn if I don't want to watch more Winter Soldier-level action.

Even though this is TV, there’s no excuse for action as poorly shot and edited as this. Each episode had a budget of $25 million and had 1 or 2 action sequences. John Wick bad a budget of about $20 million for an entire film and it had way more action.

The excellent edit at the end really drove your point home. Amazing video.

Ahhh you make the best vids ! I was thinking about this during a few episodes but could not put my finger in it . You nailed it . It should be more consistent on the ass kicking levels . Bucky should have handled everyone by himself if you think about it 🤣

Between the 5th and 6th episodes I thought I missed an episode and then by the end all I thought was, “that’s it?”. Honestly, this should have just been a movie because it was mainly just uninteresting bloat. I skipped all of Karli’s dumb scenes. So awful.

Including the great GSPs literal only attempt at a call out is the best thing you've ever done!

Excellent video. I struggled with Bucky's fluctuating power throughout this series

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but the Flag Smashers and John aren't experienced super soldiers. They just have super strength. Steve and Bucky are both heavily trained in comparison. It's not like the military trained John to do combat like SHIELD/Hydra would. In addition to that point, a large amount of untrained super soldiers would still overpower one well-trained one based on brute force.

I'm liking this already

Using GSP’s “I’m not impressed with your performance” clip my good sir? RU-vid content of the highest quality *chefs kiss*

Your criticisms are valid. The super soldiers being lacking is a valid narrative point, you can't just manufacture Steve Rogers. We sympathized with the character, not his power set. He was comparatively underpowered since 2012 but we still loved the character. In the last 10 years we have seen how little a super soldier really can do in comparison to the heroes out there now.

weird how I have the exact opposite take on Lammar and the new cap. The shit writing keeps telling us we should hate Walker and Lammar, but they are likable and genuinely good guys all along until one of them is murdered and the other loses his shit againt a super soldier who 5 seconds ealier threw a 1 ton marble fountain at him

They really nerfed Bucky for the good of the show huh. Winter Soldier was a fucking beast

I noticed that you never talked about the Winter Soldier flashback in the hotel.

I feel like this show would’ve been way nicer to watch if it had a better director. It wasn’t a bad show by any means, but the camera directing was so awkward with the frequent extreme closeups and constant cuts

if you remembered steve get like 6 injections of the serum in the capsule thingy but the flag smashers have 1 per person so theres gotta be a difference

Here is my take on sam not taking the serum. I like the fact that he self-made himself. He was the one who grew stronger by working hard and not giving up. Also, he is used to not having that (lack of a better term) drug. The serum acts like steroids. It was one thing for steve to have it when they were testing it. It is another for others to use it. Also, he saw what it did to bucky? Who wants to have the added brainwashing along with the serum affecting your body. He saw what being a hired asassian did to Bucky and sam did not want to go down that path. Also, what I enjoyed is there can only be one captain America (bear with me here) just like there can only be one tony, one iron man. Sam os creating his own identity while fulfilling the legacy steve wanted for him. Taking the serum will affect that. Last thing, this why John Walker’s story is told. He copied steve down to the letter, but loved he can never be what steve was including taking the serum. I get that everyone is different and the serum acts like jim’s carey’s the mask depending on who takes it, but still, I like that sam’s first instinct was to not go down that route.

god the first fight made me smile ear to ear

Really liked the show but felt myself tuning out during the action. This video did a really good job pointing out why. Great job.

How much of the old marvel tv shows have you seen? Just wondering

Walker killed a guy who was literally plotting to kill him.

I’m so glad you pointed out that the super humans didn’t seem so super at all in strength or ability. Was very lacking

I feel that in terms of quality, (the CGI and effects) the series was _DEFINITELY_ film quality. But sadly that aerial battle in the first episode was probably the most involved and detailed fight that we ended up getting. I guess they blew the majority of their budget on that fight alone, because none of the other fights in the series ever quite lived up to that opening scene. I do agree that, as the series wore on, the action scenes dwindled and eventually became shorter and less detailed. Ultimately I was disappointed in the way the series played out. I liked the ending of _The Falcon and the Winter Soldier_ WAY more than the ending we got for _WandaVision,_ but although the series started out strong, I ultimately felt it ended on a weaker note. ...though I still enjoyed watching. And they _definitely_ nerfed Bucky. He didn't even really feel like a super soldier in this series. He was basically just Some Guy™ who happened to have Bucky's face. And arm. And I gotta say... I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt "some kind of way" regarding Lamar in the stereotypic "Black bestie" role. Another RU-vid channel, _(Double Toasted)_ said it best when they described Lamar (only half-jokingly) as John Walker's _"pet negro"._ As a Black female, during viewings I couldn't articulate exactly WHAT bothered me about Lamar, but they said it best; it felt like Lamar existed SOLELY as a means to further John's character development. It especially bothered me when in an interview, Spellman (I think it was him) defended his decision to use the Lamar character in such a way, defiantly declaring that they (the writers) had "earned" the right to kll him since they played up Sam's character and "dutifully" spoke on race. I cannot describe the anger and hurt I felt upon reading that interview. It felt disingenuous and fake, hearing this writer casually ADMIT to PURPOSEFULLY creating a character arc with this specific goal in mind, having actually convinced himself that he was vindicated. As usual @ *Full Fat Videos* you have outdone yourselves with this video essay. I work 3rd shift and am supposed to be sleeping right now, but I couldn't go to sleep without first watching this vid. ❤️

I first episode we hear the premise of the show, there super soldiers on the loose, the show has bucky, falcon, us agent and 8 super soldiers, sharon Carter to fill black widow void and Zemo ...imagine the action potential of this series...just with three super soldiers russos made a amazing chase sequence...

They really should make bucky strong again (as he should be), and lean more on the jetpacks of falcon to compensate (like the iron man 3 scene).

So good!

Shooting angle changes instantly every bloody frame

It's a TV series, didn't expect much but it was great.

Some people are saying that the action is badly represented, but they forget that the series is not only set up for future films but also the fact this show is more centered on the characters than the usual marvel movie

I fully agree, the action wasn't bad by any means, but the slight problem I've had with mcu action is really amplified with some of the action here. It's just to many quick cuts to understand what's going on. It didn't really pull me out of the story in the moment, but now looking back I can see some issues with it.

People saying they wanted Bucky to go full winter soldier literally defeats the purpose of the show. Bucky is literally trying to get rid of the WS, so why would he go full WS when he’s dealing with the trauma and grief it’s caused him?

11:40 But Bucky taking on Iron Man was kind of BS.

Yeah, I totally felt Bucky was... very nerfed.

I wish there were more hand-to-hand fight scenes like the Hawkeye scene in Japan where there weren't really any shaking cams or annoying close-ups, it was just one whole fight scene without any cuts or distracting camera work.

I thought I was the only one that thought I couldn't see anything cuz the camera was too close and there were WAYYY too many cuts during the fights

Literal previous video, 3:27, "The show was also full of action and was awesome, so idk what to tell you" - Full Fat Videos The next video: "The lacking action of Falcon and the Winter Soldier" Um... Ok...???

Did the villains have any training? Was they super agents? Even if they had superhumans strength and minimal training someone like Walker Bucky or Doramalaji would ve floored them in seconds. But i dont think it was explained. Or may he i missed it

Yeah I expected Bucky to kick a lot more ass

i dont know honestly, but i dont want to be that guy, but it does feel like this show was.."the falcon....plus some winter soldier"

Oh what they've done to my boy Bucky 😞

Yeah I hate over-edited fights. The action in this show wasn’t completely bad but you are correct. These shows and movies need to take notes out of some martial arts movies. Where we can clearly see the action from certain angles, and there’s very LITTLE editing. Hopefully the upcoming Shang-Chi will be able to fix that.

I really don't get the people who have the nerve to say this show's action is worse than the Russos' movies

To sooo strange considering they literally had the best MMA fighter of all time in gsp on set, the fights should have been so much better

One of the biggest issues I had was that it didn't feel like Bucky had a metal arm, it was as if he was just a guy.

It was pointed out to me also that none of the people who had taken the serum actually changed appearance, unlike Steve Rodgers. I actually didn't know Bucky was meant to be a super soldier until the ran past that lorry. Guess it was a different batch

I agree with your general thesis, but I think the title of the video is a bit inaccurate. It's not that the show 'lacks' action...it just wasn't up to the cinematography and editing of the movies. "Lack" implies to me that there wasn't enough quantity.

Zemo beating up people was my favorite moment