| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Chris Evans | ... | Steve Rogers / Captain America | |
| Samuel L. Jackson | ... | Nick Fury | |
| Scarlett Johansson | ... | Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow | |
| Robert Redford | ... | Alexander Pierce | |
| Sebastian Stan | ... | Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier | |
| Anthony Mackie | ... | Sam Wilson / Falcon | |
| Cobie Smulders | ... | Maria Hill | |
| Frank Grillo | ... | Brock Rumlow | |
| Maximiliano Hernández | ... | Jasper Sitwell (as Maximiliano Hernandez) | |
| Emily VanCamp | ... | Kate / Agent 13 | |
| Hayley Atwell | ... | Peggy Carter | |
| Toby Jones | ... | Dr. Arnim Zola | |
| Stan Lee | ... | Smithsonian Guard | |
| Callan Mulvey | ... | Jack Rollins | |
| Jenny Agutter | ... | Councilwoman Hawley | |
For Steve Rogers, awakening after decades of suspended animation involves more than catching up on pop culture; it also means that this old school idealist must face a world of subtler threats and difficult moral complexities. That becomes clear when Director Nick Fury is killed by the mysterious assassin, the Winter Soldier, but not before warning Rogers that SHIELD has been subverted by its enemies. When Rogers acts on Fury's warning to trust no one there, he is branded as a traitor by the organization. Now a fugitive, Captain America must get to the bottom of this deadly mystery with the help of the Black Widow and his new friend, The Falcon. However, the battle will be costly for the Sentinel of Liberty, with Rogers finding enemies where he least expects them while learning that the Winter Soldier looks disturbingly familiar. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Captain America: The Winter Solider, directed by the best two directors that MCU has on the team, in the Russo Brothers, crafted this well directed, brisk paced spy/action film, that has a lot to be praised for. The Russo Brothers took the MCU style, and completely flipped it into their own, which completely works, while becoming a model film for the MCU. They incorporated this darker and gritter tone, that essentially grounded the film well, while inevitably throwing in some well timed humor. Even though this new approach to the MCU was a breath of fresh air, the Russo Brothers set themselves up for some nitpicks, by transforming some things that were already set and stone, for the most part.
The Winter Soldier does everything that a sequel should do, and that's improve on every aspect from the last film. The creative team told a juicer, more cohesive story, with better character involvement and development, while the action not only took a step up, but became one of the standout films for it's action sequences. Not only did they improve from the first installment, keeping the continuity involved, but they created one of, if not, the best stand-alone films the MCU has put out to date. The creative team utilized so many great layers and depth, to really break everything down, while adding in a tremendous amount of tention throughout the entire narrative.
With Shield being the main focus of the film, I wasn't too sure on how things were going to play out, but because of the Russo Brothers creativity, I was perfectly okay with it! With Shield being center of attention, it allowed for Sam Jackson to have a lot more character moments, which had a heavy hand in the success of the film! Chris Evans is an absolute stud as Captain America and Steve Rogers! He is fleshed out much more, having the best character arch of the film. His character is a lot more complex this time around, other than being that public figure everyone knows him for. Evans steals every scene that he's in because of that genuine patriotism persona he carries, being nothing short of admirable. Scarlett Johansson was also another key contributor to the success of the film. We've seen her in a few films prior, getting a little bit more and more to do as the films go on, and she really sets out her skillset here. With decent chemistry and tention between her and Captain America, and her and Nick Fury, she shows once again, that she is capable of being an Avenger. Anthony Mackie gets his debut in the MCU as Sam Wilson/Falcon, and he is just an all around good addition. He doesn't add much as far as the superhero antics go, but he is a great compliment to Captain America, and the team. The Winter Soldier is a GAME villain! He doesn't have much to say, but his physical presence is quite enough for him to be a decent villain, with a great tie in to the series.
This is probably one of the strongest screenplays by Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus. They wasted no time after The First Avenger, to hop right into the screenplay for this film. McFeely and Markus added a great amount of wit to this script, by making everything cohesive to the story, while incorporating some dialed down, yet sharp humor. They added a great deal of politics to the narrative, that isn't just all in your face; it flows extremely well with the story, feeling authentic.
The action of the film was definitely the driving force of the film. All of the action scenes were shot so well, with many exciting and gritty action sequences! The Russo Brothers executed the hand-to-hand combat in such a professional way, and it just looked fantastic! The visual effects weren't heavily relied on, like they usually are, but when they were present, everything looked seamless.
Overall, there is no reason why this film shouldn't be at the top of your list; one of the best the MCU has to offer !