Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Oh man, was it good to get back to a great movie again after Thor: The Dark World. This movie, unlike that one, is well constructed, written, acted and directed. There is so much to love about the movie it's hard to name it all. The plot is well thought out and realized, complete with great twists and turns to keep you on your toes. I love the spy thriller astethic the movie presents, and it complements the more straight forward action very well. It also presents its themes of trust and morality in a solid and thoughtful way. The pacing is solid, the plot advances in a very natural way, and the movie sets up its important plot points ahead of time to make the movie more enjoyable on rewatches. The movie also does a great job with its characters. Steve, Natasha and Nick are all great characters with their own struggles, while also being very likeable, and they also have excellent chemistry. I love that Steve and Nat's relationsship isn't romantic, as that wouldn't work at all with these characters. I also really like Sam, he's sympathetic and a nice addition. The Winter Soldier is a great villain as well, which mostly comes from the fact that he is just a human, not some evil monster like so many other Marvel villains. I love watching his struggles with indentifying his past and resisting the changes made to his brain, as well as his relationsship with the hero. All this is of course helped by some solid performances from almost everyone involved. The direction is solid as well, with the perfect mix of wide shots and close-ups. The fight choreography is great, one can really feel the weight each fight carries. My only slight issue with the film is the fact that the heroes seem to be saved by plotholes a little too often, for example by a bad guy waiting to killing a good guy just long enough for something to appear to save them. It feels a little stupid, but it's not a big deal and it's pretty easy to ignore if you feel like it. Overall, this movie is extremely good. It does almost everything right, its flaws are small and inconsequental, and it's just a really entertaining movie. I recommend it to anyone who likes superhero movies, or just action movies in general.

At the time this came out, it was without a doubt the best movie to come out of the MCU. I look forward to seeing more from the Russo bros.

While I thought the First Avenger was an incredible piece of work, this sequel is even better.

We need this kind of people like captain America to convey justice,kindness and love.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the third film in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (after last year's Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World). Compared with the mighty giant green monster, the hammer wielding Norse thunder god or the 'genius, philanthropist, billionaire, playboy' armor man, the Captain was never quite as appealing as the rest of the 'Unusuals'. Steve Rogers is portrayed as an old-fashioned, straightforward, honest, courageous, sincere, patriotic superhero. This makes him a less-interesting, boring character. Moreover, as Tony Stark said it, "Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

Most film-goers would know that Marvel films are famous for its bright, fun and not-so-serious approach to its storytelling, together with some catchy, witty dialogues. This film is a game changer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time around, Marvel decided to take a different approach on things: To make a Captain America sequel with a more serious, darker plot development and more face-to-face close-range hand combat fights. What should have been a typical superhero film, now becomes a conspiracy-espionage thriller.

Two years after the events that happened in New York city, the Captain still struggles with adjusting himself to the modern world, with no apparent social life or girl friend, which is why Natasha/Black Widow tries to introduce or recommend him some cute girls in S.H.I.E.L.D. for him to date with. He is shocked when he learns that the very governmental organisation he is working for is not what it seems to be, as the Cap said in the trailer, "This isn't freedom. This is fear". Soon, he finds himself entangled in a conspiracy that puts millions of innocent lives at risk.

The film comes with excellent, fast-paced action choreography. Although the cinematography is a bit dodgy due to the shaky-cam techniques used for depicting the chaotic moments, the fight scenes between the Winter Soldier and the Captain is fantastic and serves as one of the film's highlights. The audience finally gets to see how the Captain's shield is utilised effectively in both offensive and defensive combat situations. It also good to see again how Natasha kicks ass in the film.

All actors delivered a pretty decent performance in the film. Once again, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johannson both proved that they fit their roles well, adding more depth to the characters they portray in the film. Sam Wilson/Falcon is a welcome addition to the Marvel franchise and hopefully he will appear again in the Avengers sequel. Unfortunately, despite the film's title, the winter soldier is not a complex villain and doesn't appear much in the film. It's such a shame to just show him as a formidable physical fighter who's capable of challenging the Captain.

The film is well-scripted, filled with suspense while highlighting some important socio-political issues such as government surveillance and control in its storytelling. Although the twists in the film is predictable and fairly easy to guess, the sequel is a marked improvement compared to its predecessor, Captain America: The First Avenger. The story unfolds gradually and comes with huge, surprising developments by the end of the film. Marvel Cinematic Universe is not going to be the same again. What's going to happen next? How the story is going to progress in Avengers: Age of Ultron, after what had happened in this film? Interesting.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Be warned. This is not the typical fun, 'not-so-serious', entertaining Marvel film that you used to watch in the past. You might like it or find it a bore. In order to recognize some of the characters in the film, you need to remember some of Marvel's Phase One films. Most importantly, you need to watch Captain America: The First Avenger before watching this to understand the plot.

Note: Guess you don't need me to remind you to stay for the mid-credit and post-credit scenes. It foreshadows what's going to happen next by introducing a lesser-known supervillain and two new characters, 'Miracles' (another name for 'mutants' because of screen rights issues) which going to be in the Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron. It further confirms that one of weapons depicted in The Avengers is indeed one of the six infinity stones.

A political and action thriller that has an awesome espionage spin to it. Chris Evans and his team kick butt, and Scarlett Johansson is as hot as ever. Plus, mysterious and sinister villains that pose an intimidating threat! Not to mention, the score hits it out of the park with the feels! This is easily the best standalone MCU movie imo. Hands DOWN!