The first Captain America movie was a really good and entertaining action-adventure superhero flick. They managed to take a standard, boring Marvel superhero like Captain America and make him into a character we can all route for. So as you could imagine, there was a lot of hype built up for another Captain America movie titled The Winter Soldier. Luckily, all the hype paid off as not only is this sequel a great follow-up to an already impressive movie but it may have just set a new standard not just for Captain America, but for the MCU in general.
After the events of The Avengers, Captain America has joined forces with Sheild to help and protect people. However, he quickly discovers that working with Sheild is not all that it seems as lead agent Nick Fury has different points of view on how to take care of the bad guy’s much to Steve’s disregards from his past experiences. Suddenly, Nick Furry is assiasnteed by a new threat known as the Winter Soilder. Thinking that Captain America has information regarding the unexpected shooting, the agents of shield consider Steve an outlaw. While on the run, Steve partners up with Natassia as Black Widow and eventaully Sam wilson as The Falcon to discover the truth about the Winter Soilder and the actual evil agenda’s from Shiled.
One thing I do like about this movie is that it’s not your average fish out of water story since Steve is now in a different time than the one he grew up in. it would have been redundant to have him mess up with modern technology and not know how stuff works, but they make a very smart choice in having him adapt to his surroundings at the beginning of the movie. The only thing that hasn’t adapted is his personal beliefs that he had carried from his life in the ’40s which can make for some great story threads for Steve Rodgers as he starts to learn that things are different now than they were back in his time period and also realizes the things he had in the past are now starting to fade away such as when he talks to a much older version of his old girlfriend Peggy. The movie brings some great insight into what is the right way to deal with the bad guys and what is the wrong way which can make for some very interesting conflicts that Nick Furry and Steve Rodgers butt heads with. The other characters like some established previously and even new ones offer a lot to the table and have their moments to shine in the narrative. even the Winter Soldier himself becomes a lot more than he seems by the time we get further into the story.
The visuals in this movie can arguably be a step up from its predecessor as they make great use of the environment and its set-pieces. We may not be in the stylistic 1940s anymore, but the movie makes great use of showing off some dazzling CGI effects that are beautifully laid out. The action in this movie may just be some of the fast-paced actions that the MCU has ever done before. There is something about how the film is edited to make the action feel like a nonstop roller coaster that never seems to slow down unless it needs to. We also get to see our heroes and villains fighting against each other using their special move sets and some of the new characters like the Falcon and The Winter Soldier himself get their moments to shine with how they use their newfound abilities. Composer Henry Jackman is well known for Composing the music for movies like Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6 and he brings his A-Material when composing the score for the Winter Soldier. It’s both epic sounding and even dramatic when it needs to be just like a great musical composition should.
This is a sequel that manages to be just as good if not even better than the previous movie. Its well-constructed action-packed story, likable characters, dazzling visuals, and an epic music score by Henry Jackman make this movie another win for Marvel Studio’s ever-expanding universe. It’s definitely worth watching for fans of Marvel or anyone who needs a great superhero movie with a lot of action and great writing to spare.
(Final Grade: A-)