Captain America: The Winter Soldier review

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER:

A DARKER AND MORE EXCITING STEP AHEAD OF ITS PREDECESSOR!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

MARVEL STUDIOS

Captain America battling The Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

            Captain America is back in action in this thrilling sequel to the 2011 blockbuster, Captain America: The First Avenger and another great film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while I do like The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier surpasses the first movie in every way, with more fast-paced action, stronger character development, and a darker premise to the predecessor.

            Chris Evans (Fantastic 4, TMNT) dons the spandex and metal shield once more as World War II veteran Steve Rogers/Captain America, trying to adapt to the modern world after being frozen for 70 years and is now working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Little does he know, there is a secret Hydra organization that has been causing wars and catastrophic events for many years after the defeat of their former leader, the Red Skull.

            Hydra has compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. and is plotting something big and terrible that could destroy the world. So it’s up to Rogers, his “Wingman” Sam Wilson, better known as Falcon (Anthony Mackie-The Hurt Locker, Million Dollar Baby, Pain & Gain), S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson-Her) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders-The Lego Movie), and the eye-patch wearing director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson-Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, RoboCop) to put a stop to whatever Hydra has planned and battle a mysterious figure known as The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan-Rachel Getting Married, Black Swan, Hot Tub Time Machine).

            Overall Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a great addition to the Marvel Universe and a rare Marvel sequel that surpasses its predecessor, much like what Spider-Man 2 did back in 2004. While I thought the action was fun and cool in The First Avenger (especially since it all takes place in World War II), the action here is fast and in your face, which is the kind of action I love in a Marvel movie, glad it didn’t disappoint.

            Besides the action and dark plot elements, the film also has strong character development, especially from Chris and Scarlett. They have very good chemistry and make quite an effective team when they’re running around and kicking butt like the heroes I come to expect from Marvel.

            This is up there with The Avengers and Iron Man as one of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though I wouldn’t say it’s better than The Avengers, it’ll be a long time until there’s a comic book movie better than that. But like The Avengers, the action is jolting and keeps you at the edge of your seat, the characters are amusing, the villain is awesome, and it’s often funny, but don’t expect any Hulk smashing here.

            It’s also probably my favorite film so far in 2014; after all it’s very rare not to love a film from Marvel Studios. I’m excited to see what Marvel concocts in August with Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015.

            But in the meantime, we have The Winter Soldier to keep us busy, so “Gear Up”.