In a day and age where it seems like a new superhero movie is getting released every other week, it is hard for an average mainstream moviegoer to know which ones are worth watching, which ones to skip, and what order you should watch these movies. This seems to be particularly important with the Marvel movies and of even more importance with The Avenger movies. I have done my best to see The Avenger movies as they’ve been released, but there have been some that I have found to be terribly along the way, including Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron. It certainly has not helped that Marvel characters who aren’t Avengers (like Spider-Man) are starting to show up in movies featuring The Avengers. It’s only a matter of time before all of these other Marvel characters (Ant-Man, Deadpool, etc.) start appearing in each newly released movie. At that time, it just might be time to give up. Don’t even get me started about the future when either Marvel or DC buys the other out and we get characters like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Thor, Captain America, Flash, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, Hulk, etc. all end up in the same movie. It won’t occur for a while, but when this market becomes stale many, many years from now, there will be too much money sitting on the table not to do it. Of course, the purists will also be upset those who write the comics (though they most likely already are), but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that money speaks.

But that is neither here nor there at the present moment. I will be honest: I really enjoyed Captain America: The First Avenger but didn’t have much interest in seeing its sequel. However, my mind was changed when I saw the trailer for 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which pits Captain America against Iron Man (my favorite Marvel character now after seeing too many reboots of Spider-Man) and to be best prepared for this highly anticipated movie, I knew that I needed to go back and watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I’m glad that I did. The Captain America franchise is by no means Jon Favreau’s Iron Man franchise or Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, but it might be in that next tier. I thought the most recent reboot of Spider-Man (the Andrew Garfield one) was going to be able to compete. Still, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was so ridiculously bad that this particular franchise might end at two features.

I liked this movie as much as I did because it wasn’t over the top with its storyline and action. Though it’s still a superhero movie, you have to temper your expectations. However, there was no point where I wanted to turn the film off and physically feel myself getting sick. I enjoyed Captain America: The First Avenger, but I am even more excited for Captain America: Civil War. I love that this upcoming movie has two of Marvel’s most marketable protagonists up against one another because of a personal situation that causes Captain America to disobey the orders of S.H.I.E.L.D. But that’s neither here nor there yet.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans – Snowpiercer, Marvel’s The Avengers) is one of the most likable superheroes. Most of the big-time superheroes are likable (Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Super Man, Wonder Woman, Thor, etc.), but there is something special about Captain America. He might be the most authentic superhero we’ve seen. Unfortunately, his do-right philosophy might be his tragic fall. In one of the film’s earlier scenes, he is recruited to join a mission headed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo – The Grey, End of Watch) that includes Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson – Match Point, Lost in Translation) to rescue some American hostages after a band of hostages hijacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel in the Indian Ocean. However, Rogers isn’t privy to is that there is a secondary mission that involves extracting files from the ship’s computer onto a flash drive. Rogers takes issue with this because he was told that the mission was to rescue hostages. But, again, he might be too honest, and this could come back to haunt him in later movies (or this one). When Rogers approached Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson – Pulp Fiction, Changing Lanes) about why he was informed about this other message, he was told that Fury knew he would be uncomfortable with it.

Speaking of Nick Fury, this is his most action-packed Avengers movie to date. In this movie, Fury is in the midst of leading Project Insight, an operation that connects the Helicarriers to spy satellites used to prevent any possible terrorist attacks project. His connection with the World Security Council is former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and current Secretary Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford – All Is Lost, The Horse Whisperer). Because Fury’s credentials have been locked and because he senses imminent danger, he asks Pierce to delay Project Insight, to which Pierce agrees. We learn a lot more about each of these Marvel staples throughout this movie. I’ll leave it at that.

Aside from the stories above, there is an unknown assassin recking havoc. The mysterious killer who has been deemed The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan – The Martian, Black Swan) has been responsible for over 200 deaths over the last 50 years. The flash drive secured during the earlier mission will help determine his current whereabouts. Adding Captain America and The Black Widow to this assignment is Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie – The Adjustment Bureau, The Hurt Locker), who we’ve seen briefly in other Marvel movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Like Nick Fury, Falcon gets more screentime in this movie than in any previous ones. Maybe we get his origin story on film. Perhaps we don’t. The Marvel Universe is insanely massive.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 7/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 7/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing  8/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
79.5%