I would consider myself to be a big fan of Marvel. While I haven’t had the time to catch up on the comics, I have really liked what they have done on the film screen. Except for Guardians of the Galaxy I have seen all of the films and currently watch Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on ABC. While some of them are better than others, I have enjoyed all of the Marvel films. I had high expectations for Captain America Winter Soldier and it did not disappoint.
Captain America Winter Soldier takes place after the events of the Avengers. Steve Rodgers has returned to Washington D.C. and is trying to adapt to modern America. After an attack on S.H.I.E.L.D, tensions arise as a new threat against S.H.I.E.L.D is revealed. Captain America must team up with Black Widow, and newcomer the Falcon in order to discover the hidden threat and stop it before it can fully utilize its’ greatest weapon.
Captain America Winter Soldier continues to do what Marvel does best. Once again the special effects are great, the movie is action packed, and the plot is solid. When you watch a Marvel movie you don’t expect to have an Oscar worthy plot but you expect to be entertained. Winter Soldier succeeds in entertaining you. In my opinion Captain America Winter Soldier is better than the original film mostly because unlike the original, Winter Soldier doesn’t have to waste so much time with character origin material.
I would rank Winter Soldier probably in the middle tier of Marvel films (I haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy yet so I can’t comment on where it belongs yet). I would probably rank the Marvel films in the following order: #1 Avengers, #2 Iron Man, #3 Iron Man 3, #4 Iron Man 2 or Captain America Winter Soldier, and #6 Captain America The First Avenger and the two Thor films.
While Captain America Winter Soldier is a fantastic film, it does have some small issues.
Like most Marvel films, the movie could have used some more editing. At 136 minutes the movie is a little too long. I thought the movie dragged a little at points. I think around 10 minutes or so could have been eliminated from the movie and not affected the story.
Another issue was that the plot twist was kind of predictable. It didn’t help that Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ended up spoiling the major plot twist as well as come of the smaller plot twists. In reality though the plot twists were pretty predictable so Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t really spoil much. Marvel movies for the most part are pretty predictable. I wish Marvel films would focus a little less on superhero tropes and try something more original especially for the plot twists.
Finally I think the movie could have done more with the Winter Soldier. Being the namesake for the film, the Winter Soldier is not in the film for as long as you would expect. It is quite possible that he isn’t even the most featured villain in the film. The Winter Soldier is an interesting character and I think they should focused more on him even though it is possible that might happen in future films.
Overall Captain America Winter Soldier is your typical Marvel film. I really enjoyed it like I have all of the other Marvel films. If you liked the other Marvel films I can’t imagine you not enjoying Winter Soldier.