Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and the ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Finally, a Phase 2 Marvel movie knocks one out of the park! Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World had not quite hit the heights of Avengers and thus it was left to Captain America: The Winter Soldier to deliver the goods.
It’s easy to forget that this is the proper sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, having had Avengers and other movies following but clearly the directors, producers and writers were keen on fleshing out the world in which Steve Rogers has found himself in. So there is no effort spared in providing the audience as much information as possible to prepare them not only for the events that conclude the movie but also for the other movies to come, notably Avengers: Age of Ultron and the next sequel to the Captain America franchise.
By and large, that job is done well. The pacing of the narrative is well-handled – drawing a fine balance between action sequences and expository scenes. Much of this assists in bringing the excellent supporting cast into the main story – Black Widow (Johansson), Nick Fury (Jackson), Winter Soldier (Stan) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and moving the tale forward.
And what a tale it is! Betrayal, loyalty, heroism and sacrifice are all strong themes explored in this – Marvel’s version of a spy movie – and once again, the events that take place have an impact of the movies to come – something that has always set Marvel movies apart and has kept them highly intriguing and appealing. Highly recommended if you love action-thrillers.
Don’t forget to stay behind for the TWO post-credits scenes. One relates to Avengers: Age of Ultron and the other to when we another Captain America movie. Is it the Marvel Age of Movies – might just be!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now streaming on Disney+.
… still there’s more …