From one of the weakest MCU movies to one of the strongest. I loved the first solo entry of Captain American and the second is even better. Much like last time, I very much enjoyed this movie.

It’s a solid contrast against the first Captain America (blind optimistic patriotism versus a darker world, where even your friends… might not be). It’s made all the better having already seen the future of Sam and Bucky/The Winter Soldier now. Last time through, I was hoping they could pull off all the new characters and now… I think they did.

This time around (and so far), the top of my list for the year. An excellent movie.

Original 2014 review:

Out of all the pre-Avengers / Phase One Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, it’s really a toss up whether Iron Man or Captain American was my favorite. In Phase Two? It’s not even a question¹. Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

It’s really quite amazing watching the creative minds behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe work. Again and again, I keep expecting them to overreach themselves. I keep waiting for this huge empire they’ve built to come tumbling down². Well… not this time. Not by a long shot.

All in all, this was a solid addition. It contrasts nicely with the first Captain American film, showing what happens when you take blind patriotism and trust in a massive central authority and turn it to the darker side. It’s interesting to see how the Cap, Fury, and Black Widow each deal with it in their own ways.

And then there’s the eponymous Winter Soldier. I really felt like they could have done a lot more with him. I know that there’s a lot of potential there from the comics, even going so far as maybe having him eventually take up Cap’s shield some day³.

One last bit that’s particularly cool is the idea of what this will to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I haven’t watched the newest episode where presumably they deal with all this fall out, but I bet it’s going to get all sorts of interesting in a hurry. I don’t know if there’s ever been such a relationship between a series of films and another on TV, but it’s really interesting to see how it all plays out.

Unfortunately, this is only the third movie I’ve seen this year. An honestly, as good as it was, I would be ever so slightly to go see The Lego Movie again (that song is just so catchy). Still, a solid #2, and it might as well be a toss up with #1.