Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2014 superhero movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: The titular hero battles the mysterious new titular threat. A guy with one eye, a flying black guy, and one of the most beautiful women on earth help him out.

The first Captain America movie was my favorite of these Marvel superhero movies, probably because I could understand what was going on the entire time. This sequel doesn't disappoint--the rare sequel that is actually just as good as the original--and throws in Scarlett Johansson and Robert Redford. And the bad guy, who for whatever reason reminds me of Darth Maul, is cool with that metal arm and shit. This has some ludicrous action sequences, but they're very well done action sequences and the special effects here--lots of swooping and superhuman fisticuffs and explosions--are the best I can remember seeing in a superhero movie. I liked the first movie because it had a little something to say about America, patriotism, and propaganda. And I like this movie because it also mirrors society and has a threat--even a weird Bondish supervillain-esque preposterous thing that ends up being at the center of all of this--that feels just a little bit real. This always kind of threatens to go a little too far and unravel into something sloppy and typically superheroish, but it always manages to hold together, and although it fails to complete tie up every single loose end and leaves you waiting for another sequel, it ends up satisfying. There are a couple dopey twists though, and if I thought about them anymore, they'd be the type of thing that would almost make me dock this a point or two until I thought about Scarlett Johansson's buttocks again. I still like Chris Evans as Captain America, a superhero who has to adjust to future he's been thrust into and is ill-equipped for, and rest of the cast is good, too. The action's what drives people to the big screen. There's a great car chase scene that looks really expensive and a terrific close-quarters fight in an elevator. But the writing, with the humor sprinkled throughout and what passes for emotional depth in a superhero comic book, works really well, too. I like this better than the messy Avengers movie and can honestly say that I look forward to the third installment.