Big Improvement on the Original!

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2014)

I hated first Captain America (2/10). I thought Iron Man 2-3 were only average (6/10). I've never seen the Thor films as they definitely do not look appealing to me. The Avengers was an above-average popcorn flick (7/10) similar to the original Transformers film.
So, my expectations were not high going into Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Yet, not since the original Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk has a Marvel film impressed me so much. I thought after Disney bought Marvel, that we would never get another actual good film. That's what this film is though.
For 3/4 of the movie, I was very engaged in the plot and the action, because in between all those moments were genuine heart-to-heart moments between the main characters. Another plus for this movie is that for once in a superhero film, there is no romance subplot. Instead, you just get friendships.
Anyways, the last 1/4 of the film dropped down the score for me as it was cheesy. It also undoes some of the emotional weight of the previous events of the film, which at the time these events happened, I thought it would be comical if what eventually does happen in the film actually happened. The whole idea of what the villains are about is kind of ridiculous too. It makes no sense that anyone would want what they want. Yet given the stakes of the last battle, which was very hit-and- miss, you'd think Iron Man or The Hulk would at least show up. Instead, you get a new hero character that just does not work in this particular battle situation. I was just cringing a lot during this whole scene which was probably about 25 minutes long.
After this big battle is over, you still get an epilogue that has one part that is quite corny too. However, the last scene of the movie sets up at least part of Captain America 3 and I would like to see where that story goes, depending on the reviews of that film of course.