Marvel does it again

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2014)

While I'm really enjoying these Marvel movies and I'm looking forward to every one of them, I was a bit sceptical when I heard that they wanted to make this a "70s paranoid thriller." Could they really pull it off to make a 1970s-style spy movie that also works as a big modern superhero blockbuster? The answer, of course, is yes. Whenever we're not in the middle of one of the many massively spectacular action setpieces, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" feels very much like a film in the vein of "Three Days of the Condor," helped of course by the presence of Robert Redford.
One of Marvel's best decisions was, rather than making this purely another Cap solo picture, to team him up with Black Widow and, to a lesser degree, Anthony Mackie's Falcon. While Chris Evans is strong in the role and certainly capable of carrying a movie on his own, the addition of Scarlett Johannson is very welcome. She puts in her best performance in the role here and their interplay and teamwork are one of the coolest aspects of the movie.
With some of the "Phase 1" Marvel movies, there were often complaints that they felt like stepping stones to "The Avengers" rather than stand-alone movies. But whereas "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is even more closely connected to the Avengers movies, it felt to me almost like a full-fledged sequel to The Avengers that can absolutely stand on its own (while also being very much a sequel to the first CA movie). Or maybe it's just that I'm much more invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point and the connective tissue thus feels like a bonus rather than a distraction.
All in all, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is immensely entertaining, both as a big superhero action movie and as a 70s-style spy thriller. Definitely up there with the very best of the Marvel movies. Oh, and don't leave the theater too early: like Thor 2, this one has mid-credits AND post-credits scenes.