Shield Me Some More

Rating: 8/10 (5 April 2014)

Why can't Iron Man, Thor or Hulk be more like the Cap?
Growing up, Captain America was so uninteresting to me, I barely looked at his covers as I collected and read dozens of other comics weekly. It wasn't until his "First Avenger" movie – which I had previously dreaded and waited to see – did I become a huge fan. That movie was fantastic and oodles better than Tony Stark's second and third films as well as both Thor movies.
And so is Cap's follow-up "stand-alone" adventure: Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
I truly liked this movie and strongly believe it will improve with each viewing. It was a much more adult comic book movie, but not overly serious, like the Dark Knight trilogy or Man of Steel. It also knew how to handle multiple agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. efficiently. (A lesson learned in The Avengers but lost on most comic book movies, i.e. Spider-Man 3 and the original Batman sequels.)
The Captain continues to doubt anyone as patriotic and heroic as himself in this chapter, and with good reason. The age-old "trust no one," though annoying and overused, is this movie's tagline, or should be. But, with the help of his friends, the so-called "mystery" is unraveled and Cap, (a personal favorite) Black Widow and a new-comer agent fight all over the place, but mostly in (and above) the D.C./East Coast areas.
I'm totally not giving away the synopsis as I normally would, but not to avoid spoilers. This movie isn't plot-heavy, and most of its been done before many, many times, so there's really not much to give away here and you can, and should, just sit back and enjoy the inside jokes, the sometime surprises, the other Marvel mentions, the action and the sly winks at the audience. I.E. make sure you read what's on a character's tombstone at the end of the movie.
Definitely a high recommendation for this film: Great action, depth of the characters, another shot to see Black Widow in pretty much the whole movie, more great lines and action from Chris Evans's fantastic portrayal as the Cap and, of course, the never-ending and wonderful Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury (and attitude.)
* * * Final thoughts: DO NOT wait to see the final TWO Marvel spots during the credits. But, if you do – again, don't, they're really blah – look for all the "Steve/Steven/Stephen/Stephan"s in the credits. Either I must be truly popular, it's homage to Steve Rogers or just an amazing coincidence. Yeah, probably the third one.