Infinitely Times Better Than The First

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2015)

This is by far one of the better Marvel movies. Along with The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, I would rank this movie among my top 3 Marvel movies. I heard from somewhere that this is "the best stand alone Marvel movie since Iron Man" and I could not phrase it any better. There were obvious, typical moments when the movie franchise tried to catch audiences off-guard such as when Nick Fury turned out to still be alive. But aside from those moments, the overall surprise, "gasp" moment when Bucky Barns turned out to still be alive was indeed gasp-worthy. I was engrossed with this movie from the beginning to the end every time that I have watched it. This film really does captivate the audience.
The first Captain America movie was not very impressive, and Steve Rogers (with his corny jokes and silly outfit) in The Avengers was also not impressionable. However, this movie completely makes up for all of it because Captain American was awesome, and frankly, he kicked some Hydra butt. Although his superhuman powers were not evident in earlier films and the franchise instead emphasized his ability to be a leader, Cap really knows how to fight and he proved so in this film.
Although I still hold my initial opinion that Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow is unnecessary in these movies, she actually proved herself worthy in this film as she went undercover to defeat Hydra and stuck by Steve Rogers' side throughout the film.
I really hope that the inevitable third and fourth installments are at least as good as Captain America: The Winter Solider, because this movie set the bar for any and every future Marvel movie. Honestly, the only Marvel directors worthy of directing future Marvel movies are Joss Whedon, James Gunn, and Anthony & Joe Russo.