A modern film with a twist of retro themes and cold wars

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2016)

The Captain is back, and this time he's in the present. While the first film dealt with a back-story/ origin you may remember that at the end of the film Roger's is brought into the future after being frozen in ice for some 50-60 years. A lot has happened in that time and in between films you'll have to make the assumption that he has been debriefed and brought up to speed on the world which has changed significantly. If you search online you'll find a nice chronological viewing order so you know how to watch the films and where they sit on a chronological list; for the purpose of this lets say that the events of the first Avengers film have unfolded, as have all the Iron Man films and just before this Cpt America film Thor 2's events have also occurred. In this film you kind of get some of the fallout of those prior events (Shield is taking a lot of stick for events in the Avengers movie as well as the Iron Man films and is getting pressured to be safer and strong with controls in place) as well as things that spill out of Cpt America's past from the first film. Steve has a lot to catch up on and just when he's making friends (The Falcon) and finding his feet in the modern world Nick Fury is killed by an assassin working for Hydra. In fact Hydra have infiltrated Shield and parts of the American (and World) government so who can Cpt America rely on. Trusting nobody it's up to Rogers, Widow and Falcon to try and stop the assassin called the Winter Soldier and save the world, even when it looks like they are on the wrong side of justice because Hydra has infiltrated and corrupted most of the ruling bodies.
The stars of the first film and other recent Marvel films all deliver credible performances, that's Evans as Cpt America, Samuel L. Jackson as Fury, and Johansson as Black Widow. Introducing Widow into this film was clever as it allowed an emotional probe and outlet for Rogers, typical of a man from the 30/40's he's very private and doesn't let his emotions out, he is absolutely a man out of time, using Black Widow to help convey his hidden pain was very effective and gives the characters an additional layer of depth. I have to mentioned Sebastian Stan for his performance in this film, he's still Bucky Barnes but he's also the Winter Soldier and as a brainwashed assassin he does really well and suits the role. Anthony Mackie is introduced as Sam Wilson/ Falcon and makes a decent first showing. Cobie Smulders works well as Maria Hill and I am expecting more great things from her to come. Frank Grillo (Brock Rumlow) lays decent foundations for a role which is set to get bigger if you recognise his name from the comics. Toby Jones (Dr Zola) is just as creepy in this as he is in the first film despite not making a physical appearance.
I enjoyed this film as much, if not more than the first Cpt America film and other MCU films. It showed lots of clever depth with it's plots and sub-plots all unfolding at once and laid some great foundations for the 3rd Cpt America film which is set to put a 'cat amongst the pigeons'. This film is fast paced and very clever. It uses themes used throughout film and politics in the 60's, 70's and 80's including paranoia, secret societies and agendas, world domination, cold wars, and so on. This is not just a superhero movie but also a spy/action film with romance, heartache, reflection and ultimately a heart. 8 out of 10