Incredibly High Level of Achievement

Rating: 7/10 (1 June 2014)

It was striking how well made Winter Soldier is. I was really impressed with how much work went into this movie. The story plays out like a spy thriller, in a similar vein to Manchurian Candidate, but also fits in as much action as any movie could hope for. It's very well balanced, and includes the character development and smart writing that have made the Marvel movies so enjoyable. Captain America goes rogue when he is a suspect in the shooting of Nick Fury and has to unravel who has infiltrated S.H.E.I.L.D. Black Widow and Falcon help him out, and they are both made to be very resourceful on their own. I like Johansson here better than the Avengers--she seems to be putting more into the performance. I noticed that Captain America doesn't really use stealth in combat--when he fights, he goes through the threat in spite of what he's up against. There's a scene when a jet is trying to stop him while riding a motorcycle. Instead of jumping the bike to somewhere the jet can't follow, he engages and disables it. The Winter Soldier villain does this also, taking out Nick Fury in spite of his training, not going around any defenses. All the fights were lightning fast and had a level of interest to them where so many other action movies are full of scenes that never make us care. This isn't my favorite action movie, not even my favorite Avengers movie, but it was one of the times I've most been impressed by an action film.