The Winter Soldier Review

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2014)

Of all the Marvel phase two films, The Winter Soldier was the one I was least excited for. Captain America should really be the strongest of the Avengers characters, yet he had been pushed to the back by the superior Iron Man due to his character never really being fully realised in his movies. The Winter Solider was Marvel's opportunity to rectify Captain America's pretty weak career, and they definitely succeed, producing a movie that's second only to The Avengers.
This movie is made so good because of how well written it is. It's not a silly action fest with a weak story like other superhero movies are, it instead boasts a very strong screenplay that's completely unpredictable and hugely engrossing. The Winter Soldier has a conspiracy ridden plot that's constantly twisting and turning with some great character introductions and developments, some of which open huge opportunities for the future of the Marvel universe. Unlike the past two Marvel movies, ('Irons Man 3′ and 'Thor: The Dark World'), The Winter Soldier isn't held back by very silly, childish humour. It has genuinely funny moments with some great pop culture references, and it overall feels like a much more mature movie than any of Marvel's other work.
The Captain America character is at last beginning to become a much more interesting character, showing he has the leadership capabilities to control The Avengers. Chris Evans shines in the role, he does a perfect job and it's hard to picture anyone else in the role. We also finally get some great character moments for Black Widow, and her role in this film has made me certain that I want to see a Black Widow movie in the upcoming phase 3. Scarlett Johansson does an excellent job with her material, she seems to be really getting into the Black Widow character now and fully understands it. I knew Anthony Mackie would be great as Falcon because he's Anthony Mackie, and he indeed does a great job. Although the Falcon character is different to the traditional comics one, this new version still works very well and provides a lot of comic relief.
Samuel L Jackson is excellent as always, and Robert Redford is very good as well, although his character role is incredibly predictable, so predictable in fact that I already knew what his purpose would be just from watching the trailer. I was slightly disappointed by Emily Van Camp's Agent 13, as she's introduced quite early on yet is given nothing of any real substance substance to do. However, we do get to see a lot more of Cobie Smulder's character Maria Hill, which is always nice. Last but not least, Sebastian Stan does a phenomenal job as The Winter Soldier, a character who is easily a good enough villain to rival Marvel's beloved Loki. The character is very intimidating and genuinely intimidating at points, he has a great feel of menace and power to him which is elevated by Stan's incredible work.
Although I said that The Winter Soldier doesn't focus on the action, the action sequences that are featured in the film are perfect. They're brilliantly choreographed and are easily the best action sequences we've seen so far in the Marvel universe, so kudos to directors Anthony and Joe Russo for that. Like said above, The Winter Soldier feels much more mature than other Marvel movies, as the main crisis feels very real and catastrophic, whereas in past Marvel movies (other than 'The Avengers') there was no sense of massive danger like there is here. The film doesn't employ a dark tone that's so moody it's on the same level as the likes of 'The Dark Knight' and 'Man of Steel', but instead melds the dark tones with the traditional comic book style that Marvel always employ to create an end product that has a great impending sense of danger whilst still feeling like a Marvel movie.
The Winter Soldier is pretty close to perfect. It's easily the best written Marvel movie, and even though it's not as good as 'The Avengers', that's hardly a bad movie to be second to, is it? Let's hope this quality carries on into future Marvel adventures, because if it does then Marvel will never have to give up the crown as king of the comic book movies.