A dreadful movie of prosaisms and bland characterization.

Rating: 1/10 (27 May 2016)

Certainly the worst movie I've watched so far this year. I frankly don't understand why critics or audiences rave about it. The plot is absurdly and comically formulaic, characters are completely undeveloped and bland, and they enter the story pretty much at random. While the basic premise of Captain America intrigued me, especially in its original 50s environment, the potential goes mostly unused in these movies. They are melodramatic, and reach way too deep into pseudo-sociological commentary for their own good.
The Winter Soldier seems to be sort of responding to the NSA polemic, but it does so tastelessly and without any intelligence. In fact, I'd say this is exactly the kind of movie organizations like the Hydra it so demonizes would want us to watch: a dumb blockbuster designed to numb people while the powers that be plot their machinations. I suppose I could say the CGI was decent, but it's wasted on a dreadful script that can't even do action scenes right (you can literally predict every scene before it even begins, not because the movie thoughtfully sets you up, but because you've already seen it in a slightly different disguise someplace else).
All in all, worth watching as a disposable movie, but don't expect anything more edible than cold fries.