Captain America: The Winter Solider - Review

Although I have only seen Avengers: Infinity War once and I haven't seen The Incredible Hulk, I think it's safe to say that this is my favourite film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I would even put it in my top 5 of favourite superhero films of all time. Coming off The Avengers, right off the bat this film felt more intense. The aspect ratio was back to 2.39:1 (Wide-Screen), the action scenes were much more gritty, heavy and intense, the characters were more developed and the story was much more interesting than any other Marvel film before it. I had an argument recently about who my favourite Avenger was. I was told that I'm an idiot because I chose Captain America over Iron Man. While going through Phase 1 of the MCU in preparation for Avengers: Infinity War, and after watching Captain America: The First Avenger and the first Iron Man film, I thought I was crazy too. Iron Man was way more interesting than Captain America was, even in the Avengers. However, from this film onwards, Captain America became my favourite Avenger. This was the film that pushed him over the top. Steve Rogers isn't just some kid from Brooklynn still learning how to use his powers anymore. Plus, he's no longer the Steve Rogers who was still lost in the world of today. Now, Steve Rogers as Captain America still upholds the same values of justice, fairness, and compassion, but now he has a more relatable sense of humour, and is so much more badass. When I was a kid playing on the playground, my friends and I pretended we were Spider-Man. However, if I had seen this movie when I was seven years old, I know I would have been pretending to throw my shield and have it bounce of various parts of the playground in order to defeat Hydra. That is how cool Captain America has become. Plus the addition of Sam Wilson's Falcon to the team and the help of Natasha Romanov's Black Widow adds to the... "bad-assery." So this movie is full of bad-ass moments, but why does this film stand out from the rest of the MCU? Well, weird to say, but it's because it doesn't feel like a superhero movie at all. This plot feels like something out of a James Bond film. Political espionage, spies, rogue organizations, and a villain with a metal arm, this feels like a spy thriller rather than a superhero movie. Because of this, the stakes feel much higher than simply fighting an onslaught of random aliens. With characters that are given more depth than they had in The Avengers, action with more brutality to it, a plot that has plenty of twists and turns that doesn't really feel like a superhero movie all blend into one of the best superhero films I've ever seen.