With The Winter Soldier, the Russo brothers upped the action, the violence, the emotion and the cuts per action scene in a way that would make them the leading force of MCU goodness.

I love how it evolves Cap's character from a likeable but simplistic patriot hero to a more complex hero who comes to realise his country isn't as great as he first thought, something he would have probably realised even if HYDRA didn't infiltrate SHIELD.

It's a great movie and one of the most important in the series, even if most of the bug changes to the universe didn't fully stay, they still left a mark.

Also, Danny Pudi has a cameo. Cool, cool cool cool.

During the break I took between The Avengers (2012-also reviewed) & Captain America: Civil War (2016-also reviewed) from seeing any MCU films,this was the entry I kept hearing about,and was the most intrigued about viewing someday. Catching up with all the MCU films that I've missed on Disney+,I got set to finally encounter the soldier.

View on the film:

Drawing their first issue of the MCU, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo team up with cinematographer Trent Opaloch to make a splash by welding the flawless CGI with white-knuckle hand-to-hand combat sequence, placed in narrow locations such as lifts to give a up-close perspective to the ground and pound attacks.

Throwing Captain America's shield across the screen, the Russo's cross the pristine shine of the CBM with the glossy anxiety atmosphere of a Thriller, thanks to ultra-stylised arc shots bleeding The Winter Soldier across the panels of the screen,which sets off rapid whip-pans towards Captain America having to outwit his own side.

Mentioned by the two main leads afterwards that they were allowed to improvise some of their dialogue, the screenplay by MCU regulars Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely frees up the film from the back issue weight which had caused Iron Man 2 (2010-also reviewed) to be a challenging production, to instead thrillingly focus on Steve Rogers finding his wholesome ideals of the Govt, to become increasingly tainted.

Departing from the fantastical baddies of the past MCU titles for something more grounded in Project MKUltra and NSA programs, the writers thrillingly place Rogers and Black Widow (a wonderful Scarlett Johansson, who combines Widow's deadly action moves with a playful quick- witted edge) in a system seeping with paranoid corruption,where the reverberation of the Hydra terrorist organisation of the 1940's remain in motion.

After bringing him in on the great Captain America: The First Avenger (2011-also reviewed) Chris Evans gives a terrific turn as Rogers,thanks to planting a seed of doubt in Rogers life-long belief of who is good and evil,as Captain America comes in from the cold to take on The Winter Soldier.

THE WINTER SOLDIER is a far superior sequel to the original Captain America: unlike the first film, this doesn't descend into a CGI mess in the second half, and instead remains tight and compelling right up to and throughout the climax. This one has a retro, '70s political thriller-type feel going on, with Chris Evans cast as a friendless figure out of his time and out of his depth, at the mercy of sinister and unknown forces.

It's a decent film too, one never less than entertaining, and the second-best Marvel film I've seen, right behind AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (which had the huge budget and scale as a result). The fast-paced narrative includes all manner of martial arts-based fight scenes which, although reliant on CGI, are still exciting to watch. The elevator sequence is a real highlight and expertly staged. The effects are generally above average and the humour and camaraderie that these films are known for are both present. Scarlett Johansson shines here and Samuel L. Jackson gets more depth than usual, while Robert Redford is fun in a stock role. I wouldn't call THE WINTER SOLDIER a masterpiece, but it certainly does the job well enough and never disappoints.