★★★★★ 

Rewatched 16 May, 2020

The Winter Soldier was the first MCU movie I watched on opening day, it turned me from a casual fan to a fanboy. I fell in love with the MCU here and all these years later I still understand why. While it’s not my FAVOURITE MCU movie, I still think it’s the best one from a purely artistic point of view. Captain America wasn’t ‘cool’ before this movie. The Russo Brother, hot off of Community, came to direct a Captain America film. Sit-com TV directors in charge of a multi-million dollar action superhero movie? It was a very bold move by Feige at the time but it paid off, in a really big way. The Winter Soldier set the tone for the rest of the MCU, it veered it in a new direction. It took the formula and perfected it. The filmmaking and writing are incredible in this film. There are so many breathtaking shots and colour palette decisions that are really exciting. The acting by Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, ScarJo and Anthony Mackie are all spot on. A story is as good as it’s villain, and The Winter Soldier has got to be one of the best MCU villains. The fact that he’s Bucky makes things really emotional and the script handles things really well on that front. The story of the Captain staying the same while America changes around him is incredibly showcased. The HYDRA twist changed the MCU’s direction drastically as well, making things very different and bringing a much more political aspect to the films. The real-world consequences further explored in films like Civil War and Endgame are all set-up in this film. This film had so much going against it, it’s amazing how good this is. I love Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I think everyone who’s seen it should give it a rewatch because it’s easy to forget how important this film was.