Captain America: The Winter Soldier [IMAX 3D] – ****

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the direct sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), however, it is also the spiritual sequel to The Avengers (2012).  It is quite impressive how everything released within the so-called “Marvel Cinematic Universe“, or MCU for short, is incredibly consistent and continuous from film to film, since Iron Man (2008). Of course, the masterminds at Marvel Studios probably have had plenty of practice keeping stories aligned within the Marvel Universe of the comics. To a lesser extent, there are slight tie-ins to the television series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well, with Agent Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández). 

The film opens with the plucky Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) continuing to adjust to the new millennium, after being woken up in the present day at the conclusion of The First Avenger, and being instrumental in the epic Battle of New York that occurred in The Avengers. He is now stationed in Washington, DC at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, known as Triskelion, which carves out a formidable, albeit entirely fictional, island base directly on the Potomac River, with its entry gate along what appears to be the DC side of the 14th Street Bridge.

This film is an incredible homage to the city of Washington, DC, and is featured prominently throughout the film, as much as New York is in much of Marvel’s back catalog of films. As a Washingtonian, I am proud to say that the film remained true to all that is uniquely DC. The wide shots of the city’s vistas from the Triskelion and Helicarriers are simply breathtaking. And the scenes in and around landmarks such as the Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials, Reflecting Pool, and the Smithsonian National Air & Space Musuem made it even more authentic. I always feel offended somewhat when films and shows substitute sets or props for DC, such as the Metro system, or police cruisers.

Although nearly seventy years have passed since being cryogenically frozen after saving the world, Captain America has been able to reunite with his one true love from back when he was just Steve Rogers, Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Of course, Rogers has not aged at all, not only from the cryostasis, but also his constantly regenerating and self-healing cells.  These cells have also helped to make Cap even more agile and deadly than ever before, as evidenced from his S.H.I.E.L.D. hostage rescue mission. He fights at a breakneck clip, much faster than in The First Avenger. Agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is equally deadly in her own right, too, as seen across previous Avengers films. During the operation, however, both agents get caught up in their own personal battle, but that will have to be sorted out later.

Back in DC, Cap meets with S.H.I.E.L.D. director, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) himself, and he reminds him who’s in charge. Everything’s compartmentalized, even side operations with ulterior motives. Things start getting hairy, however, when Fury is engaged in a vehicular battle on Washington streets and the Whitehurst Freeway, involving false Metropolitan Police Department officers. Eventually, Fury is aggressively met by The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), a deadly villain from Russia. This scene is extremely reminiscent of the ‘electric whip vs. car’ scene in Iron Man 2 (2010). Fury barely makes it out alive, and he goes to hide out in the only safe location he knows: Rogers’ apartment. He then tells him not to trust anyone.

Before this exchange, however, Rogers runs into his neighbor, Kate (Emily VanCamp, Revenge) in the hall. I was incredibly surprised to see another avenger (so to speak) (and fellow ABC Network alum, home of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) She did a wonderful job. I only wish they gave her more screen time. Hopefully she will in the next Avengers series installment.

Despite Fury’s last command, the Captain cautiously trusts Agent Romanoff to partner with him in solving the mystery of what’s really happening deep within the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. Along the way, they recruit Rogers’ jogging acquaintance, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), who is a war veteran with secrets of his own. They soon discover a terrible plan to assassinate millions upon millions of people, using S.H.I.E.L.D.’s latest top-secret weapons platform, Insight. The only glaring issue is that although the film is subtitled The Winter Soldier, he actually only gets very few scenes. The second and third acts are mostly devoted to destroying the Insight Project.

It’s quite unusual to see 3 names in the credits for Director, but Anthony & Joe Russo and Joss Whedon did an incredible job working together to pull off an amazing film. The Winter Soldier is arguably going to be considered Marvel’s best film in the MCU to date. The debate has just been ignited on social media. It truly is an incredible movie, and one that deserves to be seen at the cineplex. If this is an indication of the level of quality of 2014’s Summer Blockbuster Season, it’s going to be one hot summer!