My Favorite Movies- "Captain America: The Winter Solider" (2014)

I haven't done anything in the "My Favorite Movies" series in a while. You never know what random film will pop into your head on any given day, and last night, as I was playing video games before dinner, I started looking up some clips from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." I've said before that I'm slightly worried about going back and watching some of the early Marvel films. They were such huge pieces of my life during my teenage and early adult years, and I don't want to have those memories spoiled, but every time I go back and watch clips from the early days of Marvel, I'm reminded of how good we have it. "Avengers: Endgame" will probably always be the definitive Marvel movie. It was the "Return of the King" of the Marvel universe, the highest-grossing film of all time and a legitimate achievement. It's the best Marvel movie because it has to be, but I think Marvel's finest might've been "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

This movie fucks so hard. I really liked the first Captain America movie. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember thinking it was pulpy and fun. It had some inspired direction by Joe Johnston and gave us a great setup for the first Avengers movie. There was a period after the first Avengers where I wondered if Marvel was no longer on the right path. They followed up "The Avengers" with "Iron Man 3," which I didn't hate but was divisive, to say the least. After that, they gave us "Thor: The Dark World," which is one of the worst Movies of the Infinity Saga. I was worried that maybe they spent so much time building up to the first Avengers that they kind of ran out of good ideas. I was very wrong. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a high point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has the kind of tone that I wish modern MCU movies would have. It has lighthearted, comedic moments, but it takes itself more seriously than most MCU films.

When I first saw this, I was really surprised by how high the stakes were. It's one of the few Marvel movies where I legitimately wasn't sure who would live and who would die. It really does a great job of setting up Captain America in the modern world. It would've been very easy to make 1 million different fish-out-of-water jokes, but they avoided that. This is a character-based movie. As I said, I enjoyed the first Captain America, but by the end of "The Winter Soldier," you really do Connect with this character and his journey. The twist with the Winter Soldier is predictable, but how the Russo Brothers executed it is legitimately emotional. The final fight scene is one of my favorite moments in the entire MCU. 

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This movie had a lot to balance. There were a lot of different characters and arcs, yet it never felt bloated or rushed. It really takes its time with its storytelling. Yes, it's filled with the familiar tropes that we know with Marvel films, but everything feels upgraded here. The action is tighter, the dialogue is better, and there are more twists and turns. I would argue. This is one of the more important films in the MCU. Marvel knew this was special, and they gave Joe and Anthony Russo the keys to the final two Avengers movies, which was a great idea. Regardless of what the Russo do for the remainder of their career, they'll be responsible for guiding the Infinity Saga across the finish line. 

Comic book movies aren't for everybody. There will always be that crowd that finds them repetitive and doll, but this is one of the few Marvel movies I would show to somebody who doesn't like Marvel movies. It features similar tropes, but it's more self-contained than a lot of other comic book movies, and at its core, It's just a really good Spy thriller. I can't believe we're coming up on the 10th year anniversary of this film. I remember seeing it on spring break with my friends at a movie theater in Tampa, Florida, in 2014. It blew me away. It still holds up as one of Marvel's finest works.