Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo
Release date: April 4th, 2014
Rating: 10/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the second best standalone Marvel film behind Thor: Ragnarok, in my opinion. The Russo Brothers were chosen to direct Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame for a reason; this movie. Instead of doing what might be considered obvious and have Steve Rogers struggle with adapting to modern technology or way of life, the Russos go deeper and have him struggle with adapting to modern security. It's not the fact that there's flying ships everywhere that throws him off, it's the fact that they are being used to violate privacy and human rights in the name of security. This, on top of Hydra being hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D, is an example of great writing for this superhero political thriller. Everything about this movie is amazing; from the high choreography, to the costume design, to the set design, to the plot.
I love everything about this movie. This movie came out right around the time I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a living and it had a significant impact on my decision to go into film. Honestly, the only reason it isn't #2 in my MCU ranking is because the ensemble films tend to be better by default since anytime you can make a great movie with multiple big characters is a great achievement in my book. Captain America: The Winter Soldier made me fall in love with film and also made me a huge Captain America fan.