Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It's hard for superhero movies to carry on using the same formula time and time again, especially when in the shadow of something like The Avengers. Thankfully, some aren't afraid to try something new. (Working successfully, however, that's another matter.)

Thankfully, Anthony and Joe Russo's Captain America: The Winter Soldier manages to deliver on so many levels. (Not bad considering the directors hadn't done anything in the action genre before.) And since we're living in a post-The Dark Knight and The Avengers world, that's saying a lot.

What makes the movie work is that it doesn't actually become a superhero movie until the final third. The other two-thirds are a nice throwback to thrillers from both the Cold War and the 1970s. (Paranoia can make for one hell of a plot point.) God, we need more movies like this.

And like any good thriller, it all comes down to the actors. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Anthony Mackie certainly keep the suspense very much alive. But I just want to talk about Robert Redford's work for a moment. He seems like the last actor you'd expect to see in a Marvel movie, and he's awesome.

Anyway, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was very effective up until the last third. It's also a nice change of pace from some of the other run-of-the-mill superhero movies. (Read: it's not overwrought with angst like some of the others.) It's definitely worth a look.

My Rating: ****1/2