Civil War Countdown: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Now, we're two movies until the next Avengers movie. Marvel could have kept on doing their plain old big villain vs. established character thing for the rest of them, but they decided to go big. They decided to do something that would turn this universe on it's head and erase all former preconceptions about everything. They actually made a good Captain America film.

When The Winter Soldier was announced, I wasn't exactly enthused. Everyone knows I'm not crazy about The First Avenger, and I was thinking that this movie would just be as boring and null as the first one. Yes, it was exploring the creation of the Winter Soldier, which was a fascinating concept, but I still wasn't seeing it. Then, when the movie was released, something happened. People were calling it, "The best Marvel movie ever..." "So much better than the Avengers..." and so on, and so forth. Naturally, my interest peaked...what was so fantastic about this movie. Then, I watched it, and I was mindblown. The Winter Soldier is still my favorite movie in this franchise for multiple reasons.

The movie starts with a focus on Cap finally getting adjusted to every day life in the 21st century. We see him out-running a fellow soldier, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who seems to spark up a new-found friendship after they're done. But the conversation is cut short when Black Widow pulls up with a new mission for Cap. They, as well as the SHIELD STRIKE team, are sent off to retrieve a SHIELD satellite launch ship, the Lemurian Star, from the hands of pirates. The mission goes well and everyone comes out alive, but Cap is angered when he finds that Romanoff was given a different mission: to back up SHIELD intel upon the ship. He later confronts Nick Fury about the problem, and Fury assured him that there was a reason, as he introduces Cap to SHIELD's project Insight, a set of new Helicarriers that link up to a satellite designed to identify terrorist threats before they happen. Cap is not sold by the idea, citing that this wasn't the freedom he was promised in the U.S., rather fear.

As Cap goes on about his daily business (including visiting an exhibit about him at the Smithsonian), Fury attempts to decrypt the backed-up files, but hits a brick wall. Because of this, he goes upstairs to Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), SHIELD's representative in the World Security Council. Fury tells Pierce that Insight needs to be delayed, much to Pierce's dismay. However, the deed is done anyway. Later on, Fury is traveling in downtown Washington, DC, before he is attacked by a group of mercenaries masquerading as police officers. He uses the James Bond-style gadgets in his car to fight back, and manages to get away, before being confronted by a man with a metal arm that causes him to wreck and flip upside down. Fury does escape the wreckage and makes his way back to Cap's apartment. When Cap arrives, Fury tells him through code that SHIELD is compromised before a bullet hits him, seemingly killing him. Cap's next door neighbor (Emily VanCamp) bursts in, revealing herself to be Agent 13 of SHIELD who was sent to protect Cap at all costs, and she calls in Fury's death, while Cap runs after the shooter, who turns out to be the metal arm man from before. He gets away, however, and Fury is rushed to the hospital.

Cap arrives at the hospital with Black Widow and Agent Hill, watching as the doctors frantically work to bring Fury back. When it proves futile, Romanoff demands answers, asking Cap why Fury was in his apartment. Cap refuses to answer, angering Romanoff, and places the disk drive with the backed up data in a nearby place before he leaves so no one can find it. He returns to the SHIELD base, where Pierce asks him the same question as Romanoff. When Cap answers with a simple, "I don't know," Pierce reveals information that points to Fury hiring the pirates that attacked the Lemurian Star. Pierce confronts Cap, telling him that if he finds out Cap is hiding something, he will take action, before dismissing him. In the elevator, Cap is attacked by the SHIELD STRIKE team, but manages to get away, causing the realization that Cap is now rogue in finding the information about Fury's death. He returns to the hospital to retrieve the disk, which has been found by Romanoff, and they set out on the run.

The disk brings them to an abandoned army base in New Jersey, where they find an old SHIELD base of operations. They boot up the computers, which reveals a backed up variant of the brain of Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), the Red Skull's lead scientist in Hydra. Zola reveals that SHIELD hired him when they started out as a scientist, but he had secretly infiltrated and began to build up Hydra within the organization, until the point where most of SHIELD was Hydra. This reveals to the pair why, all of a sudden, everyone in SHIELD was turning against them. Before they can find out information, however, a missile strikes the base, but they manage to take cover. Afterwards, they go and find Sam Wilson's house for help. Wilson agrees to their wishes after they explain everything, and he gears up in some of his old army equipment: a pair of high tech wings (deeming him the role of Falcon). Romanoff and Cap kidnap Agent Sitwell of SHIELD for questioning, and he reveals Hydra's plan for the world: to use Project Insight to knock out a great chunk of the human populace which it has deemed a threat. Before he can reveal everything, the group is once again attacked by The Winter Soldier, leading an army of Hydra (formerly known as STRIKE). It's here where Cap finds out the identity of The Winter Soldier, being his long time friend, Bucky. This distraction leads the three to be caught by Hydra.

On the way there, they're busted out by Agent Hill who was under the guise of a Hydra agent. She takes them to a hideout where they find Nick Fury alive and well. They go over the plans to strike back against Hydra, with everyone involved. The next day, Project Insight is set to launch. Pierce has collected the world security council together at the SHIELD base for the festivities. But everything is interrupted as Cap takes over the intercom and announces SHIELD's transformation into Hydra. The council turns against Pierce, and Fury walks into the room, revealing that Romanoff is in disguise as a council member. Fury attempts to get Pierce to shut down the program, but it only goes so far, as Pierce gains the upper hand through the use of an electrically charged pin on each council's neck. However, Cap's speech about Hydra activates each SHIELD agent still left in the building, and the revolution begins as the helicarriers launch.

Cap and Falcon attack the helicarriers, taking out a large amount of personnel, before they make their way into the inside where Cap can disable them using a computer chip. Inside, he confronts Bucky one last time, and they have a very harsh duel. Cap tries to get into Bucky's head and tell him who he really is, but it's futile, as he beats Cap to near death. Cap does manage to escape and install the chip, causing the helicarriers to target themselves rather than innocent civilians. The wreckage of the carriers causes havoc for Cap and Bucky, as both become trapped with no way out. Bucky still tries to off Cap, but ends up caving and saving him, when Cap spits their saying from when they were younger. The carriers fall and the heroes of the story are victorious. Cap recovers in a hospital, Romanoff assures the government that SHIELD and the Avengers are needed, and Fury goes on to live his life. The post credits scenes detail the introudction of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and Bucky goes to learn about himself from the exhibit featured in the beginning of the movie.

So, like I said, two years later, The Winter Soldier still holds up as being the best MCU movie (so far), easily beating the Avengers. Some people might be gearing up with pitchforks and torches for me saying that, but it's just how I feel. For one, TWS doesn't feel like it has so much cluttering and weighing down the story, like Avengers does. While Avengers has a very straight way of telling its story, you have to go through a million different side-plots before getting to the final conclusion. In TWS, it feels much cleaner and just like a breath of fresh air. For two, the villain is actually quite cleverly done and doesn't feel shoehorned, like other standalone Marvel films. Alexander Pierce is a quite menacing yet clever and likable villain, like a human Loki, with his various quips and, "good ole boy," attitude. And, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier is written absolutely beautifully, to the point where you actually root for him for a second there near the end. It also goes without saying that this movie is the one story that flipped this whole universe upside down with the Hydra reveal, and even that was handled beautifully. Couple it with the traditional Marvel plusses of good casting and beautiful direction, and yeah, I still stand by this movie being the best.

If I had to point out one movie to anyone who asked me about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I'd point to this one. It's great as a standalone, and it adds so much to the timeline, all at the same time. The Winter Soldier is getting a well-deserved 5 out of 5 stars. And thankfully, the good tidings of 2014 Marvel movies don't stop there. We're going far into outer space next time, with the biggest surprise yet from the studios: Guardians of the Galaxy.