Captain America and the Winter Soldier (DVD) Review

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) lives quietly in the nation’s capital and tries to adjust to modern times. But an attack on a SHIELD colleague throws Rogers into a web of intrigue, and the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed to him. Teaming up with Black Widow and a new ally, the Falcon, Rogers struggles to expose an ever-widening conspiracy and fight off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn.

It’s clear from the opening frames that Steve’s moral beliefs are pitted against his occupational obligations, and that he has trouble prioritizing one over the other. The tensions between his distrust of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) pragmaticism are powerful and effective, and they create a believable conflict between the heroes that isn’t immediately resolved by their climactic clash.

The movie is also remarkable for putting the emphasis on character relationships and the importance of loyalty over nationalistic duty. For example, the fact that Rogers spares Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) despite the Winter Soldier programming is a clear statement about his love and loyalty for him, overcoming decades of trauma.

Captain America and the Winter Soldier was Marvel’s ninth film in the MCU, and it laid the groundwork for a lot of important elements going forward. The movie introduced many beloved characters, including Sam Wilson and Sharon Carter, who were paired together in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, who returned for a fun cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It also established the ominous backstory behind Fury’s missing eye, which was paid off in Avengers: Endgame.