Why not try…. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the best Marvel superhero film so far. Sure, it’s a pretty close-run thing between it, Marvel Avengers Assemble and, probably, Iron Man 3, but Capt. America 2 has something going for it that neither of the other two have.

The makers of Capt. Am 2 (I’m going to gradually abbreviate it every time I say it) have crafted not only a superhero film, but also a 70s-style conspiracy thriller. It’s full of exciting action set-pieces, like you would expect from any superhero film worth its salt (I particularly enjoyed a car chase through the streets of Washington DC), but lots of the tension comes from the crosses and double-crosses that occur throughout.

The film sees Chris Evans’ Captain continue to be a fish out of water, having been unfrozen a few years earlier and already he is disillusioned with the state of the world. He openly questions his boss, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), about the organisation’s plan to use what is essentially drone warfare to take out the bad guys around the world. It turns out, however, that the bad guys might be a little closer to home.

Despite the political commentary, the film still has the fun comic book humour and directors Anthony and Joe Russo, sitcom directors by trade (with Community and Arrested Development on their CVs) handle the action with aplomb. The film does lose something near the end as it descends into a big action set piece, but it introduces interesting new characters, like Falcon (Anthony Mackie), who bring in a new dynamic to the series. The film leaves it nice and open at the end, so that the Marvel juggernaut can continue for years to come.