‘Captain America: The Winter Solider’ is a modern political spy thriller that not only exceeds the standards of movies from the superhero genre, but may be even better than ‘The Avengers.’

Part of Marvel Studios’ second phase of movies, ‘Winter Solider’ expands on Captain America’s (played by Chris Evans) place in today’s society, while exploring the idea of how far people are willing to go for freedom.

The film carries the feel of the Cold War era. A spy thriller with the Marvel twist, adding intense action scenes, grounded characters, a thrilling plot twist that alters the rest of the cinematic Marvel Universe. The plot is advanced via strong character development, and helps gets the audience invested in what is happening.

The film takes place some time after the events of ‘The Avengers’, and begins with Captain America and Black Widow, (played by Scarlett Johansson) working on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. to save hostages and recover sensitive information.

That beginning mission creates the entire base for the rest of the movie. Rules and relationships are established within the first 20 minutes of the film. The lack of special effects helped to ground the film and differentiate it from the likes of Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World.

Winter Soldier does follow the same message as previous Phase Two films of placing the hero in an unfamiliar situation that tests who they are.

All the actors do a fantastic job of supporting each other as well. Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford work as excellent political foils, while Anthony Mackie shines as the Falcon, stealing the spotlight as a moral compass for Captain America.

Sebastian Stan and Evans mesh well together, and their fight scenes are some of the best moments of the film, but it’s the emotion behind the characters that stands out. The pain of having to fight a former friend is apparent on both actors faces.

Overall, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a great film that can stand alone just fine, but benefits greatly from the lore created by the previous films. Winter Soldier receives 5 out of 5.