Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the sequel to the Chris Evans superhero vehicle, follows Steve Rogers as he faces off against Soviet agent Winter Soldier.

Rogers, aka Captain America, is still acclimating to modern times when he’s called on to help thwart a conspiracy from further wreaking havoc in the country. Alongside fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. team member Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), he comes face-to-face with the enemy in hiding in Washington, D.C. Samuel L. Jackson is reprising his role of Nick Fury in the sequel, while Robert Redford has come on board the franchise as S.H.I.E.L.D. official Alexander Pierce.

Critics Review Captain America: Winter Soldier

Most critics found Winter Soldier to be better than the original film – and possibly one of the best to come out of the recent string of Marvel universe films. There are some, though, who found the trajectory of the latest Captain America film to be too formulaic, with a thoughtful beginning that gave way to your standard special effects climax.

With "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Marvel has won a rebirth trifecta. Originally a product of Project Rebirth, a World War II experiment that turned frail Steve Rogers into a super-soldier, Captain America was reborn[…] in 2011 as a stand-alone screen hero in the would-be epic "Captain America: The First Avenger." Just about every shortcoming of that film—the ponderous pace, the uncertain tone, the variable acting—has been fixed, and then some, by "The Winter Soldier," in which Steve, played by Chris Evans, is re-reborn as a charmingly retro fighter for freedom in the face of a vast conspiracy that manages to feel fresh and modern, despite some familiar machinations.” – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

“In this, the second installment featuring Rogers and his titular alter ego, Steve is forced into all manner of chaotic, cacophonous action. A baggy, at times brutal conglomeration of surprisingly deep character development and aggressively percussive action, “The Winter Soldier” is a comic-book movie only in its provenance. In its relentless violence and dark political subtext, this might be the most grown-up Avengers episode yet.” – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier, one that, like many others of its type, gets off to a kinetic start only to lose steam before blowing everything up. It’s fun until it goes kablooey, when the directors, the brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, are first warming up this sequel and scratching their initials next to the Marvel logo. The Winter Soldier becomes progressively less enjoyable once the plot thickens and a menace looms, as Fury moves one chess piece, while Pierce moves another. Captain America doesn’t move much, beyond cars and debris.” – Manhola Dargis, The New York Times

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a better-than-average Marvel superhero bash, intriguingly plotted and pretty clever in its speculations about 21st-century life for Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, the greatest of the Greatest Generation warriors, as he contends with contemporary American geopolitical ideals run amok.” – Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is currently in wide release.

– Chelsea Regan