This is a good one, guys.

I'm a bit lazy, so don't expect anything too well written/proofread here, but yeah, Winter Solider is the nearly perfect version of what it wants to be, and that is the most adult movie Marvel Studios has attempted thus far. Not to say it isn't fun (because it's really, really fun and kids will enjoy it to bits), or that it dips its toes into Man of Steel's 9/11-imagery-happy madness (I said it was adult, not mind-numbingly manic-depressive). It just takes chances that I couldn't see the other Marvel movies. Gone is the pulpy adventure tone from The First Avenger, replaced with a spy thriller where no one can be trusted, morals are questioned, and the usual robot-blasting and monster-punching replaced with straight up guns, knifes, and hand-to-hand combat, with some shield-tossing and the occasional exploding helicarrier thrown in. If the first one was Raiders of the Lost Ark, this one is Skyfall.

And it appears that the overriding theme of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is subversion, because Winter Solider drops the whole enchilada and rewrites one of the core aspects of this canon.

It can be a bit heavy sometimes, what with its central character questioning how he can be the living embodiment of his country when he doesn't know what his country stands for anymore and whatnot, but thankfully these people know what they're doing, unlike some other filmmakers. It's certainly gritty, but it's the classy kind of gritty.

Overall, it's a good time. It's well-paced, the cast is great (I hope to see Anthony Mackie's Falcon around for a long time), it's engaging from beginning to end, it's probably the best action movie out of all the non-Avengers movies, and while it's a bit disappointing that he isn't in the movie more than he is, the Winter Solider is an absolute highlight. It's a smart movie, one that expects that it's audience is able to keep up with it and think about what it's selling, and I can't think of too many summer movies that do that. This alone would get the movie my recommendation.

If I had any problems at all, it's that I find Cap's key to be really weird. I mean, Tony Stark's Dora watch makes sense, and so does Dr. Selvig's discarded underwear in Thor: The Dark World, but why would a piece of gum be Steve Roger's wait wrong franchise.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stop reading this and see it. Please.

And stick around for both the mid and after credits scenes. The first one introduces a key element for Avengers:Age of Ultron, and the second...well, I ain't giving that away.