The plot is complex, in the "who can you truly trust?" genre. The Captain is having trouble integrating into modern times and embracing modern values. He makes a new friend, who turns out to be 'The Falcon'. His somewhat unlikely working partner is Natasha Romanoff, 'The Black Widow', whom he does not initially trust. They rescue some hostages from a SHIELD ship that has been taken over by pirates, and Romanoff downloads some Shield data onto a flash drive, which then plays a key role in the remainder of the plot.
The Captain challenges Nick Fury, head of Shield, about openness and honesty, and Fury reveals a secret project called 'Insight', which is building three airbone massive troop carriers with impressive firepower and the capacity to wipe out threats before they occur. the Captain is not impressed, and after their discussion Fury requests his associate, Alexander Pierce, to request the world security council (of which he is secretary) to delay the initiation of the project.
Shortly afterwards, thre is a spectacular car chase and assassination attempt on the life of Nick Fury, head of Shield. He barely escapes with his life and winds up in the Captain's apartment, telling him "to trust no-one". He is promptly shot by an unknown assailant, who we presume is the 'Winter Soldier'. Fury is transported to hospital, where he dies (the doctor in me was wondering, does he?).
After Pierce comsiders that the Captain is being evasive about why Fury was in his apartment, Rogers becomes a wanted man on the run. He goes underground with Romanoff to try to find out from whence the evil stems. In shades of the new movie 'Transendence', they discover that a mad (and evil) German scientist has embedded his consciousness into some remarkably old computer equipment in a bunker and has developed an algorithm that identifies people who will be a threat before they a actually become a threat. His goal (and that of Hydra, the many-headed serpent embedded within Shield) is that humanity will at last give up its freedom to avoid living in fear (Project Insight).
The Captain and Romanoff manage to avoid become barbeque by-products when missiles predictably strike the bunker, and when Rogers comes face to face with the Winter Soldier, he realises that this is his best friend Bucky, who was presumed to have died in the 1940s, but has also survived in an enhanced form courtesy of the mad scientist.
In the central part of the movie Rogers also has a poignant reunion with his now-aged former 'best girl' Peggy, who is still alive in a nursing home.
The Captain and Romanofff enlist the help of The Falcon, and work with a small band of trustworthy allies to try to save the day. My medic's gut feeling is proved correct when Fury emerges alive from the shadows.
Now unhindered by Fury, Pierce presses ahead with the initiation of Project Insight, and our small band of intrepid heroes must board each troop carrier in time to replace one of the data chips with an inert one which sever the connection with orbiting satellites and prevent millions of hapless people from being exterminated.
We are treated to some superbly choreographed chase scenes and fight scenes, in a variety of locations, including in the air, and it all comes down to the final chip and a 'Wild West' style showdown between the Captain and the Winter Soldier. The chip nearly falls to Earth at least twice, but somewhat miraculously Rogers manages to avoid being smashed to smithereens and replaces the final chip as the Earth-bound controllers are about to fire on their 20 million unsuspecting targets. The Winter Soldier, now trapped under a girder, is rescued by Rogers, who reminds him of the brotherly bond between them. Both survive the troop carrier crashing out of the skies.
The Captain's demand, prior to the final assault, of both Hydra and Shield being dissolved, "as something is rotten in the state of Denmark", is duly met, and new career paths are needed all-round. Fury stays officially dead, but continues his work behind the scenes, Romanoff feels a need to invent a new cover (but has won the respect and trust of Rogers), and The Captain and The Falcon make it their next mission to find the Winter Soldier.
In the now traditional 'teasers' at the end, we see one of the remaining offshoots of Hydra with an advanced weapon, which has at its core the eerie blue glow of the Frost Giants (first intalment of 'Thor'), and twin mutants kept in separate rooms with very different powers, who appear to be intended as future challenges for our protagonists.
More poignantly, we see a glimpse of the incognito Winter Soldier at the Smithsonian reading about Captain America's best friend, Bucky.
This really was a terrific movie, much better than I expected, and because of the pace and intensity you would probably need to watch it at least a couple of times to pick up all the finer points.
Highly recommended!
I am totally "over" the 'Spiderman' franchise, as there can be too much of a good thing, but I look forward to both a new 'X-Men' movie, which goes back to their roots, and forthcoming next installment of 'The Avengers'. Also look out for a fabulous documentary which was on TV recently about the origins of the relatively new Marvel Studios and their vision of the Marvel universe.
