The modern blockbuster is still bearing the heavily influence of its very first successes, particularly in regards to structure. Both Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark opened with a sequence that serves as its own mini-adventure, kicking off a couple of the stories threads while theyre at it. And as everything about popcorn films has got bigger and longer over the years, so have the openings; instead of a quick five minutes of fun before the plot, the beginning can be a mini-movie in itself. One of The Avengers biggest weaknesses was that it began with twenty minutes of faux-science exposition and a by-the-numbers car chase. The Winter Soldier likewise struggles, starting things off with a super-hero charged twist on Captain Phillips. Running at well over fifteen minutes and including a one-on-one fight with a comic villain introduced then hardly heard from again, the sequence ultimately does what it nee out to do, but over a much time frame than it needed to. Everything else, particularly the distinct silent take-downs employed by the key players, is pretty well done, so it far from derails the movie, but it would have been nicer to get to Operation: Insight a little sooner.