10 Highest-Grossing Movies Of 2014 (So Far) - Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($708.1m)

Captain America's second solo outing definitively shed the character of the potential 'most boring Avenger' tag, as well as delivering one of the best entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet. Surprisingly character-centric for a $170m blockbuster, The Winter Soldier overcomes several minor problems to deliver a thrilling hybrid of espionage thriller and superhero action movie. Chris Evans has grown into the role of the title character, with the black-and-white do-goodery inherent in Steve Rogers now given some shades of grey thanks to his questioning of SHIELD's methods, while the narrative also slyly includes commentaries on the increasing amount of government surveillance and what freedom really means in the 21st Century. Of course, people go to Marvel movies to see action and The Winter Soldier also delivers on that front; the opening set-piece on the boat, the elevator full of goons and the extended third-act finale are all hugely enjoyable action sequences, although the climax descends into overly-familiar CGI overload at times. Although Sebastian Stan is largely underused as the titular villain, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Frank Grillo and Samuel L. Jackson provide solid support with Joe and Anthony Russo handling their blockbuster debut with both confidence and aplomb. The Winter Soldier scored the biggest domestic opening of the year with $95m, and positive word-of-mouth has seen the movie hold incredibly well. As well as a domestic total north of $250m, The Winter Soldier has more than doubled The First Avenger's international grosses and currently ranks as the third highest-earning entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet behind The Avengers and Iron Man 3. Not bad for a movie about a 95 year-old war veteran unraveling a government conspiracy from the directors of You, Me and Dupree.