Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 10 MCU Mistakes It Repeats

2. It Squanders Its Chances To Be Truly "Different"

Granted, for much of its runtime, Captain America: The Winter Soldier does feel a bit different to the MCU movies that have come before: there's a sense that the filmmakers, at least, tried to imbue it with its own special tone - that of the '70s political thriller (and they even brought Robert Redford in to hit that point home). Ultimately, though, it fails to differentiate itself from any other movies in the MCU because it can't help - over the course of its narrative itself from embracing all the same narrative stepping stones. It goes from feeling unique to feeling samey very quickly. This goes back to an idea proposed earlier in this article regarding the MCU factory and its template-like stories. Simply put, even this movie, which had the potential to break free of the constraints of the MCU whilst embracing them at the same time, falls back on a familiar story template at around the halfway mark. A plot that at first feels unique eventually gives up and once again descends into "here's a sh*t load of exposition, broken up at random intervals by some awesome set-pieces, followed by an insanely explosive climax" territory. Speaking of which...