Many movies in the MCU have suffered from a noticeable lack of memorable action scenes - but not so much as those in both Thor and Thor: The Dark World, movies which were occasionally thrilling, but ultimately lacked set-pieces that stayed with you. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is, essentially, a massive step up in the action sequence department - something that might come as a surprise given that Thor: The Dark World was helmed by Game of Throne's Alan Taylor, and The Winter Soldier is directed by the guys who brought us You, Me and Dupree. Fast-paced and brilliant choreographed (though not in an irritatingly shaky cam style), we actually see what's happening when Captain America tackles bad guy after bad guy - you can feel the weight behind his punches, and we get to witness the damage attached to every hit in a way that feels genuinely satisfying. What's more, the action sequences feel natural to the story being told, whereas some of those featured in Thor: The Dark World felt like they were only really there to pad out the runtime ("Okay, uh, let's get Thor to fight a big monster now, 'cause, yeah!"). The best action scene in the movie, which features Nick Fury being ambushed in a car by an army of assassins, doesn't even feature Captain America - that's not to criticise the fact that he's absent from the proceedings, but to praise it: to successfully make an action scene without superhero involvement the best one in the movie is a relatively huge accomplishment, especially since it still has total story relevance in the grand scheme of things. And there's arguably no scene more badass in the MCU canon as the one where the Cap' takes down a heliship single-handedly.
Adrian Smith was born in Singapore City and moved to London when he was five. He writes for the internet full-time, and occasionally makes travel documentaries (the last one was about Moscow). He has a cat called Louis.
