Much better than I expected, especially after the first one.

The first Captain America was fine, though not fantastic, and then got ruined right at the end. Given that, and having seen most of the recent superhero / comic-book movies I wasn't expecting much from this. That is was expecting all style, no substance, token plot, wooden performances, lives and dies by action scenes and special effects.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has the action scenes and special effects, but it has much more than that. Plot is fairly good. Not watertight, but moves along well, mostly makes sense, and has some character development.

Performances are good. The interplay between Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson works and the supporting cast give solid performances.

Overall, an entertaining movie and the best of the Marvel movies.