Going through the Infinity Saga for the first time, I was under the (false) impression that every movie in this 3-Phase saga is linked to that grand arc, but turns out after 9 films so far all we've got are a few short end credit scenes. Thankfully not an issue, as we do get solid character development in every film (even the terrible Hulk one) and now in Phase 2 the quality of the individual movies has taken a step up.

Winter Soldier is more thriller than superhero flick, and pays fine homage to vintage conspiracy movies of 70's to 90's. The cast all work well with each other (Samuel L Jackson finally getting some quality screen time) and unusually the music-score has a few outstanding motifs which go beyond the standard orchestral fare, especially with scenes involving the Winter Soldier character. Reminded me of how Dune's dramatic blasts of musical-score elevated what was happening on-screen.

Camera movement & editing is improved over previous entries, holding the image a little steadier and a little longer. The plot & pacing develop nicely. Really no significant weak spots. It misses out on a higher score as my 9's & 10's have something substantially awe-inspiring about them. In the 9 MCU films so far we've not quite got there yet, tho' I expect the really great stuff is still to come!