Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Giant flying aircraft carriers blasting each other like a screensaver: that’s where Winter Soldier ends up, and it’s the least interesting thing in the movie. Everything before that is a lean spy thriller wearing a superhero costume. The elevator fight is so tight you can feel the elbows. The freeway ambush is the best action Marvel had done up to then. Chris Evans finally gets to play Cap as a guy who doesn’t trust his own bosses, and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha is funny, sharp and always a step ahead of him. Anthony Mackie shows up as Sam and the friendship clicks almost right away. The Winter Soldier himself barely talks and is scary because of it. $714.4 million worldwide and a 90% with critics. An 8.6 because it proved a Marvel movie could be a real thriller, even if it still had to end with a pile of CGI. $3,151 says the next time a crowded elevator goes quiet, you check everyone’s hands.

What works: The elevator fight, the freeway ambush and a story that plays like a real spy thriller, with Cap finally doubting the people giving him orders.

What doesn’t: The finale trades all that tension for a pile of CGI aircraft carriers shooting at each other, the most generic stretch in an otherwise sharp movie.

Who it’s for: People who like spy thrillers about not trusting your own side, even if they usually skip superhero movies.