Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Comic books have a long history of exploring socio-political ideas using superheroes to give them a fantastical edge and thereby making them more palatable to a mass audience. The Avengers universe films have had an uneven history with such comparisons, but the latest entry is as pointed a social commentary as any of its predecessors have been and perhaps more.

Detailing the issues surrounding mass surveillance and the ideas of stopping criminals before they commit crimes, Captain America gives our idealistic super soldier an opportunity to question his loyalty to a government not built on the freedoms of all people. Chris Evans does a superb job in his third outing as everyone’s favorite American patriot. Conflicted by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s questionable activities and the emergence of an enemy he thought long expired, Steve Rogers has to weigh the safety of his colleagues and the American people against his principles as a soldier.

It’s hard to imagine an entry into the cinematic superhero universe that is more perfectly timed, executed and thematically relevant. The original Iron Man came close and satisfied the belief that this genre still had something to offer after years of multiple failed attempts and only a small number of successful ones. Should the Marvel Universe continue in the direction The Winter Soldier is taking us, we should have continued entertainment and satisfaction for years to come.