I liked the movie more than the first one, that's for sure. Steve is not my favorite Avenger, but I found him a lot more nuanced in this movie than I have previously. It really worked for me. Honestly, though, I LOVE Scarlett Johansen so I was thrilled she got such a strong sidekick role in this. Having to discover who she really is was fantastic and probably my favorite parts of the movie. I was spoiled on everything because of watching Shield with Craig this last week, so it lacked any sense of urgency in that regard. I'm just not a Hydra fan, though. I find the trope of enemies that are so permeated within the culture, leaving the hero one of the only people to trust in the story, too frustrating to enjoy much. The sense of, "What's the point if everything he does ends up not working/blowing up in his face/gets countered because every single one of them is a bad guy?" ends up overwhelming everything else for me. I need that shred of hope that it's not all for naught and frankly, with Hydra everywhere and the whole cut one head off and two grow back is an exercise in futility.
I have a day of laundry, proofing a galley (thank god I have something to distract me from my frustrating muse), and groceries. Easy peasy. Then back to the grind tomorrow.
