Captain America - The Winter Soldier (12A)

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo and Joss Whedon

4 Stars

Wrapped in a stars-and-stripes outfit, the persona of Captain America couldn't provide a better example of the masses being innoculated with the capitalist message in the multiplexes.

Yes, the Neitzschean superhero's back and he's suddenly confronted with the current US war on the world and told that if there's to be success in that battle, then dissent must be obliterated.

He's appalled, since in his freshman form as Steve Foster (Chris Evans) he's been faced with defeating the forces of fascism, not attempting to rule the world.

He's now described as the defender of democracy, the Soviet Union having being edited out of history.

Thus Captain America has to combat external enemies and, more importantly, those within the body politic - from the military-industrial complex to a bunch of neo-nazis called Hydra.

To complicate matters, he has to distinguish between friend and foe since they often change sides, especially after his former Shield boss Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) comes under attack

There's plenty of intrigue and spectacular battles as he teams up with former double agents Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthon Mackie).

Their ostensible enemy is an old Soviet agent called Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) who's manipulated by an evil nazi scientist (Toby Jones).

Then there's Alexander Pierce as the Shield leader, played by Robert Redford, who provides the first belly laugh when he's given a haymaker by Jenny Agutter.

This is undoubtedly the most sophisticated of the current propaganda films because, after acknowledging criticism of the US, the claim "You can still count on us" is trotted out.

Tell that to the poor within and without the empire, never mind the resistance movements that have multiplied since Dubya decided to dump on humanity

Warning, there are two supplementary scenes after the credits.