Post-Avengers, the second Captain America film now has him in the present day, which makes for a significantly less cheesy film - although I did enjoy the first one, especially the difficult transition from absurd pantomime figurehead to genuine force to be reckoned with. Though Cap is now bang-up-to-date - and thankfully the 'he's not up to date yet' humour was limited to the opening scenes - the shadow of Hydra has not quite dissipated.
The problem with Captain America is similar to that of Superman - he's overpowered, and bland. Not quite to the same extent, but it's difficult to make his stories really work because he's so indestructible and such a paragon of goodness...possibly excepting when there's a civil war or an attack on the X-Men to be thought about. Thus, the challenge is to find something relevant to say about the world, and what the writers seized upon here was conspiracy theories and the very American concern that civil liberties are being eroded in favour of greater security. This has been a huge point of contention post 9/11, even recurring again and again with claims that it was set up purely so that the government could excuse going to war for oil while also tightening their grip on their own populace for their own 'safety'. Thus, casting Hydra in the illuminati/hidden government/lizard people role seems relevant and timely - the main plot of this film is that working from inside SHIELD, members of Hydra have set up a project involving advanced weaponry that on the surface looks to be 'protecting' the people, but will actually massacre any judged to be even a potential threat to their absolute dominance.
Since the plan is so definitive, it will also mark the point Hydra no longer need to be in the shadows, so can cease to hide - useful for making it a grand enough gesture that it can be stopped with lots of explosions. When Nick Fury gets too close to uncovering the reality of the project he has been working on, his assassination is arranged, and Cap - along with Black Widow - ends up on SHIELD's wanted list. Luckily, with a little help from Falcon and some techno-fiddling courtesy of Maria Hill, they come up with a plan.
Standing in their way, however, is the Winter Soldier - made to look very much like his mid-2000s comic book busting-the-everyone-stays-dead-except appearance, grungy hairstyle and all. Despite the farcical early appearance with a ray of light just artfully falling across his eyes, ole Bucky is actually pretty awesome as an amnesiac bad guy foil to Cap, fighting on equal footing with him. It looks like we'll see more of him in the Marvel movie universe - and I'm pretty interested in that.
Lots of big fights and explosions, but also a coherent plot with decent mysteries and political intrigues. This was just right for a superhero film...although I must say that it's not one I'd care to rewatch in the short term. I am very happy with the place the Marvel universe is at just now, and very much looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy.
Then, of course, there was the stinger scene, centred on von Strucker but taking me completely by surprise with two characters I thought would be vetoed from the Avengers universe because of their origin in another, with rights owned elsewhere. Thus, my Facebook status after my viewing: Enjoyed the second Captain America film...but it's the stinger that has me thinking. Even if the dialogue screamed THEY'RE NOT MUTANTS THEY'RE NOT MUTANTS!
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