Extra DVD: Captain America 12A

In his heroic guise as Captain America, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads a daring rescue mission at sea, flanked by sexy spy Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).

Soon after, SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) escorts Rogers into the bowels of the agency’s headquarters, which houses three state-of-the-art heli-carriers.

These aerial warships, codenamed Project Insight, will extinguish threats to global peace from the skies, killing terrorists before they have a chance to strike.

“I thought the punishment usually came after the crime,” observes Rogers. “We can’t afford to wait that long,” retorts Fury coldly. Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), a senior member of SHIELD and the World Security Council, echoes Fury’s grave concerns. “To build a better world, sometimes you’ve got to tear the old one down,” he warns.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is cut from the same cloth as the first instalment of the Marvel Comics hero.

Addressing timely concerns about unrest in the Middle East and the corruptibility of the political establishment, the Russo brothers’ sequel is a bombastic extravaganza that’s every bit as entertaining as the opening chapter. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely deliver a miasma of explosive thrills. A crunching car chase involving Nick Fury is edge-of-the-seat stuff and a climactic showdown involving the titular hero and diabolical Hydra lets loose the special effects wizards.

Evans and Johansson enjoy verbal jousting in between their fight sequences while Anthony Mackie proves a likable addition to the team as winged warrior Falcon, who looks at Captain America’s superhuman efforts and quips, “I do what he does. Just slower”. A two-disc set comprising Captain America: The First Avenger and the sequel is also available.