Captain America: The Winter Soldier - BBC1

(Image credit: WALT DISNEY)

There's thrilling action and gripping suspense in Chris Evans' second solo outing as Captain America

There's thrilling action and gripping suspense in Chris Evans' second solo outing as Captain America.

With his 1940s super-soldier thawed out in the present day, the film opens at full pelt with a hostage rescue mission at sea, turns light-hearted as Evans ticks off a checklist of the pop culture milestones he missed while in the deep freeze and hits top gear when he’s plunged into the middle of a conspiracy.

Not sure who to trust in Samuel L Jackson's S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation, Evans joins forces with Scarlett Johansson's sassy, snarky Black Widow and Anthony Mackie's doughty Falcon to thwart a mysterious assailant known as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

Meanwhile, Robert Redford’s slick politician is pushing for a system of global surveillance, turning the mood distinctly paranoid.

Towards the end, the movie slips into to conventional comic-book movie type and the later fight scenes go on too long, but a steady supply of snappy one-liners and witty sight gags keep things lively. And it's never dull whenever Johansson is around, delivering quips and backflips with equal panache.

This film is showing at 11.30pm on BBC1 Wales.