(M) ****

Director: Joe and Anthony Russo.

Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Frank Grillo.

NINE films into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, and this megafranchise shows no signs of slowing.

The only perceptible weakness has been getting their sequels – Iron Man 2 and 3, and Thor 2 – to match up to the incredibly high standards of their predecessors.

It’s a tough ask, but one they ably meet in Captain America 2, with the resulting film that rarest of movie beasts – a sequel as good as the original.

Of course, this is more than just a sequel to the 2011 debut of supersoldier Steve Rogers (Evans). It follows on from the hero team-up The Avengers and makes more than a few passing references to the larger Marvel universe, continuing to weave its interconnected web, which fans are finding almost as enjoyable as the films themselves.

But with an ever-expanding universe, there’s a danger that the standalone character films could become redundant in a post-Avengers world – when facing peril, why not just call up Iron Man, The Hulk and Thor to lend a hand?

Thankfully, this isn’t a problem in Captain America 2, where a subterfuge-reliant plot means things move too fast and too secretively to wonder why Rogers isn’t calling his superpowered buddies to lend a hand.

Not that he’s alone in his mission fighting the film’s Big Bad (the less you know about the actual what and who of the plot and its villains, the better for your enjoyment). The Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff (Johnasson) returns for her third Marvel outing, as does head spy Nick Fury (Jackson making his sixth appearance), while newcomer Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Mackie) is a welcome addition as an army veteran with a very cool rocket-pack.

Each of these characters – plus the titular metal-armed Winter Soldier – gets plenty of screen time to do their thing. The Falcon feels like a fully fledged superhero as opposed to a crammed-in sidekick, while Black Widow and Nick Fury continue to develop as interesting players who could easily carry their own spin-off films.

As for Captain America himself, people who see him as a jingoistic piece of chestbeating patriotism will be surprised to learn he doesn’t represent a country but rather an ideal that is at loggerheads with his country. The plot is particularly timely, with its electronic espionage angles tackling the NSA phone-tapping scandal and governments’ ability to monitor our movements and behaviour in an age when we share everything online, leaving it to Captain America to ask the question ‘is this really freedom?’.

As a result, the tone of the film and its security-vs-privacy notions is more akin to the political conspiracy films of the ‘70s, as opposed to the Raiders Of The Lost Ark vibe of the first Captain America movie, or the sci-fi/fantasy blend of the Thor films, or the epic blockbuster stylings of The Avengers.

The action sequences and fight scenes are superb, especially Captain America’s near-singlehanded takedown of a boatload of pirates, his punch-ons with The Winter Soldier and Batroc, and the moment when The Falcon finally shows what his jet pack can do.

It’s hard to judge whether this film makes any sense without having seen the first Captain America movie, but I get the feeling it does, with plenty of backstory helpfully spliced in throughout.

And if that feeling is correct, then this is already shaping up as one of the best actioners of the year, whether you’re a Marvel fan or not.