Most superhero movies involve high tech machinery, gadgets, and good action shots.

The new movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” goes way beyond those elements.

Overall, the acting in “Captain America,” is superb and at times, majestic. The fighting choreography is jaw dropping at many moments. Also, the suspense builds up from the beginning, so there are very few boring moments in the film.

Chris Evans takes on the role of “Captain America” for a third time, and continues his success from 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” and 2012’s “The Avengers”.

His performance ties the whole film together, especially against the unbelievable portrayal of the bad guy, The Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan. The Winter Soldier is a former friend of Steve Rogers, also frozen in time and brought to life in present times. The character is intriguing, but Stan’s performance lacked the fear factor a villain should have.

This movie centers around the United States government’s desire to control Rogers as Captain America, and his reluctance to blindly act on what he’s told. He is the central figure for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, (S.H.I.E.L.D.),  Early in the movie, with the help of Scarlett Johansen’s Black Widow character, Captain American helps to secure a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel from Algerian pirates and take information from its computer.

Throughout the film, Rogers questions the government’s role in protecting it citizens. The complication of his old friend, now turned bad, is mysterious and perplexing. Rogers has to deal with a number of emotions, all the while escaping explosions, being shot at, and nearly drowning. The scenes in between the near non-stop action keep the film moving. Major characters die, are introduced, and questioned.

A lot of the best action is at sea, involving ships blowing up, missiles, helicopter fights and dramatic takeovers. As good as “The Avengers” was, this Captain America movie takes the action to another level. Instead of an alien invasion and aerial chase scenes through New York City’s buildings, there are action scenes moving to the waterways outside the city with more realistic bad guys.

The movie doesn’t rely comic-book fans to come out just because they know the story. So far, this film is the highest grossing film as of April 2014. For movie fans who aren’t as familiar with the story, the movie does a good job of keeping them on the edge of their seats.