Simon Bradshaw

The Marvel Cinematic Universe does Three Days of the Condor style 1970s political paranoia thriller, and succeeds impressively well. It doesn't hurt that Robert Redford plays a major role, but in that respect so does Washington DC, a city that, via a hundred political thrillers and dramas, has become a character in its own right. In one very nice visual reference, SHIELD headquarters' placement on the Potomac leads gives us a scene where a central character stands in a glass-walled lift against a backdrop view of the Watergate complex.

Other people who saw the film earlier have done better analyses than I could, and I'll point to

http://emperorzombie.dreamwidth.org/379306.html

http://ffutures.livejournal.com/1026392.html

as just a couple.

Oh, and one very nice in-joke that, taken literally, adds another movie to the MCU...

( spoiler )