I returned to C++ 3 years ago, having previously used it in the mid-1990s. I tend to agree with you, but I found that it was necessary to forget my old C mindset (pretty easy since it was 20 years old) and start learning modern C++ idioms from scratch.

Eg, back in the days, I could fling raw pointers around with abandon. Now they need to be handled with care, and there are many tools and patterns available for you not to have to deal with them at all.