Captain America: The First Avenger

He's the fourth comic book-born superhero to grace the screen this summer and the third to originate from a Marvel title. And his story is the second of this batch to actually be a period piece and not a contemporary-set narrative. But in addition to all this, he's The First Avenger! Good to be first at something. He's also pretty decent and likable and fun, too, which puts him somewhere near the top of the superhero heap this summer (though fellow future Avenger Thor wins out in the end). Yes, Captain America has finally shown up. He's a little late to the party, perhaps, given that superhero action has been cinematically ubiquitous these past few months, but he remains a welcome presence on the big screen in this old-fashioned franchise starter.

Set in the midst of World War II, Captain America: The First Avenger follows pint-sized patriot Steve Rogers (a digitally shrunken Chris Evans) on his quest to join the army and go overseas to fight some nasty Nazis. The only thing standing in his way is a laundry list of medical issues all compounded by his tiny stature that makes him approximately one third of the size of the other enlisted men. Okay, so it's not just a single thing, but a multitude of things that make it nearly impossible for him to ever get past the first stage of signing up. But Steve has a big heart and he refuses to give up. His seemingly pointless resilience actually pays off when a German scientist working for the American military gives our little hero the chance of a lifetime.

Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) has been looking for the perfect candidate for testing in a super-soldier program. He gives Steve the opportunity to try out the special serum and hopefully become a spectacularly super-powered soldier in the process. Seeing it as his best chance at getting to join the fight, Steve accepts the offer and is soon strapped into a metallic pod that will facilitate his transformation. A few moments later, Steve emerges a buffed-up hunk with enough new muscle to crush his former self. This upgraded version of Steve wastes no time showing off his newfound abilities by outrunning cars, outswimming submersibles, and hurling men through the air with ease.

Up until this point, director Joe Johnston has immersed us in a fun, playful, and tenderly nostalgic version of 1940s America. Yet another origin story in yet another superhero movie may seem a bit tiresome, but this origin takes its time without padding out the exposition and the period setting is attractive and engaging. Once Steve gets his upgrade, there's still plenty of origin to go and the actual portion of the movie where he becomes Captain America (complete with indestructible shield and fancy, period-appropriate outfit) is surprisingly small. There are a couple of action sequences here and there and then it's on to the inevitable conclusion hinted at by the movie's opening scene.

In some ways, this structure is quite impressive, because it's an origin story that's extremely heavy on origin and yet it doesn't feel overly exhausting or unnecessarily stretched out. It's a bulky narrative, but not to the point that the movie feels unwieldy and awkward (unlike fellow summer superhero Green Lantern). But at the same time, this approach (all origin, all the time) causes the movie to have a rather abrupt conclusion that leaves things feeling a little undercooked. We spend so much time watching Steve prepare to become the hero on the marquee, but once we arrive there, the movie seems eager to wrap things up. It sort of runs out of time and it suddenly feels like we've just watched an extended prologue, as opposed to a fully realized story.

Captain America is, after all, the final flick from Marvel's recent batch of four franchises that will be pulled together to create next summer's The Avengers. With two Iron Mans, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor before him, Cap signals the final stop before the big payoff that Marvel Studios execs promised over three years ago. And this adventure really feels like part one of a story that will be told less than ten months from now. But while it feels somewhat incomplete, Captain America is still a very fun and exciting superhero flick with a lot to commend.

Chris Evans has loads of boyish charm to go with those manish muscles and he fits comfortably in the nostalgic era this movie calls home. It isn't difficult to get on Steve's side from the start and Evans keeps the character intact post-transformation, so he's still the same guy, only now with a body built like a tank. Evans joins Chris Hemsworth, who recently played Thor, as a worthy addition to Marvel's group of big-screen superheroes. Both of these guys are highlights of their respective movies and I eagerly await the opportunity to see them play these roles again. Perhaps Marvel should only hire actors named Chris from now on.

Then again, they hired actors named Tommy (Lee Jones), Hayley (Atwell), and Hugo (Weaving) and they all turn in good performances here, so maybe scrap that Chris comment. Jones is very funny and ridiculously entertaining as a hard-nosed Colonel, while Atwell is the love interest and thankfully not the damsel in distress. Atwell doesn't have a lot to do, but her character is a tough woman and she sells it entirely. Weaving is the movie's villain, a Nazi scientist who's had enough of Hitler and has gone off to do his own thing, which basically sounds a lot like Hitler's thing (creating an army in hopes of killing a lot of innocent people). Weaving's character had a run-in with a previous version of the super-soldier serum that bulked up Steve, but his experience resulted in considerable disfigurement. As a result, he is now referred to as the Red Skull and some fantastic makeup effects bring the classic comic book villain to big-screen life.

Watching Cap and Red Skull go head-to-head is very enjoyable, but their encounters are generally brief and there's never enough time dedicated to their conflict to make it particularly memorable or meaningful. It's another element that suffers from the prologue-y aspects of the narrative, though is thankfully not a deal-breaker. Captain America: The First Avenger has its flaws, but it also has some strong performances, beautiful period-sensitive photography (cinematographer Shelly Johnson bathes the war-era scenes in soft light and reduces the colour palette to dusty hues that never become muddied or unattractive), and a jingoistic score courtesy of Alan Silvestri that sounds fittingly like flag-waving propaganda tunes. It's all enough to put Cap above the fun yet somewhat shoddy X-Men: First Class and the ambitious yet entirely sloppy Green Lantern. This tale of The First Avenger doesn't add up to much more than a light little appetizer intended to set up next summer's team effort, but it has firepower and charisma and a tender tone. In other words, Captain America may not be filling, but at least it still satisfies.