Captain America:
The First Avenger

Chris Evans stars as Steve Rogers - a kid from Brooklyn who just wants to serve his country and beat The Nazis in World War II. Unfortunately, he's a small guy with many physical problems, so Rogers is ruled unfit for military service even as he tries to enlist several times under different names and with different physicians all around New York City.

This has gotten the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) - a mysterious scientist working with defense contractor Howard Stark (Domenic Cooper), American Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to develop a medical procedure to turn everyday soldiers into super soldiers.

When the procedure works, how can Steve Rogers best serve his country?

Captain America: The First Avenger lacks the zip and excitement of the other Avengers movies (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Thor) as director Joe Johnston overdoes the attempts at making this the most earnest and patriotic movie of your lifetime. Don't get me wrong. Earnestness and patriotism are good things, just not at this high level of dosage, kind of like how you can enjoy a Katy Perry song once or twice, but it starts to grate on your eardrums by time #10.

Evans, Johnston and the writing team do a wonderful job making Steve Rogers into a very admirable and likable character as he shows loyalty to the right ideals and people in his life, while also exemplifying the term, "tenacious underdog." As an actor, Evans is never truly challenged by the material, but brings a dignity and honor to the character, even if he comes off as a bit of a sad sack at times.

However, Captain America: The First Avenger is never all that exciting, and lacks the great wit and charm of its companion movies Iron Man and Thor. We don't get enough tension and thrills as Johnston tries too hard to make the movie into an homage to 1930's and 1940's serial movies that relied on simply plots and obvious battles between good and evil (Spielberg and Lucas did a better job of it in the Indiana Jones movies). Tommy Lee Jones gets all of the best jokes in the movie (along with Stan Lee's requisite appearance), but some of Captain America's team come off as the worst cartoonish portrayals you have ever seen.

Worst of all, Captain America: The First Avenger comes off like two movies smushed into one. We could have been satisfied with the first part of the movie, where Rogers discovers his abilities and proves himself to be a hero, but Johnston and the writing team felt the need to go back and re-boot a whole other plotline about a Nazi trying to become an even more evil leader than Hitler bent on world domination, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving). Yes, this is Captain America's number one nemesis, but we get enough of him in the first part of the movie that I would have been satisfied with the set up and saving him for the next Captain America movie, if another one is possible.

They didn't let us critics see the rumored big surprise Avengers trailer that runs during the credits, so let me know what you think if you get to see it.

Captain America: The First Avenger is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action.