"Captain America: The First Avenger"

Action/Adventure and Adaptation. Rated PG-13. 2 hours, 5 minutes.

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Chris Evans takes the Super Soldier serum and becomes Captain America, the first Avenger.

Marvel seems to have the formula down for a successful fun summer movie. The first Marvel Studios production, “Iron Man,” took some chances, but was likely the best movie to come out of the comic giant’s new film production studio. The last few films, “Thor,” “Iron Man 2,” and now “Captain America” seem to take less chances cinematically and story-wise. But that is okay because the end result is still a fun action film with good character development that does not take itself too seriously (see the “Transformers” franchise for movies that at times take themselves WAY too seriously).

Chris Evans is rarely the main man. He always pops up as a fun-loving supporting character in pretty much every movie he’s ever been in, like the “Fantastic Four” movies, where he played the Human Torch. He really shows his range as Steve Rogers here, both before and after his transformation. He is a very easy character to root for throughout the film.

The rest of the cast is solid as well. Nice supporting efforts from Tommy Lee Jones and Hayley Atwell. My favorite supporting performances have to be Hugo Weaving and Dominic Cooper though. Weaving plays the Red Skull, Cap’s arch nemesis in the comics. Weaving has shown over the years that he is great at playing the over-the-top villain, and this is no exception. I also loved Cooper’s version of a young Howard Stark, who is of course, the father of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Everything that audiences love about the Tony Stark character portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. is present in Cooper.

My one and only complaint about the film, and this happens in a lot of films, is that the German characters don’t speak German. Thanks to “Inglourious Basterds” we know that it is better to just use subtitles, and it makes a lot more sense. If someone from Germany is talking to another German, then they are most likely speaking German, not English with a bad accent. But this is nitpicking, because again, a lot of movies do this.

If you have enjoyed the recent Marvel efforts like the “Iron Man” franchise and “Thor,” then you will love “Captain America.” And make sure to stay through the end of the credits!

OVERALL RATING: A-

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Captain America: The First Avenger movie poster