Serviceable comic book fare, Captain America: The First Avenger tells a simple story which is better executed than its predecessor Avenger movie, Thor. It’s not as jingoistic as you might expect, given the name.  The hook is that Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was selected to become a superhero not because he knows how to beat up the bad guys, but precisely because he isn’t a bully and doesn’t want to kill anybody, even if they are Nazis.

It’s not up there in the pantheon of the best comic book films, but it’s good enough that if you like action blockbusters, but think you have been all “comic booked out” with all the recent releases, you could still be entertained.  The added bonus is that it’s essentially one of the four big trailers for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers (2012) (the other three being The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Thor (2011)).  Whedon (Toy Story, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly/Serenity, Dollhouse) still has many fans and expectations are high he can pull off a zinger for what will be Yet Another Comic Book Movie featuring not one but four superheroes …

½ (out of 5)