I finally made it to a Marvel superhero movie in the theater. I think the last time that happened was in the first Spider-Man movie. I saw Fantastic Four, Iron Man and the other Spiderman movies on DVD (but did see DC movies in the theater…it just worked out that way). And, truthfully, I really wasn’t interested in seeing most of them in the theater. But, when my friend said he wanted to go see it, a movie night was on. And I will admit that Captain America is now one of my favorite superhero movies, however it really isn’t fair to call it a superhero movie. So, let’s head back to WWII and meet the Captain.

Steve Rogers is the literal 90 pound weakling with the heart of a bulldog. He doesn’t know how to give up and gets his butt saved by his best friend Bucky Barnes. Steve’s tried 5 times to sign up, but with all his medical problems, he keeps being listed as 4F. On his last attempt, he catches the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine. Rogers is picked to be the guinea pig for Erskine’s Super Soldier Serum. This leads to the only crime fighting scene in the entire movie, when Rogers chases down the Hydra agent that killed Dr. Erskine.

Everyone looks at the now huge Steve Rogers and decides that the best thing to do with him is put him in a costume and have him sell war bonds. While it does raise a lot of money, Rogers isn’t happy. So, when he finds out that his old buddy Bucky is trapped in a Hydra base behind Nazi lines, he races off on a motorcycle to save Bucky. A successful mission convinces everyone that maybe Captain America can be of use and Captain, Bucky and some other familiar (to comic reader) faces (such as a great looking Dum-Dum Dugan) are put on a task force to take down Hydra and their charismatic leader, The Red Skull.

So, as you can see, there really isn’t a superhero, crime fighting story, but they make it work. The war movie setting actually makes the movie work. With Tommy Lee Jones as the Colonel in charge, Hayley Atwell as love interest Peggy Carter and Dominic Cooper as father of Iron Man, Howard Stark, the supporting cast is wonderful and does a great job supporting Captain America and makes for a fun story. Having said that, the movie shows Rogers complete history in WWII and I wonder how (and if) there will be a sequel. If they try to make a super-hero story, it won’t work out as well. The movie is a fun straight-ahead war movie with a super human man (a Super Soldier if you will) as the core. Recommended.

P.S. If you are interested, stay through the entire credits sequence and you can see a teaser trailer for next year’s Avengers (directed by favorite Joss Whedon).