Captain America: The First Avenger

Ironically enough, the last of Marvel's feature length previews for its upcoming The Avengers is also chronologically the first. Well, that probably explains why its latest feature is Captain America: The First Avenger.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is the puniest of the puny who really wants to serve his country in World War II. Unfortunately, no matter how much he tries, he's still 4F. During a trip to the World's Fair, Allied scientist Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) notices Steve and gets him enlisted. The Allies are looking for a few good men to become Super-Soldiers and Steve's to be "the first of many." Soon enough, the puny runt becomes a man among men.

But thanks to a spy from Hydra, Hitler's R&D department, Steve's now the Allies' only Super Soldier. Now Captain America, Steve's number one mission is to provide moral support at USO shows. Meanwhile, Hydra and their evil leader Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) have just acquired the mysterious Tesserect (introduced at the end of Thor). They plan to use its awesome powers to overthrow Hitler himself, and then the world. Not unless Captain America has anything to say about it.

It's essentially a modern-day serial with a bigger budget and optional 3D viewing. It's directed by Joe Johnston, who's directed one already (The Rocketeer) and won an Oscar for the Visual Effects of another (Raiders of the Lost Ark). He knows what he's doing here; it's purpose is to entertain and nothing more. It succeeds thanks to some good supporting actors and nice action scenes.

Asides from all the action effects, the best effect concerns the pre-Captain Steve. With some good CGI work, Chris Evans is perfectly reduced into the epitome of puny. It's this kind of effect that makes CGI effects worth it.

Those who stay through the end credits will see a preview of The Avengers. This first glimpse makes it worth staying through; the film itself makes it worth the effort to watch the credits.