Growing up I was always a big fan of “The Avengers” comic books. Sure I dabbled in other things (almost exclusively Marvel) but the only regular subscription* I ever had was for “The Avengers.” I think that the reason why was because when I was reading comics I wanted Heroes. I didn’t want real people struggling with real life. I didn’t want a group of people oppressed by society and wrestling with inner demons. I wanted a hero, someone who was noble and good and fought for justice and followed the law.

In many ways that is still what I want out of my fictional heroes. I love dramas with nuiance and depth. I love reading stories about real people struggling with real problems, but when it comes to comic books I am still looking for someone to believe in. I am still that 10 year old boy looking for a hero.

So in our modern world of X-Men, Iron Man, and the like it is nice to go see a movie about a real 1 dimensional hero again. Captain America is good. He is brave. He doesn’t want to kill anyone, but he “hates bullies.” He is a 1940′s hero with none of the dark brooding baggage that comes with more modern super powered world savers. He is the classic “little guy” who gets a break and in an awe shucks sort of way saves the world.

So understand that going into the new movie I was already predisposed to like the character. In a summer movie it is what I was looking for and I wasn’t disappointed. Captain America is fun, witty, and beautiful. The WWII setting is almost steam punk beautiful (messed up a bit by the mysterious “power source” and laser type weapons of the bad guys in my opinion). The story line is pure fan service, giving us a new iconic look or character in nearly every scene. As an Avengers reader I still have a hard time seeing Cap’n with a gun, but that is true to his WWII roots.

The characters around Cap’n are all WWII movie predictable, but that isn’t really a bad thing. Tommy Lee Jones does an especially noteworthy job channeling The Fugitive while he barks out orders and one liners. Hugo Weaving does an admirable job playing Red Skull even if in the first hour I kept expecting him to put on his sunglasses and say “Mr. Anderson” like in the Matrix.

The second half of the film, once Steve Rogers fully embraces his role as Captain America, feels a bit rough. Most of Hydra (the bad guys in the movie) are taken out by a couple of cut scenes of slow motion action. Sure the action is good, but it almost doesn’t seem to fit in this retro feeling film. The team of soldiers that Cap’n puts together and leads is organized and taken apart in about 15 minutes of action sequences. It felt like there was enough story for there to be a Captain America sequel, but with the Avengers movie coming next summer they had to rush to get him through the war and ready to lead that team.

All in all the movie was what it was supposed to be. It was a good comic book story with lots of moments that a fan of the character will recognize and love. It isn’t an Oscar winner by any means, but it is a great way to spend $15 on a Friday night.

*Does anyone else remember getting comic book subscriptions? You would fill out the little check boxes in the back and they would send you a brown paper wrapped package every month. I don’t know why they mailed those in such “discreet” packaging. You couldn’t ask for anything better as a 10 year old geek than to get comic books delivered right to your mailbox.