Another battle won for "Captain America”

Genetic mutation, massive explosions, a hideous villain, a beautiful love interest, impressive special effects; "Captain America: The First Avenger” has all the ingredients of a modern-day blockbuster action movie. Many films that use this same recipe often flop, but "Captain America” did just the opposite, creating a superhero movie that is both suspenseful and highly patriotic.

The story begins in current times with a team of men exploring a recently discovered ship in the arctic. They find a shield with the "Captain America” emblem on it; the screen cuts to the 1940s. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a scrawny man whose request to join the army has been rejected four times due to his poor physique and health problems. With his best friend deploying the next day, Rogers's attempts to join one last time. He gets recruited to a special division and is chosen to be used in an experiment headed by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Rogers' bony body is left behind and he is transformed into a super-strong soldier who fights as "Captain America". Once it is discovered that the power-hungry Nazi officer Johann Shmidt, otherwise known as ‘Red Skull' (Hugo Weaving), is trying to take over the world, a mission is formed to destroy all of Red Skull's bases.

The biggest, most obvious, difference between "Captain America” and other current-day action movies is that it does not actually take place in the present day. While the first and last shots of the film take place in 2011, the rest of it takes place during the '40s near the end of WWII. This offers a look back into the early days of superheroes.

Not only does the film have top-notch special effects and cinematography, but it also has the solid acting that other action films so often lack. Rogers' love interest, officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), is a strong woman who takes her job seriously. Carter is one of the better action movie women to grace the screen, showing that not all ladies need to be damsels in distress. Rogers' supervisor, Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), adds a hint of humor, and demonstrates that jokes can be used even when battling a man with a red face and no nose.

Some sequences of the film can be confusing for those of us who are not familiar with the "Captain America” comic books and a few parts of the film are repetitive. Overall, the film is a classically good superhero movie with nice twists to differ it from the dozens of others.

"Captain America: The First Avenger” (124 minutes) is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action. Now playing in theaters everywhere, with 3D at some theaters.