Captain America: The First Avenger was released to DVD on yesterday. The World War II-era summer blockbuster was not the best comic book hero movie I’ve seen but it was an enjoyable way to spend my rare free time.

Captain America is the story of Steve Rogers, an undersized kid from Brooklyn willing to do whatever it takes to serve his country. During his sixth attempt to enlist in the military, Dr. Abraham Erskine is taken with Rogers’ perseverance and decides to give him a shot.

Through his cleverness and bravery, Rogers quickly shows his superiors, the feisty Peggy Carter and the surly Colonel Phillips that his spirit far outweighs his small stature. They elect him for a secret experiment, run by famous inventor Howard Stark (that’s right, Ironman’s dad). Rogers becomes the superhuman Captain America, with the objective to bring down HYDRA, a Nazi group run by Johann Schmidt.

It is no secret that Chris Evans’ former roles have been about putting his good looks, instead of acting skills, on display. Due to this, I ultimately failed to notice if Evans even possesses any acting skills.

In his portrayal of the scrawny yet spunky Steve Rogers, Evans shows that he can push past the pretty boy façade and act. With the help of his CGI created puniness, he plays Rogers with the proper mix of heart and humility. Yet once the CGI is removed Rogers becomes somewhat of a sex symbol and frankly, a duller version of the once spirited character.

Although he tries, Evans ultimately falls flat as the buffed up Steve Rogers. He falls especially flat in comparison to the scene stealing Dominic Cooper, who pulled of the trademark snarky brilliance of the Stark men with ease.

Overall, Captain America: The First Avenger has the components of a solid comic book-hero movie: a fairly good cast, an action packed story that drags at moments and dialogue sprinkled with clichés and the occasional bits of humor. Although the formula is stale, the movie will please its target audience and have crowds cheering for the little guy.

Captain America may be the first avenger, but he is the last avenger introduced to audiences before the much-anticipated film, The Avengers, comes out next summer. Take a look at the trailer. You do not need to be a comic book nerd to be pumped for this movie to come out.