‘Captain America’

Inside “Captain America: The First Avenger” is a snappy, clever “origin story” of a classic Marvel Comics superhero. Well-placed humor and a game lead actor add to the appeal.

The only thing holding that movie back is that it’s contained within a larger project, as part of Marvel’s multi-movie interlocking universe that will culminate in 2012’s “The Avengers,” which will assemble Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and assorted heroes.

Including Captain America. And that makes “The First Avenger” an odd duck. It has a framing story set in the present day, which will allow Cap to eventually hook up with his fellow crimefighters.

The bulk of the movie is a flashback to WWII-era action, as a scrawny young man named Steve Rogers desperately wants to join the war effort. Enlisted in a secret medical experiment by a German-American doctor (Stanley Tucci, playing it loose), Rogers is transformed into the musclebound Captain America, a shield-wielding hero with super-regenerative powers.

Chris Evans, a playful actor (he was the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four,” another comic-book movie (is there any other kind these days?) is Rogers. To play the short, skinny version of the character, Evans is aided by some “Benjamin Button”-style digital trickery.

Tommy Lee Jones plays the military top gun of the project, Hayley Atwell provides duty as the uniformed love interest. The villains have the best parts in these things, and “Matrix” star Hugo Weaving (channeling Werner Herzog’s voice for his heavy German accent) relishes every moment as the Nazi scientist who believes himself to be a true uber-mensch.

For the first hour-plus, director Joe Johnston (“Hidalgo”) has good fun with all this, finding clever ways of defusing the absurdity of Captain America’s star-spangled outfit — it’s invented as a war-bonds come-on for the folks back home — and creating some decent 1940s visions. The movie cheats by putting the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair in 1943, but some artistic license must be allowed.

It’s all the more disappointing when the final act goes a bit flat. After it’s over, you begin to think the whole thing was just an exercise to set up “The Avengers,” which makes it oddly unsatisfying in retrospect.

I still had a good time with a lot of “Captain America,” and it should be fun to see Evans return to the role next year. But unlike, say, the first “Iron Man” movie, this film doesn’t truly stand on its own.

“Captain America: The First Avenger”

Another classic Marvel Comics superhero has his story told: Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers, a skinny WWII soldier transformed by a medical experiment into musclebound Captain America, scourge of the Nazis. Lots of fun in the set-up, although as it goes flat toward the end you get the sense the whole movie was mere preparation for Cap’s return in 2012’s “The Avengers,” which makes the experience somehow unsatisfying.

Rating: PG-13, for violence.

Showing: Alderwood, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marsyville, Stanwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor.