Captain America: the First Avenger

In this sturdy Marvel Comics tale of red-blooded heroes and dastardly villains, a sickly asthmatic is enhanced to the peak of human perfection to help the US war effort. Journeyman director Joe Johnston's treatment is unpretentious, cheerfully emulating the cheesy charms of old Hollywood's cliffhanger serials, while Chris Evans's performance in the title role is engagingly straightforward. Whether a CGI head on a 90lb weakling body or muscled up (thanks to an experimental serum) in patriotic uniform, complete with indestructible shield, he is perfectly matched by gruff colonel Tommy Lee Jones, sassy love interest Hayley Atwell, and Hugo Weaving as the power-crazed "Nazi" Red Skull. War-movie clichés, gung-ho derring-do and seamless special effects all fit together well in a pleasingly retro environment that boasts enough sci-fi paraphernalia to put an end to the argument that it may be too old-fashioned.