Captain America: The First Avenger movie review

(Warning: This is a comprehensive review, so it may contain spoilers.)

There was a lot of pressure on Captain America: The First Avenger. If done right, Marvel could have the best movie from him yet, while building great anticipation for The Avengers. If done wrong, the plans for The Avengers would have been wildly successful. Did director Joe Johnston really manage to bring magic to one of Marvel’s most iconic characters?

Based on the iconic World War II character, The First Avenger follows a brave young Steve Rogers from Brooklyn, New York (Chris Evans) as he is deemed unfit to serve in the military. With nowhere else to go, Rogers volunteers for an operation that will turn him into a super soldier, led by Dr. Abraham Erskine. The operation is a success, but Dr. Erskine is promptly killed, along with the secrets to the super-soldier formula. Realizing that his only living super soldier is too great a risk for combat, the US military decides to display Rogers at USO shows to boost morale and raise funds. However, when an evil plot is revealed to be led by the evil Johann Schimdt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Rogers must take on the task and become Captain America.

The movie handles the hard part well. He is able to avoid turning a flag carrier into a flag weaver. Instead, Evans meets a very likeable character, who hates bullies and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself. Steve’s character gets the proper treatment, before he becomes the super soldier attacking the Nazis, as Evans proves he can handle more than just comedy, ending any confusion about him as The Human Torch.

Hayley Atwell gives us a convincing performance as the strong but sensitive Peggy Carter, and Tommy Lee Jones is onstage shaping up as the arrogant Colonel Philips who is prone to one-liners. The rest of the cast either struggle to impress or are not given enough time to do so. It’s been a rough summer for Bucky Barnes. He died a cheap death in the comics recently, and the treatment of him in The First Avenger fairgrounds is a little better. Sebastian Stan tries to make the most of what he’s given, as it’s obvious Steve and Bucky have been friends for a long time. However, once he is quickly dealt with by Barnes, he is soon forgotten. Captain America’s support group, The Howling Commandos (though they’re never actually called that in the movie), are clamoring for their own spin-off while delivering some of the funniest scenes in the movies.

Several disappointments I had with this movie were Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) and The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). The Howard Stark portrayed in this film had little charisma and often felt forced by the number of times Stark’s name was mentioned, as if to further reinforce the fact that he is the father of Iron Man for the audience. Weaving’s Skull is so fanatically insane that he even disgusts other Nazis, but sometimes it’s hard to see what he’s up to. Is he just obsessed with being a god? The Red Skull is certainly not the devilish villain I read about in the comics. I also hope that we will see more explanations behind the Cosmic Cube in The Avengers. Ordinary moviegoers might have found it difficult to understand what the power of the cube is in this movie.

That’s where the movie loses a star. The main threat HYDRA, the Nazi deep science division, really only has two main front men, therefore it never really feels like a global threat. Perhaps if we had seen more classic villains like Baron Zemo and Baron Von Strucker, HYDRA might have seemed like a bigger threat.

Did the movie work as a period film? Easily yes. While keeping just enough historical ground to make it work, but not bogging it down too much until it gets boring, Johnston blends the perfect amount of history and fantasy to create a truly unique superhero movie. The special effects were actually a pleasant surprise. Despite my initial fears that Chris Evans’ head would look awkward on a skinny man’s body, Marvel pulled it off fantastically well. All the battle scenes look convincing and easily rival the effects seen in Thor.

To conclude, Marvel can look back on Captain America: The First Avenger as a done job. A great performance of its main character, good action, good special effects and a great story in general. Captain America is not a classic by any means, but full credit must be given to Johnston and Marvel for making this happen.

Rating: 8/10

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