Captain America: The First Avenger
Thu, July 21, 2011 
Captain America: The First Avenger is the story of Steve Rogers, a scrawny young man with a heart full of determination who has been rejected on several occasions by the U.S. military. His life changes when Dr. Abraham Erskine realizes the great potential residing within, and offers him a chance to be the subject of a "super-soldier" serum injection which transformers him into Captain America.
Before entering the theatre I had such a strong feeling that Captain America would be the must see film in the superhero genre this year. Unfortunately I walked out feeling under whelmed and disappointed. It doesn't rank among the worst by any means just somewhere along with the mediocre.
The positives brought with this film include the seamless integration of Chris Evans head onto the body of a 90lb weakling, the set pieces, and a movie that you can take your entire family to without worry of it being too much for the young ones. Director Joe Johnston does a fantastic job of making the time period very believable. Other than these few things, I can't find much with the movie that kept my attention.
The movie starts off at a slow pace, giving some insight into Steve Rogers' personality. He obviously is not a fan of bullys and never backs down from a situation where the person is bigger or stronger than he is. His eventual sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, is introduced early on as he comes to save Steve from an alleyway beating. They go out with two ladies on a date and Dr. Erskine overhears the buddies talking, realizing he has found the perfect subject for his experiment in Steve Rogers.
It is quite a while before we are thrust into any action and the first scene comes after the transformation of Rogers. Immediately after being injected and gawked at by everyone in the room, one of Johann Schmidt's (The Red Skull) Hydra agents is revealed, Erskine is shot and killed, then off goes Roger after him. As the agent flees in a vehicle, Steve chases him on foot while leaping over tall chain linked fences and crashing through shop windows.
After that Rogers is put on display in a sort of side show act, speaking to crowds in theatres and military men stationed elsewhere, wearing a crude version of the Captain America costume. He finally tires of doing this and goes on his own to save some captured U.S soldiers and gets the famous moniker. A team assembles and an important person parishes, but its hard to care for it because everything moves so quickly. I couldn't believe that I was watching the climax when it happened. The final showdown with Cap and Skull was anticlimactic. The dialogue was sprinkled with cheese while the two engaged in a very short and sloppy fisticuffs battle while the Red Skull's air carrier flew wildly in the sky.
The last scene was so forced by the upcoming Avenger movie that I have no problem in saying it is the worst ending of these tie-in films until the big team up happens. Iron Man 2 and Thor both suffered a bit as well with being too focused on what lies ahead rather than what is happening now.
The movie was slow to start off and once Steve Rogers became Captain America it felt like everything was rushed into the ending. I am still a bit unsure of what exactly the Red Skull's scheme was and all that action the TV spots and trailers promised ended up being mainly what was shown in them. I didn't go in just wanting to see action but the previews I've seen feel very misleading now.
Chris Evans was believable as Captain America. The problem with this character is there was never a true threat for him to face. He was never down and out with his back against the wall other than before his transformation. As soon as he became Cap, he plowed over enemies and performed super feats that I didn't feel like he would have any trouble saving the day.
Hayley Atwell handled the role of Peggy Carter well enough with what she was given. She never became that "damsel in distress" mainly because there was never a situation for her to be such a victim. She and Steve share an attraction towards one another that develops as well as it should but never gets to it's ending point.
The biggest disappointment has to be Hugo Weaving's Red Skull. He generally commands the roles he chooses, leaving a stellar performance. I thought he would steal the movie away from everyone else but I ended up feeling like he had been ripped from an episode of Adam West's Batman show. Hokey, cheesy, over the top, whatever you want to call it, he never felt menacing enough at any point to be a problem for Cap.
As the most uninteresting comic to film property this year, the First Avenger tries valiantly to pay tribute to classic action of the past with wholesome entertainment but fails to offer any true threat for the hero. The movie market has become overloaded with "superhero" films and at a time when they need to demand our attention, Captain America doesn't do so for me.
Reader Comments (4)
Dude, didn't you say you LIKED Green Lantern?
I certainly did. I still feel like Green Lantern was the top comic film this year. It just appealed to me more than Captain America and so did Thor. Definitely check it out for yourself though because what I don't like may be exactly what you wanted to see. There are a good amount of positive reviews out there to go on as well.
let's join our hands together to stop this kind of wrong doings. It may risk lives in the future if we just let them continue. eyryfz eyryfz - Hermes Kelly.
I'd be interested in hearing. The TOS seems rather clear that it is not unless expressly approved by Amazon. I guess if the library got it in writing then they would be ok. alcvit alcvit - supra tenis.