Movie Review: Captain America- The First Avenger

And the streak continues! Another great comic book film from Marvel Studios. I guess the old adage "if you want some thing done right..." comes to mind here. Marvel faced a few problems regarding this project. First, Captain America is fucking boring. Yeah I said it. He's the ultimate boy scout and is as one dimensional as vanilla ice cream. Second, he isn't all that "super." Lacking any real super powers, Cap could have easily been upstaged by the Thor/X-Men/Green Lantern type flicks that feature awesome CGI bursts of energy darting across the screen. Luckily, director Joe Johnston and Marvel managed to side step these issues and craft a nifty little summer action romp.

So the entire movie is a flashback/origin story for Steve Rogers, the scrawny young reject who oh so desperately wants to serve his country during World War II and signs up for a top secret government project turning him into not just a super solider, but Captain America, the world's first Avenger (See what I did there? Marvel, call me). Chris Evans does a wonderful job as Steve Rogers. I'll call him Steve Rogers because, even after he gets all yoked out and dons the red, white and blues, Evans always retains the human/underdog qualities that make the otherwise boring boyscout that is Captain America worth watching. In fact there are scenes in the film that show just how uncomfortable Rogers is dressed up as a "hero" and always retains a true sense of himself throughout.

At first I was like...but then I was like...

Yeah, the movie is kind of cheesy. There are way too many montage sequences that defy the golden rule of storytelling 101 (show don't tell the audience what's going on, but hey, it IS a comic book movie after all) and there isn't a whole lot of action. That being said, the action that is covered is pretty rad. Watching Steve Rogers make mince meat of random Hydra bad guys never gets old. Hugo Weaving does an adequate job as the Red Skull, menacing but not over the top....which says a lot for a dude rocking a giant red fucking skull. Tommy Lee Jones plays the typical military hardass but he does it rather well. Major kudos to Hayley Atwell as well. At first I was afraid she was simply going to be eye candy but by the end of the flick I was totally sold on her performance.

must.salute.officer...

Speaking of the ending. It sucks. Not in a bad way but in a sad way. Like I suddenly realized I how emotionally invested I had become in these characters and was surprisingly upset about the inevitable end that as a comic geek, I already KNEW was coming. So yeah, Captain America: The First Avenger is a solid summer flick and a really good example of how to pull off a comic book film (you taking notes DC comics?).