Captain America: The First Avenger

I went into Captain America with no expectations as I've never been much of a fan of the character but I can say I was pleasantly surprised with Joe Johnston's film as it turned out to be more a old school kind of blockbuster, almost like one of Johnston's earlier films, The Rocketeer.  
 
The plot of the film is that scrawny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wants to join the Army like his friend Bucky and serve his country but is rejected due to his health. Dr. Abraham Erskine ( Stanley Tucci ) who is the head of the Super Soldier Project takes interest in Steve as Steve takes interest in the beautiful Agent Peggy Carter. At basic training, Steve fails to impress the tough Colonel Phillips  (played excellently by Tommy Lee Jones) but Erskine assures him that Rogers is the right candidate for his project. So Steve undergoes the procedure and then becomes a Super Soldier. For a while he is stuck doing USO duties, making movies, and becoming something of a glory boy.  
 
Though all that changes after he finds that his friend, Bucky didn't return from a battle with Hydra forces. With Peggy and Howard Stark and his plane, they go into enemy lines where Steve goes to rescue Bucky. I'll skip ahead to avoid spoilers and just say that he does return back with Bucky and the action scene preceding that was quite good. I should also mention that at the start of the movie there are quite references to Norse Mythology, one scene in particular ties directly into the post credits scene of Thor. The rest of the film I'll avoid talking about in detail as I don't want to go into spoiler territory as I feel spoilers in reviews are unnecessary. 
 
When it comes to their characters, Marvel Studios seems to be able to find the perfect actor for each of the main roles and I can confidently say Captain America would have been no good if Chris Evans had not been cast as the character. Chris Evans has come a long way from being Johnny Storm to Captain America and is now a far better actor than he was before. I do think that a sequel for Captain America is a very good idea as Cap does need some more development as a character.  Though Joe Johnston does very well with giving him an ample amount of screen time and Evans really makes the character his own.
  
Cap in the film wears several costumes, the first one was his USO costume. I thought it was the one that Matt Salinger had worn in the 1990 Cap movie but I don't know for sure if it was. That costume is identical to the one he wore when he debuted the comics. It's nice as a USO costume but I wouldn't want to see it again.  His second costume is the one I have pictured to the right, his USO one underneath some kind of a leather jacket with a helmet and goggles. That one was my favorite one in the film but still it isn't really very practical to see it again. His third one is the one we've all seen from pictures and the trailers so there's no need to talk about it. Like Thor and Iron Man, he will get a new costume in the Avengers and from the footage I saw, it'll be his best on yet. 
 
This Cap is notable for his use of violence, something the mainstream Cap doesn't do a whole lot of. I like seeing Cap use a gun as while his shield is great, a gun can quite useful at times.

Peggy Carter on the other hand isn't quite as developed as Pepper Potts but is more developed than some of the previous Love interests like Black Widow or whoever the girl was in Incredible Hulk. I'm not just saying that because Hayley Atwell is incredibly beautiful, she actually is quite a good actress and I wish we could have seen more of her but given the setting of the end of the film, that's not exactly very likely. Many of the scenes between her and Steve are actually more interesting than the films action scenes as she and Chris Evans have a great deal of chemistry, like Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman did.
 
Also in the film for a good chunk of screen time is Howard Stark. I thought he was going to be like Tony Stark but I ended up liking him better than Tony and found Dominic Cooper to be quite fun as the character. While it isn't explained how he got Captain America's shield, one could infer that there was more than one of Captain America's shields that were round. By that I mean there were other shields in the film but we didn't see two round ones. 
 
Hugo Weaving is good in every role and is just perfect as Johann Schmidt aka The Red Skull. The Red Skull is by far the least developed of the Marvel Cinematic Universe villains but I can easily overlook that because of Hugo Weaving's performance. His fate is sort of left hanging as you're not quite sure whether he's dead or whether he's just somewhere else.  The guy has ten years of experience at playing villains and manages make each one different. You can easily exaggerate a German accent but thankfully Hugo Weaving doesn't do that and his accent actually sounds so real you would think he actually talks like that. 
 
In the film for a short amount of screen time is The Howling Commandos led by Dum Dum Dugan instead of NIck Fury. They have a good chunk of screen time towards the end of the film but many of them aren't named on screen or at least I didn't hear them named. They each have some sort of character but you can tell more time was spent on making Dum Dum Dugan important then focusing on the others like Gabriel Jones. Also different from the comics is the addition of Bucky into the Howling Commandos which I didn't mind but i'm not a big Captain America fan so I don't know if that fits with him.
   
Though while the film is exciting, the story is where it falls partially flat. As other reviewers have pointed out, the film skips it's own second act. One moment we see Cap with The Howling Commandos discussing how they'll enter Hydra's HQ and the next scene Steve is riding on a motorcycle being pursued by several Hydra soldiers on Motorcycles. The scene is exciting and well shot but isn't explained and you are sort of left hanging. The problem is that the film simply wasn't long enough and as a result some of the narrative is lost. That is unfortunate because the origin portion of teh film, the first act is exceptionally written and the third act is as well but due to time constraints the second act was skipped. 

The most talked about part of the film is the post credits scene, I won't spill too much other than it is footage for The Avengers. I won't say too much about that but it is pretty cool what we see and you get sort of a semblance of a story.  
 
Alan Silvestri was the composer of the score for the film and immediately when listening to the score I am reminded of The Rocketeer and while he didn't compose the score for that film, they're similar. Silvestri was a great choice for a composer, and this is easily one of his best scores after all three of The Back To The Future scores. Also noteworthy is the song "Star Spangled Man"  by the famed Disney music writer Alan Menken. Menken is responsible for the scores during The Disney Renaissance.
 
Captain America is easily Marvel's best film yet and while it does have a few problems, it manages to overstep them with it's charm, action, the performances from it's cast, and Dum Dum Dugan's Bowler Hat.The film's pace and the way it harkens back to classic superhero films like The Rocketeer help make Captain America easily one of the best superhero films to date but isn't as good as Marvel's previous film Thor. It also features a well written score by Alan Silvestri and a catchy tune by Alan Menken as well. The film is successful as a fun old style blockbuster but with a few missteps along the way and that's what prevents from being better than Iron Man. One problem is that many of the action scenes feel very fake whereas everything else in the film feels real but the action just doesn't feel it. I guess the problem was the CGI effects weren't all that great and you expect something different from a period piece. Usually a director you would think would use conventional effects for a period piece instead of CGI.

Today I have seen Captain America: First Avenger, and I have to say: It was a fun film to watch.

 

When it first starts out, I kept having this odd feeling I have seen this movie before, and when it was time for Steve to take the Serum, it dawned on me: It was like Spider-Man! I kinda felt like it was cheap of Marvel of not having the Toby McQuire Spider-Man be part of the Avengers plot, as (the way I see it) that the Spider-Man movies help brought back the Superhero Movie Genre,   and we wouldn’t see an Avengers or Justice League movie for a another set of years without them: but now I see it: They use Peter Parker’s character and used it as the template for Steve Rogers, and it works. (Though pre-serum Steve body DID NOT match his voice at all).  

But overall, it was still a fun movie. It has some VERY major flaws (like the Nazis speak fluent English and NOT German and the short awkward romance between Steve and Peggy when that girl kissed him),  and I put it on the same self as the Spider-Man and Green Lantern movie, though this movie IS more fan friendly than those films.

First of all, I want to say that this movie might just be the best Marvel movie ever.  I won't give away the entire story; I'll just tell you that it's very simple, refreshing, good-guy vs. bad-guy.  The actors did a good job overall, and I felt that it was a great way to introduce non-comic-nerds to Captain America. 

I hardly have any cons to list this time!  The bad language was pretty non-intrusive.  Cap. kissed a girl he'd never met, and Mr. Stark made several immoral references (like father, like son).  Other than that, it was really pretty clean, and very family-friendly in comparison with most PG-13 movies. 
 
I loved the way this movie embraced heroism and selflessness in Captain America.  He's very different from Thor and Iron Man in this way, so I'm glad the Avengers won't all have identical personalities (not that Thor and Tony are alike, either).   I'm very much looking forward to 'Avengers' next summer.  By the way, make sure to stay past the credits for a great teaser.

I went into this movie with a few doubts, mostly due to the fact that Steve Rogers was being portrayed by Chris Evans. Not my first choice of actor to represent someone as iconic as Captain America. To my surprise and delight, Evans did in my opinion, an outstanding job portraying Rogers in exactly the fashion he has been written in comics ever since his creation.  

The movie starts out with a puny Steve Rogers trying to enlist in the war and ends up being denied for the fifth time. He's noticed by Dr. Abraham Erskine and recommends Steve for his Super Soldier program. The movie does spend a good amount of time setting up everything the way it should be rather than throwing Steve the suit and shield within the first ten minutes and thrusting him into the war without any explanation. They take the necessary time in setting up a rich and detailed story fans can truly appreciate. 

I really liked Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine. An obviously important role in the Captain America mythology, Tucci handled the role extremely well. I like how he valued the morals Rogers had and made that the focal point in why he was chosen to become the ultimate Super Soldier. 

Dominic Cooper played a larger part in the movie than I expected him to. I actually liked him a lot as Howard Stark. Hayley Atwell did a pretty good job as Peggy Carter. The short-lived romance between her and Steve was nicely added and heartfelt. Tommy Lee Jones is another actor who played a larger role than I had anticipated. He seemed to complete a stellar cast of well-rounded characters.  

Bucky's role in the movie seemed a little short. I was hoping to see more of him personally. The time we did see him and Captain America in battle together was awesome. One thing I didn't like was the way his part ended. We all know what really happens to Bucky and were hoping he was going to be on the rocket. I can tell you now that's not the fate he meets in this film. He does apparently "die" but in a different way. I was hoping they would at least show someone finding his body to set it up for the Winter Soldier in a sequel or spinoff film. 

Fans knew beforehand that in the movie, the Cosmic Cube was going to be renamed The Tesseract. If it was up to me I would have kept the name instead of changing it but it's not like by doing so it ruined the movie. I liked the way cube was presented visually but the lack of explanation about it's power and what it can do was a negative. Not so much for me but for people watching who have never read the comics or heard of it. I suppose they thought viewers would get the general idea of what it can do without explanation.

Hugo Weaving did an outstanding job as the Red Skull. He's so good at playing the villain in any movie. When the Red Skull's true face is finally shown during his first encounter with Captain America, my heart began to beat faster. The way that scene was shot where they were in a stand off was like something out of a comic. I like the accent he had and the way he handled the role. He generated the villainous feel you get from the Red Skull in the comics. I like the way the Red Skull looked but I couldn't help but wonder if it would have looked better if his skull was a darker red. Either way, to see him brought to life like that in a movie like this was truly worth the price of admission.

By the time the Howling Commandos arrive, you're on the edge of your seat filled with excitement. I couldn't help but crack a smile when I first saw Dum Dum Dugan's easily identifiable mustache. Portrayed by actor Neal McDonough, Dugan had the biggest part out of the group. Actor Derek Luke portrayed Gabriel Jones who seemed to tag along with Dugan everywhere. They accompany Captain America for some heavy-hitting action against Hydra. I didn't understand why they went out of their way to not say any of their names in the film. Comic fans will know who they are but other people wont have a clue at all.

Things get wrapped up at the end and set up for the Avengers film as we do see one scene of Steve Rogers in present day New York and his first encounter with Nick Fury. There is no mention of the Avengers during their brief conversation but it does serve it's purpose of bridging the gap between the films. At the end of the credits, a short teaser trailer for the upcoming Avengers movie is shown.

Overall this was definitely a good comic adaption worth seeing. The settings were well designed, the acting was superb and the action and special effects were vividly jaw-dropping. It's hard for me to really rank the movies, but I would say this is one of the best three Marvel Comics films that have ever been made. This movie had a solid cast that delivered on all levels. Joe Johnston directed an epic film that opens the doors up to infinite possibilities.  

Rating: 4.5/5

Being a fan of Jack Kirby you would think I would love all versions of Captain America.  I don't hate the character, I respect Steve Rogers a lot. Books like Civil War I cheered against him since I agreed with Tony.  Brubakers run with Bucky I realized like how Grant Morrison was trying to show Batman is more then Bruce Wayne but a symbol, Captain America is more then Steven Rogers.  There is only one version of Cap that does scream Steve and that is "The First Avenger" version or World War II Cap as most would call him.  This movie is that version and that is why it works so well.
 
Most Origin stories can be boring if you know them already and are watching it on the screen, this is where the Superman movies have failed, even none comic book fans can tell you he is an alien baby.  The movie is framed with the first scene from the present and the end is the present, but the middle and flesh is a coming of age story of a skinny man with a good heart who becomes an icon of a country.  By him being a symbol of America this movie also plays subtly with the American war propaganda machine and I love it for it, since denying such parading of the red, white and blue would be Un-American in the first place.  One of the best examples of who the blue must shine through is when Cap is sneaking into a Hydra base and instead of stealing a hydra uniform he arrogantly strolls in with he shield at hand.
 
There is another nice touch this movie does and that is the play with the Red Skull.  Those who know the comic will be held in suspense on when we will see him, while those who are not familiar with the character (like my girlfriend was) will likely see the the mask coming off as a nice plot twist, a twist that is suppose to have a shocking feel to those who are not familiar withe the universe.  This movie was well written indeed. Besides the Red Skull other characters who are important to Cap's mythos are exploited in good ways in this movie, such as Bucky Barns, Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos, all I believed are giving their proper respects.
 
 From all the movies Marvel has released I think this one is the best.  The acting was smooth and believable.  The CG and special effects don't distract but work.  The story pays enough respect to the source material, but never caters too much to the fanboys for a none compressive story.  With the way this movie worked as an origin, DC Comics needs to take lessons, because Marvel handle their "Red, White and Blue" character properly, while Superman's many movies have seemed to fail to bring the character the franchise life is deserves.  It is almost sad this movie is just a set up for The Avengers, Captain America with a gun would be a version I could watch many movies of if written this well.
 
This last  few sentences may be where Stan Lee fans might hate me, but it is true.  Stan Lee's cameo was the only eyesore for a JACK KIRBY FAN.  Stan Lee did not create Captain American ( Jack Kirby and Joe Simon did), sure he helped come up with the Howling Commandos, but they were Nick Fury's team, not Steve Rogers. Stan Lee maintains his credit whoring life-style, I guess it is symbolic to the American entrepreneur life. If Stan Lee really respected Jack Kirby he would not have been in this movie and if the fanboys asked why their false god was not in it he could reply in a way to pay homage to the King of Comics.  I don't see Stan Lee taking the highroad in this one so, I felt it was fair to not take the highroad and point out that this "I though he was taller" was not funny and sad.
 

When Captain America throws his mighty shield,
All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield.
If he’s led to a fight and a duel is due,
Then the red and white and the blue’ll come through
When Captain America throws his mighty shield.

Even with only one flaw this movie was very entertaining and I believe Marvels best movie to date.  Cheers
- Silkcuts

My video review of Captain America : The First Avenger 
 
     

  Despite Cap being one of my very favorite comic book characters ever, I had little faith in the ability of anybody being able to bring him to life on the silver screen.  Regardless of my affection for ol' Steve Rogers, it's just a little tough to picture the red, white, and blue boy scout being taken seriously when given flesh and blood. 
 
But somehow, some way, not only is Captain America: The First Avenger a wholly entertaining piece of period fiction and faithful to the hero's long lineage, but it manages to be the most humanly satisfying superhero movie that's come along in a great while. 

WHAT'S THIS MOVIE ABOUT?  

Captain America follows the exploits of Steven Rogers (Chris Evans) during World War II.  Having an uncanny sense of duty and desire to do what he feels is right, all the scrawny Rogers wants to do is serve the country he loves.  The problem is that aside from being only 90 pounds, Rogers has myriad health problems that prevent any recruiter from taking him.  Hope for Rogers comes in the form of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci).  He is looking for young men to join an extremely secretive "Super Soldier" project, and Steve has just the intangibles (selflessness, strength of will, integrity) that he is looking for.  It isn't so long after Rogers finally becomes that titular "Super Soldier" when the error of Erskine's past in the form of the maniacal Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) rears its ugly face.  Now, the newly christened Captain America must run a covert campaign against the mad man and his legion of HYDRA soldiers to help bring an end to the war and this threat on all of humanity. 

WHAT'S GREAT ABOUT THIS MOVIE?  

CHARACTERIZATION!  Sure, director Joe Johnston doesn't necessarily paint a visage of incredibly complex characters here, but the way each seems so naturally human through their interactions and relationships with other characters is incredibly well done.  Evans in particular embodies the wholesome nature of Captain America without feeling cheesy or forced.  This is aided by the over the top, yet completely believable performance of Hugo Weaving as "The Red Skull".  The characters are unapologetically two-dimensional, sure, but they own up to that.  In fact, the best performance may be attributed to Hayley Atwell as the Captain's love interest, Peggy Carter.  She effortlessly skirts the line between the hard, no-nonsense operative, and the caring person who is willing to fight for something on principles alone.  The fact that she never plays damsel in distress is refreshing.  Tucci as Erskine, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, and the various "Howling Commandos" bit parts all play their roles admirably. 
 
Captain America is also a movie that isn't afraid to provide a deeper timeline of events to its audience than most other superhero films.  A whole heck of a lot takes place in the Captain's standard running time, and all the build-up at the beginning pays off with the punchier second half.  It doesn't attempt to shoe-horn in plot details and character development in the film's climax, and the movie is better for it.  It allows for the action to take center-stage, and for the most part, it's done well.  It has a pulpy retro feel while also being wholly modern.  In fact, that feel is what gives Captain America its unique edge.  A mid-movie segment that shows "Captain America" touring the USA selling war bonds exemplifies this perfectly.  It really wraps the audience up in its setting, while still subtly showing an awareness of its retro feel. 

 WHAT SUCKS ABOUT THIS MOVIE?  

Conversely, certain action sequences feel incredibly artificial.  It's nothing too distracting, but during some of the more chaotic or grandiose scenes, the special effects can take the audience out of the experience.  After all, when most of the scenes feel so authentic and period appropriate, scenes that use heavy green screening effects and CGI are that much more apparent. 

ANYTHING ELSE?  

Fans of the character will love all the affection towards past storylines and costumes.  Also, I need the "Captain America" song that plays during the USO tour and credits RIGHT NOW! 

WHAT'S THE FINAL VERDICT?  

Whether you want to call it a superhero film, a pulpy period piece, or a summer action flick, Captain America delivers on all fronts.  It's an affectionate, well-made movie that audiences of all ages can easily enjoy.  This may be the most well-done film Marvel studios has put out, and should serve alongside films like The Dark Knight as a template for what the genre can achieve.

I actually saw this movie openning night but didn't know that you could review movies here too(Or knew and forgot) this story takes place during WW2 and is an origin story for Cap.  I originally thought this film would be better then Thor but it turned out to be vice versa for me atleast. 
Good. 
Despite the previous statement the movie was good just liked Thor better story wise. The opening scene is very good it aludes to the Norse gods & Red Skull. Steve Rodger is portrayed greatly and the character has some funny lines in the beginning of the movie in which Howard Stark makes an appearence  he appears more along the way but this is another nice refrence to the rest of the MCU. Howard's character in the film has imo a good amount of humor. We also see Bucky(Is it odd I think Bucky is cooler then Steve in the comics SPOILER I mean was SPOILER) he is based off his Ultimate counterpart mostly but as we go along in the film you see some 616 similarities. We see the Howling C..err I mean the Invaders? The acting is great and the lines believable and well written and each character is given their own unique voice. Casting was mostly very good except the "Invaders" where a decent amount of them look alot like each other which can be confusing but their minor roles and aren't really named so you need to figure out who they are by guessing. Pretty good special effects  a long list of good so far but here comes the problems. 
Bad. 
Invaders are more a minor problem but I'll put it out there one real Invader appears Union Jack while the rest are the Howling Commandos I was honestly hoping for Namor and the original Human Torch(Well didn't expect him just hoped for him to appear appearently there was a cameo of Jim but I didn't notice it I guess?). My main problem is the story didn't exactlly have me hooked I wouldn't say it was bad but not the most interesting imo tons of non-comic fans I know loved it thought It was better then Thor but imo Thor was way better. 
Overall. 
Go to theater and see it  remember this is just one opinon and considering the worst one here is 3.5. out of five well thats a great score thats what all DC movies strive to even get a 3 half the time not bad at all. And hey I didn't like Iron Man that much(the first I liked the second Whiplash was great villain I thought)  and alot of people loved that so see it it's a pretty good movie.

Super nazies, punching, adventure in a period setting.... this is possibly the best war film i've ever seen and, as it happens, one of the finest comic book movies too. Considering the last war movie I saw was Inglorius Bastards, the worst war movie I've ever seen, I now have a best and worst.
As someone who has never actually read a proper captain america comic (the closest i've come is Civil War) I don't think I was burdened with familiarity toward the character so I was able to enjoy it on that level. Sure, I know the character (and had the Secret Wars action figure back in the 80's...he and the goodies always lost to the villains I recall) but being aware of the character and knowing everything about him are two bery different things. 
First off, Chris Evans was brilliant as Cap 'Merica. As someone who found his performance in Danny Boyle's Sunshine (a film I disliked by a director I dislike) as one of the few highlights I knew that Chris had the ability to be more than just a handsome git. As a physically weak man with a strong will and nobility, he makes you actually care about the character. Then he gets injected with super-soldier serum and becomes a super-soldier... and still retains the awkwardness and nervousness of the man he was. He doesn't instantly become a badass which was a damn good choice by the film-makers. War is not made into something wonderful in this movie, and Steve Rogers wants to sign up not to kill nazis but because he hates bullies, no matter where they come from.
The supporting cast are stellar too. Tommy Lee Jones, as a character he himself admitted you've seen hundreds of times before, provided a lot of laughs and brought a gravitas to the whole thing as an old soldier who has seen too many people die under his command. Hugo Weaving (always reliable even in those god-awful matrix sequels) made an ideal villain, portaying the Red Skull as a man whose ambitions had long outgrown the Nazis and now sought nothing less than Godhood and global domination. Hayley Atwell, so damn attractive I must say, was feisty and believable as Peggy Carter (yet the filmmakers seemed to understand luvvy-duvvy bits whilst providing a respite from action are not what people came to see); the Howling Commandos as bad-ass and cool as you could want them to be. Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, as Steve's best friend and protector turned sidekick, was interesting and cool enough that when he does perish (which I gather from canon does not actually happen) you care. 
What I also enjoyed was seeing the part Britain played in the war and the impact it had. The scene after Cap loses Bucky where Peggy finds him in a burnt out bomb-wrecked pub in London shows this. London (and a lot of other cities in Britain) suffered tremendous bombing attacks, and seeing the filmmakers acknoweldge this pleased me. Too often Britain's part in WW2 is glossed over (saving Private Ryan, and that movie where Americans take the enigma coding machine... history rewritten alas). The command centre beneath London is another example, showing we Brits we doing our part too and not just sitting around drinking tea and discussing cricket.
The film moved at a good pace (a lot like Thor really) and even if a scene started to lag it was rarely a issue. 
A criticism I'ver heard is that the ending felt rushed... not sure I agree with that, but I believe it was a good ending. 
Now we must wait for the Avengers next year to see Cap America again, teaming up with the big boys of the marvel universe to beat the living crap out of some menace or other. Really looking forward to seeing Downey Jr, Helmsworth and Evans play off each other even though its directed by Joss Whedon... my anticipation for the Avengers and desrie to see so many characters in one movie together is tainted by my dislike of Whedon and all his works. Despite this, I will be going to see the Avengers and just mentally replace Joss Whedon's name on the titles (or credits) with someone else.

I originally intended not to review Captain America: The First Avenger, because the film just seemed too nondescript to be bothered with. But upon seeing that it seems to have obtained a five-star rating on Comic Vine, I thought I ought to, just for balance, seeing as my first reaction was something along the lines of 'WHAAAA--?!'. Anyway, there be no spoilers here, so no reader peril is required.


Captain America: The First Avenger is this year's last outing from Marvel Entertainment in terms of the big screen. Meaning, it's the last movie they had to get out of the way before the superhero-ensemble Avengers movie. And it feels like just that - like something the studio felt they needed to get out so that people would be familiar with the character. Cap features Chris Evans (needs more oiled chest) as the eponymous character and Hugo Weaving (needs more flamethrower) as his arch nemesis Nazi Red Skull, as well as Tommy Lee Jones for comic relief and a slew of other well-known chaps ('chaps' being the operative word here, as Hayley Attwell is pretty much the only lady in the film). With the bad taste of director Joe Johnston's The Wolfman still lingering from last year it wouldn't be out of the question to go into this film with poor expectations.

In the 1940s, Steve Rogers is a wee lad who just wants to join the army more than anything else, but can't because he's just too wee. For this, Evans' gigantic head was digitally grafted onto some small fellow's body. As a result it is rather hard to focus on anything other than Chris Evans' melon face but get over that hurdle and you'll be just fine. Rogers tries again and again to be accepted into the army but they just won't let him, until Stanley Tucci takes him aside because Steve has such great morals and character that he'd make a great subject for the Super Serum that will give him super powers and thus Captain America is born except this takes 124 minutes to happen. The pacing of this film is its weakest point. Somewhere around the middle it feels like it's about to end, only to begin again. When it finally does end, it is clumsy and abrupt.

Generally speaking, the writers didn't make the most of their characters. The Red Skull (who speaks English with an inconsistent German accent to his fellow Germans because that is a normal thing for German people to do) in particular feels hammy and underdeveloped, not to mention the fact that at no point does the evil organisation HYDRA feel like any sort of real threat. There simply is no sense of conflict. Add to this the exceptionally shoehorned love plot and predictable deaths, as well as clichéd dialogue and most of these scenes become unbearable. The film tries very hard indeed to keep with the lighthearted tone of previous Marvel films by inserting jokes at various intervals but these, too, are poorly paced. Much of the beginning is really rather dry and could have done with an injection of wit and charm. Other jokes simply feel like they're trying too hard.

The look and feel of the film is very harsh and bleak, unlike the visually stunning Thor or even the brightly coloured Iron Man films. Fair enough, Cap is set during World War II, but it gets to a point where you're dying to see some warmth and colour in the palette. The film's green screen shots are often painfully obvious and a lot of the action sequences just look like videogame cut scenes. Unfortunately, Captain America is an ugly-looking film (although scenes lighten up when Peggy Carter appears in them).

Speaking of officer Peggy Carter, Atwell does a pefectly acceptable job of the material but it's sad to see yet another decent female character pigeonholed into the hot love interest role. Even though she's supposed to be an officer (did they even have women officers in the '40s?), it is of utmost importance that she always looks totally hot all of the time, which is a shame because, again, Peggy is a decent character, reduced to a pretty thing to look at who occasionally shoots people (because that's hot too). The rest of the casting is fine, too, although many of the actors seem underused purely because there is such little character development in the script.

As the film tries its darndest to plow through decades of material you may find yourself becoming fidgety, or planning what to have for dinner tonight, or wondering whether you left the iron on. It's true that Captain America has a number of factors working against it. One of the biggest is the question of how to adapt material in the 21st century that is so deeply ingrained in the culture and politics of the 1940s. Captain America was created as a patriotic symbol, an expression of disgust for Nazism which was borderline propaganda. Setting the film in the 1940s was a fair start of making this work, but one can't help but wonder, what is the point of this? We know Nazis are bad, and actually, the film does a pretty good job of attempting to address the issue of why Hitler rose to power and why Steve doesn't just want to 'kill Nazis' by joining the army, but this is brief. Where Captain America fits in this day and age seems like a more interesting premise which will hopefully be explored in the sequel.

Meanwhile, Captain America is a largely dull, baggy and fairly tedious ordeal that rates way below Thor and only marginally above X-Men Origins: Wolverine (at least the plot made more sense). Having said that, Marvel probably hasn't lost its steam quite yet, the character will probably do much better in The Avengers, it's just a shame that his debut was so underwhelming. Honestly, the Avengers trailer at the end is much more entertaining than the film itself. If you're looking for a Nazi-themed WW2 superhero movie, just go and rewatch Hellboy.

I know I said I'd be gone for good cause of all the censorship Nazis on this site but I simply could not hold my tongue for this film. I have waited to see this film for over 3 years ever since the Super soldier serum was shown back in the Incredible hulk back in 2008 and let me just say thank god for the Avengers teaser at the end of the movie or I would have walked away completely disappointed cause this film compared to all the other marvel cinematic universe films that have come out over the past few years was terrible just terrible and your about to find out why...

I love Captain America he is one of my all time favorite characters in comics I even met Joe Simon back in his apartment last March where he Signed a copy of one of his private sketches of cap and Bucky I have that very sketch framed and hanging on my wall as I write this I could have told him what I thought of his most beloved characters latest movie but honestly I didn't have the heart to he himself has said he's just happy to see cap on the big screen and I'm going to let him have it that way after all he's done he's earned it. Now let me just say The Actors in this movie were great they were born to play these roles I just wanted to make it clear it wasn't there fault at all for why I didn't like this movie as much as I would have liked to. Here's the 4 big reasons why I didn't like this movie....

#1 NO NAZIS!!!! Yeah they are mentioned a thousand times and the Red Skull even kills some Nazi officers but come on I don't care about Cap fighting Hydra there a fictional terrorist organization and you can never get the same satisfaction as you would seeing an All American Icon unleash hell upon the most evil group of mass murdering psychopaths in history. I guess they wanted to be all PC about things so as not to offend any Germans and honestly I don't think Germans should be offended by seeing Nazis Killed unless they of course are or were Nazis themselves and if that's the case does anyone really give a crap what they have to say plus the movie is called CAPTAIN AMERICA why would they see it any way.?

#2 For a Super Soldier Cap didn't seem all that super in this movie challenge me on this I dare you go and compare Tim Roth after he is given the super soldier serum in Incredible Hulk which wasn't even the full treatment I might add to Captain America and tell me who seems faster and stronger to you? Cause I was waaaaaay more impressed by Tim Roth as a Super Soldier than Captain America. Cap seemed slow and this and they never really managed to show him doing any amazing feats of speed or strength and the one chance they had to really show us what being a Super Soldier is (the scene where Capt has to jump across the fiery gap after his 1st fight with Red Skull) they cut away just as he starts his jump!

#3 THE UNBEARABLY LONG MONTAGES!!! Yeah Montages were awesome....BACK IN THE 70's & 80'S PEOPLE!!! I mean my god that whole montage of Cap in the USO Shows took forever I'm sitting there going is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet and it was so boring for gods sake and do you know what the second act of this film was guess go on guess can't figure it out? I'll tell you it was....ANOTHER STINKING MONTAGE!!! It was just Cap and the Howling Commandos attacking Hydra facilities in montage format boring as can be I never EVER like seeing montages in super hero film the only thing they belong in are sports movies cause everything else they featured in take away from the story.

#4 X-Men Origins Wolverine. Not sure what I mean by that? for those of you that have seen that abomination think about how the supporting characters were developed was it like deep and thoughtful like most movies where you get the feeling of all the players and watch as they help build up the story and make it all that much better for us the audience or was it like HI I'M A FAN FAVORITE GOTTA RUN I SEE THE PRODUCERS WAVING MY CHECK OFF SCREEN!!! If you picked option 2 than NO $%&#ING CRAP!!! I mean Bucky, The Howling Commandos, Arnim Zola, Peggy Charter, Howard Stark, Red Skull even none of them were developed enough to help the story I mean when Bucky died I just didn't care and I should have cause he's Bucky Cap's Partner and Replacement but he wasn't developed at all in the story so when he dies it's like big deal it's like seeing a nobody get killed in an alien invasion type movie yeah it sucks someone died but is it going to affect my day in anyway or put me in a bad mood or a lust for vengeance? Nope I'm going to just sit there and pick at the popcorn stuck in my teeth till something important happens.

One thing I loved in this movie were the scenes between Cap and Dr. Erskine they were great and are probably one of the few aspects of this film aside from the effects and the ever awesome Tommy Lee Jones that make me want to see this movie again.

La ultima parada para The Avengers ha terminado. Captain America : The First Avenger nos presenta a Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), un chico que durante la segunda guerra mundial deseaba luchar por Estados Unidos. Sin embargo el representaba el ideal del soldado ejemplar pero el físico no lo ayudaba. En eso un científico alemán (Stanley Tucci) ve que es el candidato perfecto para ser el nuevo soldado que podría acabar la amenaza de HYDRA con su líder The Red Skull (Hugo Waving).

Esta para mi es la película que realmente importante para el lead up de “The Avengers” ya que hacen referencia a él en casi todas las películas que han hecho Marvel Studios. La película presenta bastante bien los personajes y la personalidad de cada uno. First Avenger me recordó mucho a las primeras 3 películas de Indiana Jones en donde habían secuencias de acción divertidas. Además muchas partes sentí que estaba viendo las películas que hacia Estados Unidos durante WW2. Los efectos visuales fueron bien realizados en lo que era poner NY durante la década de los 40. Además de la apariencia de Chris Evans de debilucho es impresionante. Hay que resaltar que no usaron un doble sino que redujeron la apariencia del actor en post-producción.

La historia no la cogen tan seria pero todo se va moviendo lentamente hacia la pelea final. Cual increíblemente esa pelea no se resuelve tan rápido y tiene una carga emocional más importante que las demás películas de Marvel. El humor es bastante cómico y lo juegan bastante bien en las situaciones en que son presentadas. Sin embargo esto le quito un tono de seriedad que hubiera sido mejor para la película.

El cast realmente es bueno. Todos sobresalen en cierta manera, pero Evans realmente lucio el personaje bastante bien y entendió lo que era el personaje. Tommy Lee Jones hizo bien su rol como general, algo que sabe hacer bastante bien. Sebatian Shaw hizo una labor bien como Bucky Barnes. Mientras que los me sorprendieron fueron Hayley Atwell en su rol de Peggy Carter. Personaje que trabajaron más en su carácter, en la personalidad para que sorprendiera luego con su apariencia. Algo que es raro ver en otras películas de acción. Un actor que pude reconocer y me sorprendió fue ver a Neal McDonough (M. Bison en Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) como Dum Dum Dugan.

En fin la película presento a Steve Rogers el hombre que estaba detrás de la máscara. Tiene buena escenas de acción, algunas escenas de comedia y una historia entretenida. La vería otra vez para estar pendiente de algunos detalles que habrían dejado en el fondo para los fans del héroe o simples referencias. Unas de ellas siendo la mas obvia en la historia del personaje en el comic. Lo único que no me gusto fue la necesidad de ver otra vez lo que hay después de los créditos.

I like the fact that only a couple of countries took the studio up on the offer to drop the Captain America out of the title.

I like the fact that Chris Evans, much like Michael Keaton told everyone they did not know what they were talking about, and created a great character with Cap.

This is by far the best of the years Superhero movies, and my favorite movie of the year as i write this. It was fun, funny and exciting. There was enough for us old timers to watch and be in on the joke, as well, as a few minor changes only we would know about.

As I stated before, Chris Evans plays Cap to near perfection, as a man who was always under estimated, and always had to stand tall a little bit more than any other man in the field. Now finding himself as the man who needs to get it done, and is looked up to.

Hugo Weaving, yeah ... he is pretty bad ass as the Red Skull. It would have been far too easy to overplay this role. Especially buried under all that make up. Yet Weaving gives us just the right amount of pinache.

It is a great adventure film. I cant recommend it any more

Makes me proud to be an American!

“Captain America: The First Avenger” just may be one of the best Marvel movies of all time. I found it as excellent as “The Incredible Hulk”, “Iron Man”, and “Thor”, all on top in my Marvel Studios list. From start to finish, I was hooked to this movie.

The opening scene sends us into the Marvel world, with a rescue crew discovering the Captain America Shield buried in ice. We don’t know how it got there, but suffice it to say that, by the end of the movie, there will be no doubt. Once the opening scenes are over, we cut to 1942, where our first reference to the Marvel Universe at large takes place, the Asgardian World Tree carved into the wall of a church in Norway. This movie has more references to the larger Marvel Universe than any other movie thus far, and it’s obvious it’s because they want to prep audiences for “The Avengers” next year. That’s not a bad thing (but it does help to watch all the movies that are connected to it, for that added feel).

When people heard that Chris Evans, The Human Torch of the 20century Fox’s Fantastic Four, people were groaning in that fact that a former superhero is playing another role, like I was but I’m an opportunist. Now seeing him in this movie… Wow! He is a great Captain! At the start of the film, Capt. is regular scrawny Steve Rodgers (In special effects to shrink his body down), he is SO different than Johnny Storm, and he makes Steve very believable.

The production design is the most interesting I’ve ever seen for a comic book film. It has a modern look and feel, even if it is set in the 1940s. It’s like L.A Noire meets the Marvel Universe, without being embellished. The characters are modern people, with motivations we can relate to. We get a whole slew of comic book goodness, as well. Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull is one of the best casting decisions in all of comic book movies. When he appears as the Red Skull, he has a commanding presence, but takes up just enough space so that we don’t get sick of him. We get Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Sharon Carter (Haley Atwell), Howard Stark (Dominic Copper), and even Dum Dum Dugan. Yes, that’s digging deep, but comic book fans will be delighted, and he’s played by Neal McDonough, he is Capt.’s Volstagg.

The plot isn’t the most original, but who really cares! The Red Skull is seeking the “power of the gods.” Basically, it’s a cube with Asgardian power, which was locked away in a church in Norway, which Red Skull retrieved at the beginning of the film. The power becomes his undoing, when in the final showdown between the Star-Spangled Avenger and the Red Skull, it transports him to another dimension. Captain America believes that he’s killed, but because we’ve seen “Thor”, we know better.

The last scenes show Rogers waking up in the future, and using his solider mind, he realizes he is not in the place where he has told. Steve escapes and he runs into Time Square (I would’ve suffered from some Future Shock, but that’s just me.) with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury greeting him. This is the only part of the film that seemed forced, but it’s necessary to tie this movie in with “The Avengers” coming out next year.

Stick around for the end of the credits. You won’t regret it. (If you don’t, you haven’t watched that many Marvel Studios Films have you?)

Oh Yeah," Do you two, Fondue?"

Synopsis

Steve Rogers goes through a experimental procedure and becomes Captain America. Along the way, he fights the Red Skull and his HYDRA troops.

The Good

Ever since Chris Evans' debut as the Human Torch from the FF movies, we don't know how he will turn out to be Captain America. Now, our fears have been wiped out. Because Chris Evans is Captain America. There are many good points I want to say about this movie. It follows the main comic book origin story gradually. It was nice to see the skinny Chris as his main character attempts to join the war and defeat the evil Germans. Hugo Weaving turned out to be a better Red Skull than the old classic movie version. You can see how this evil character was obsessed with power. I wonder if he was actually eliminated in the end because the Tesseract can do so many wonderous things rather than enhancing HYDRA technology. As for the Tessaract, it's interesting to notice how this object was tied to Norse mythology. The rest of the main characters were loveable to watch especially Dum Dum Dugan. But how will he fit into SHIELD and other Marvel cinematic movies? Well, we may have to find out. Because I really loved to see where this character goes. I also liked the appearance of Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark as he helps Cap in defeating the HYDRA organization. He has the striking resemblance as his future son and Iron Man. Also, the fate of Bucky is yet to be known and we all know how that will turn out to be.

The Bad

What's so bad about throwing a shield against HYDRA? Nothing.

The Verdict

This movie is a must-see for Captain America and comic book fans. New non-readers will also be interested to watch this movie. Forget the Chris Evans' former flame star. Because we got our very own best Super-Soldier in town. Cap throws his shield onto the Red Skull five times out of five.

Captain America was such a great film, and not what one would usually expect from a superhero movie! I was sucked in at the very beginning when I saw Chris Evans' surprisingly scrawny body. I kept wondering, "How did they do that". Well 80% of the time, it was Christ Evans' body with special effects. Anyway, I loved Red Skull in this film, he was way more interesting than I thought he would be, and Hugo Weaving did a great job playing the role.

I thought it was hilarious how after becoming a super-soldier, Steve Rodgers just toured the country to advertise war bonds. I was cracking up through the whole little montage!

Another thing that made this movie even better was the amount of characters in the movie that link it to the Avengers and the other Marvel Movies. It was great to see a young Howard Stark, and definitely looked like he could be the father of Tony Stark!

The one thing I didn't like about this movie was the ending. The final battle between Captain America and Red Skull was very short, and when Steve woke up and realized he was in modern day New York, there was not enough explanation or reaction time. It just seemed a little too short at the end, and he was taking the fact that he slept for 70 years very well, a little too well. It just didn't seem that believable. However, I was practically bouncing in my seat when it had The Avengers trailer at the end. This movie made me even more excited to see it!

Overall, this film, was fantastic. I'm so happy that they're making two more Captain America movies. If they're anything close to how great this film was, then I'm happy!

Captain America finally makes it to the screen. He may be the 'first' Avenger (and even predate Marvel Comics), but he's the last one to get a movie (if we discount the Republic serial and the 70s made-for-TV 'movies'). It's not surprising that in a day and age when the majority of a film's revenue comes from foreign box office, and a time at which America's standing in the world is far lower than it once was, that the powers-that-be chose to make this one last. And, yes, Captain America does live up to all the patriotic (some might say jingoistic) cliches its fans and its critics come to expect - we would accept nothing less under the aegis of 'Captain America'.

As a film it falls somewhere in the middle of the Marvel canon - better than the Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Hulk films; not as good as the Iron Man, Spider-man and X-Men films. The fact that it is a middle of the road superhero film is doubtless because it is the prototypical superhero movie. All of its strengths are also its weaknesses. The film is a pretty faithful adaptation of one of the Golden Age superheroes who was the archetype of one kind of superhero on which a lot of other superheroes were based - as a result, it's Johnny-come-lately appearance on the silver screen hurts it, in that every superhero trope in the film - and all it is is tropes - has already been seen in other superhero films of the past few decades. So, yes, it's predictable (the only thing I predicted when watching it that wasn't in the film, was that I expected the Red Skull to have a zeppelin); there is nothing truly new or original here... nothing we haven't seen (in some cases many times) before.

But to actually do something original, would mean radically departing from the source material - and that wouldn't be Captain America - at least not the Captain America the fans have come to know and love. So, perhaps Captain America is a return to the Saturday matinee of the 40s (as depicted in the film itself) - you pay your money, and you get what you expect.