A'Merica!! Efff Yeah!!
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?"
