Warning: This review is filled of spoilers…if you did not see Captain America: The First Avenger that is currently in theatres. So if you haven’t seen it yet…you’ve been warned!
Captain America: The First Avenger was phenomenal!
At first, I was worried about this film for two reasons…
Reason #1-Will they honor the Captain America mythos?
Reason #2-Would Chris Evans pull off the role of the Star Spangled Avenger (which many fans wanted Jon Hamm to play the Marvel Patriarch of Super Heroes?)
It turns out that I should have not worried about both of those reasons. The Captain America Mythos was greatly used throughout the movie from the future S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and members of the Howling Commandos including Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough) and Gabe Jones (Derek Luke) to the Cosmic Cube (a device that lets users warp reality to their design).
The addition of Captain America’s sidekick, Bucky (played by Sebastian Stan), was a welcomed addition on-screen. I also really enjoyed the twist that was featured earlier in the film, where Bucky was able to watch over Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) before he became Captain America and when Rogers rescued him, the roles were reversed. The only thing I have against the inclusion of Bucky was his on-screen “death.” In the comics, Bucky died in a plane explosion after chasing their arch-foe, the original Baron Zemo. This film showed Bucky fall of a runaway train after they were chasing Nazi scientist Armin Zola.
As for Chris Evans, the actor who portrayed Captain America, he proved me wrong. He was brilliant as the Star Spangled Avenger. Evans was not cocky like his previous role for the Marvel Movie Universe (Human Torch in the Fantastic Four franchise) and proved that he had what it took to become one of the Avengers’ founding members and one of the group’s strongest leaders. Evans seemed at ease in scenes with fellow actors Stan, Stanley Tucci (who brilliantly played Super Soldier serum inventor Dr. Abraham Erskine) and Hayley Atwell’s scene stealing Peggy Carter.
Final Thoughts: Marvel has been on fire with their summer blockbuster films! Captain America: The First Avenger is on par with Iron Man, Spider-Man (2002) and X-Men: First Class on superb origins films. Add Hugo Weaving’s tyrannical Red Skull and cameos by legendary Marvel creator Stan Lee and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury into the mix and you get a terrific film and a prelude to the 2012 Avengers film.
Grade: 4.5/5 A-
Nice review, and nice to see you back blogging! I’ve seen this movie twice, and it was quite enjoyable.