Adam Collins posted on July 22, 2011 07:33
Captain America: The First Avenger opens today marking the third Marvel movie, and fourth comic book hero of the summer. It is by far the weakest of this summer’s Marvel brand. But, even the worst of the Marvel films is better than the atrocity that was Green Lantern. Captain America: The First Avenger tells the origin of the last remaining member of the super group The Avengers. Captain America first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 in March 1941. He was created by Stan Lee, who made his usual comedic cameo in the film, and Joe Simon. This film marks the first US theatrical release for the patriotic hero. There was a serial back in the 40’s, and a VHS film released in 1990. So, seventy years since his first appearance, Captain America is finally making his big screen debut.
Captain America opens in the present with a quick scene showing the discovery of a frozen plane, which has been lost for decades. As soon as we get a glimpse of the shield, we cut back to 1942. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a scrawny guy who has repeatedly tried and failed to join the Army in order to do his part in World War II. His best friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) takes him to a technology festival hosted by Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), the father of Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Rogers is approached by Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci), and given a chance to compete for the opportunity to participate in a science experiment of sorts.
During Rogers’ training, we meet Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). They lead a military unit charged with finding and taking down Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his Nazi experimental science branch HYDRA. Schmidt is building weapons powered by a mysterious “cosmic cube” that was introduced in the after credit scene of Thor. It is rumored to have the power of the Gods. Eventually, Rogers beats out his competition for the super soldier serum and is made into the Poster Child for the US Army. He is renamed “Captain America” and does a song-and-dance routine to encourage people to buy bonds for the war effort.
After being heckled by the troops at a USO show, Captain America decides to become the hero he is meant to be. Because of this, Schmidt shows his true face, Red Skull. Captain America assembles his own team, including Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough) from the comics and Bucky along with a few others. They track down and destroy all of HYDRA’s bases and assembly plants methodically. All this builds to the final showdown between Red Skull and Captain America which culminates on the plane that was found at the beginning.
Captain America: The First Avenger is entertaining, but it’s not a great film. There was really nothing here that stands out. It feels a bit stale, like it was just going through the motions. This is the weakest of the predecessors for next summer’s The Avengers. So much of the film hinges on Chris Evans. Luckily, his portrayal of Cap is great. Unfortunately, his performance is the only real positive aspect of the movie.
Director Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III) is no stranger to action movies, and it shows. The action scenes move well, and are fun to watch, even if they are a bit long at times. The script, however, seems a bit uneven. I attribute this to the writing duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They have worked together many times before, but most notably on the three Chronicles of Narnia films. This explains the childish lines that seem to creep in a little more than they should. These lines are mainly given to Tommy Lee Jones. His performance struggles to be good and not buffoonish. Alan Silvestri turns in a nice, if not too patriotic score. At times, I had to groan at the in-your-face America pomp and circumstance.
The last scene of the film is a gigantic letdown. I haven’t seen a scene this out of place in a long time. All I could think was, “This is the way they want to leave it until May 4, 2012?” Captain America: The First Avenger suffers from being the last film of The Avengers prequel. We know where it is heading from the start, and just does what is required to reach that destination. It also suffers from being the fourth comic book movie of 2011. I hope that Paramount sees a similar run that Thor had. But due to the over exposure of superheroes, the Captain may underachieve. It was still entertaining, but nothing special. The 3D was decent enough, but again, I would find it hard to pay the extra money for it.
Rating 6.5/10