Captain America: The First Avenger Movie Review (Spoiler Free)
The MCU keeps on expanding, this being the fourth film that introduced us to a new hero. Chris Evans was cast to portray the uber father of American patriotism; Captain America.
Genre: Action / Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Director: Joe Johnston
Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Tommy Lee Jones, Toby Jones and Stanley Tucci
Run Time: 124 min.
US Release: 22 July 2011
UK Release: 29 July 2011
German Release: 18 August 2011
Moving on with my reviews of the Phase 1 Marvel films, today I’ll be talking about Captain America. If you read my previous posts, you would know that I am going through all movies, until The Avengers, before the Ant-Man preview this Friday, in Germany. If you are interested in previous Marvel film reviews, please check the related films underneath, or check the TV Series category on my Blog for the Marvel’s Daredevil review.
The First Avenger obtained generally positive reviews. It was far more successful in the United States than it was anywhere else around the world, and that is mostly due to its large American-patriotic atmosphere. Then again, what do you expect from a superhero named Captain America? I certainly did not mind it, and I still have a great time watching this superhero blockbuster.
Playing during the Second World War, young and fragile American citizen Steve Rogers is keen to enrol in the army and serve his country against the Nazi threat. Sadly, his physical and medical condition won’t allow him to be taken in by the military. While mean, his childhood friend James Buchanan Barnes is sent to Europe to fight against the Nazi Science Division, known as Hydra.
Rogers gets the chance to participate in a military experiment, which aims at creating a super soldier. The experiment is successful and he rises as a buff and fit superhero, with inhuman strength and speed. He is given a team and starts to decimate Hydra facilities and confronts their leader Johann Schmidt.
If you haven’t yet seen the movie, no worries I won’t spoil anything, but there is no need to skip through the credits as the only after-credit scene is a trailer for Marvel’s The Avengers.
The story itself was good, depicting a different version of World War 2. Once again the team behind the Marvel films showed that they are capable of handling the source material. The movie was not perfect though, there were issues I had that developed along the plot. For example, once Rogers obtains his powers, his fights against hordes of Hydra platoons become a little goofy. It reminded me more of the 1960s Batman fights than a modern superhero fight.
Another thing that did annoy me was the design of specific vehicles and weapons by Hydra. They were so ridiculously huge or unhandy; it felt silly and took a lot of credibility from the movie.
The greatest issue I had with Captain America: The First Avenger though was the fact that they did not use German actors. I like Hugo Weaving, he is a great actor, but I am sick of hearing fake German accents done by English-speaking actors. We are living in a globalised world and if Quentin Tarantino proved anything with his Inglourious Basterds film, it is that an international cast can improve the quality of a film. Especially when it comes to portraying different nationalities.
Chris Evans on the other hand nailed it as Steve Rogers. I was really impressed seeing what the special effects team did, to display him as smaller and skinny during the first act, it looked really good. Evans really understood the character of Rogers and the weight that was put on his shoulders.
I love Tommy Lee Jones, this guy is a phenomenal actor and he was great as Col. Chester Phillips. He was very tongue and cheek and had some really hysterical lines. Hayley Atwell was a fantastic and very attractive addition to the cast, I did appreciate her as Peggy Carter.
I am not the greatest fan of director Joe Johnston; after all, he did direct the horrible Jurassic Park III and boring Hidalgo. He did surprise me with this film though. It had well-coordinated action scenes and I really liked the colour scheme they went with, giving the whole movie a distinctive retro look.
Verdict: Captain America: The First Avenger was another good Marvel addition, though it has been significantly weaker than Iron Man or the Incredible Hulk. Still, it was a fun blockbuster and it had me entertained from beginning to end. I, therefore, give it a 7.0 out of 10.