Captain America the First Avenger Review

Director: Joe Johnston

Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell and Hugo Weaving

Original Release Date: July 22nd 2011

This movie is probably the hardest for me to review out of phase 01. The problem with it isn't that it’s a bad movie, far from it. It just so happens that Captain America is my favourite superhero. Watching this without fan boy goggles was pretty hard because the First Avenger in my opinion is still a great film. I first experienced Cap back during the Bucky era, Steve was doing his own stuff with SHIELD at the time and Bucky had taken the mantel as Captain America. I was enthralled, I bought the comic on a whim during a weekly comic book run with a friend. I learned that everything I had disliked about the character was hardly true at all. The latest issues of Captain America play out quite differently from what people expect, it's also unfortunate because Cap is clearly the Aquaman of the Marvel universe. People think he’s useless without his famous shield and can hardly do anything other than throw the thing around. Because of the MCU however people have seen that Captain America is a badass and is more than just a man in blue tights.

The vast majority of the First Avengers takes place during World War II. Steve Rogers, a young man who is really patriotic and wants to fight for his country continues to get denied access to the military due to his obvious physical disadvantages. With his best friend Bucky getting shipped off Steve quickly takes another shot at trying to apply, luckily for Steve Rogers he’s chosen to become a candidate in the super soldier program and to lead the fight against the Nazi deep science division known only as Hydra. As Captain America Steve has to put a stop to Hydra’s plans and defeat their leader, the mysterious Red Skull.

I’ve got to admit I have a big soft spot for this movie. Sure it’s not as action packed as movies like Iron man or the Incredible Hulk but I don’t think that’s what director Joe Johnston was going for when he made this movie. The picture feels like an old WW II propaganda flick mixed with a dash of an old science fiction serial. The movie has a very fun and light-hearted feel to it which harkens to the early days of the Captain America comic which was originally used as a propaganda piece during WW II. The very first issue of the comic had Cap punching Adolf Hitler which has become a very famous cover in the comic industry.

I never thought I’d see Chris Evans as Captain America, the actor at the time was known as being the Human Torch from the early Fantastic 4 films. After his turn as Johnny Storm I could only see Evans as that character, fortunately the moment I saw the First Avenger I realised that this man was born to be Cap. Chris Evans is perfect, from the physical aspects of the character down to his philosophies. Rumour has it that after phase 3 he’s going to hang up the shield, but I really don’t think we've had enough Steve Rogers yet. I just feel that Evans brings an old american charm to the character, Captain America is the full embodiment of all the values that the United States is supposed to stand for, he’s the american dream personified.

Hayley Atwell plays agent Peggy Carter, one of the head officers in the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Obviously she becomes the love interest for Steve as the movie progresses, but I really like her relationship with Steve. The romance between the two characters doesn't feel forced like Thor and Jane’s you can see a chemistry between the two the moment Steve goes for training. The other great thing about Carter is that she isn't just a love interest, out of all of the romantic characters in the MCU she’s one of the few that can hold her own next to the hero of the movie. She even leads an assault on Hydra’s base during the films climax. I really love this character and I have yet to watch Agent Carter but I plan to do so once I catch up on Agents of SHIELD.

Hugo Weaving is our villain, Johann Schmidt aka the Red Skull. When you have Hugo Weaving playing a villain you know the movie is going to have a great antagonist. The man made an entire career off of playing one of the most iconic scifi villains of the 20th century, Agent Smith from the Matrix. As Red Skull Weaving gives a deliciously evil performance that reminds me of a villain from a Universal Horror flick. Sure he is hamming it up, but a character like Red Skull makes scenery chewing very easy. I know Hugo Weaving does not want to return to the character at all, which is a shame because I personally think Red Skull is one of the best villains in Phase 1.

Captain America might be my favourite superhero but Sebastian Stan plays my personal favourite Marvel character of all time, James Buchanan Barnes. The movie takes a small twist on the characters origins and make him more of a leading man than a little kid whose Cap’s right hand guy. I can accept a change like this because it’s highly unrealistic to have a child running around on the battlefields of WW II. In the First Avenger Bucky is a soldier fully capable of doing things on his own without the help of his superpowered best friend, and as everyone has already seen by now, Bucky becomes a major player in the future of the MCU. The movie also has Tommy Lee Jones in the movie and Dominic Cooper as young Howard Stark, the father to everyone's favourite armoured Avenger.

The problems I have with this movie are minor, some of the special effects could have been cleaned up a bit and there are some pretty bad green screen shots in the film. I also would have liked it if the movie showcased more of Cap’s arsenal, he doesn't just need his shield to fight, the guy is one of the best martial artists in the entire Marvel Universe. The trailers are also kind of misleading as well, most of the action shots that are presented in the trailer are all part of a big montage that happens halfway through the movie. I personally don’t have a problem with that but I can see how that could be a potential break for some viewers.

Captain America the First Avenger is a fun film, sure it’s purpose is to get Steve into modern day New York for the Avengers, but I still think there is tons of fun to have in the movie. I love the character and I think that this first movie really captures the essence of Cap’s origins from the original comic. I give the movie a

8/10

Maybe it’s fan boy goggles but I truly love this movie, it has a special place in my heart as a film that not only showed casual viewers that Captain America could be cool, but really gave us that feel of the character when he was first introduced to the world.