Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Review

"I'm not kissing you."
-Colonel Phillips



Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is desperate to join the military to help fight in World War II, but is too weak and sickly.  After numerous rejections, he is recruited into a secret program that turns him into a super soldier.  After mostly being used to drum up financial support for the war, Rogers finally gets to go into battle and fight Hydra, a Nazi research division led by Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), and an army of soldiers equipped with strange, futuristic weapons.


What Works:

It is really interesting to watch a superhero movie that takes place during World War II.  It's odd watching some of these superhero tropes happen in 1940's New York.  This makes for an especially engaging first half of the film.  Everything in New York and boot camp is a lot of fun.

My favorite action sequence in the film actually takes place in New York.  I love Steve chasing after the Hydra spy on foot.  It's a great way to showcase Steve's abilities while giving us some fun moments in the process.  I love the moment where the spy throws a kid into the water to distract Steve, but the kid can swim and tells Steve to keep going.  It's really funny.

I really enjoy the relationship between Steve and his best friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan).  Bucky has spent his entire life protecting Steve.  In the second half of the film, the roles are reversed and Steve now has to protect Bucky.  It's interesting watching Bucky comes to terms with that and it's the setup for one of the most interesting relationships in the MCU moving forward.


What Sucks:

I don't love the look of the movie, especially in the second half of the film.  The World War II sequences all come off as a little phony too me.  I wish director Joe Johnston had gone with a different style.  This simply never clicked with me.  Also, the final battle with Schmidt is way too short.

I really don't like how Captain America's team comes together.  He rescues a massive group of soldiers from a prison to and picks five random ones to join his team.  We never saw them do anything awesome enough to warrant Steve insisting they be on his team and they never contribute enough to the plot to warrant their existence in the film.  You could cut all of them out and it changes nothing.  Just give Steve a random group of soldiers, it would be less distracting.

Finally, I'm not a huge fan of Steve Rogers as a character.  I start liking him more in The Winter Solider, but here he is pretty one note and kinda bland.  I just didn't find him engaging.


Verdict:

The first half of Captain America: The First Avenger is a fun 1940's superhero story.  I love the first act car chase, boot camp, and the relationship between Steve and Bucky, but the second half of the movie loses me with with it's borderline cartoonish style, Cap's unnecessary team, and bland protagonist.  That said, this movie has still got it going on.

 7/10: Good 





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