*Director Joe Johnston
*Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Richard Armitage, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Samuel L Jackson, Natalie Dormer, Bruno Ricci, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi, JJ Feild
*SPOILER WARNING*
The Plot: Steve Rogers wants to enlist in the US Army during WWII, but not having the proper physicality prevents him from doing so. However, he is soon enlisted to join in what is known to be the Super Soldier program where he soon agrees to be used in an experiment that would genetically alter his body and give him the utmost strength that he would use to fight off armed German forces in a scientific organization called Hydra lead by the unstoppable Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull.
Obviously, this was an important story to tell in this Marvel franchise due to the fact that it was introducing one of the most iconic characters in the history of Marvel, Captain America. Even though not the first Captain America film to hit the silver screen with the infamous film from 1990, it was still very exciting to finally see one of the most popular comic book characters of all time seen on such a large big-budget scale. Truth be told director Joe Johnston did not disappoint for Captain America The First Avenger is an enthralling and excellent introduction to the character.
Definitely one of the best aspects of this film was how the 1940s time period was captured because aesthetically this film truly did a great job putting viewers in this era. There's no doubt the production design and costuming had great effort involved, but the reason it came off as more convincing was for amazingly fitting dialogue and the mannerisms the actors gave to make these characters feel like they were alive during that time.
I appreciate those aspects of the film so much because as a big-budget blockbuster film there wasn't a need to modernize it even though in a different time period. They kept with such a style and to go along with that it gave Joe Johnston the opportunity to direct it in a way that felt like a fantasy adventure from the 1980s. Tonally it felt like a nod to Spielberg's original Indiana Jones movies and to have a film in this day and age to have that same tone and feel is so rewarding as a movie lover. This isn't some big bloated Transformers or Fast and Furious craziness, this is a summer movie that takes its time with its story, but also has its fair share of focused and well-directed action scenes.
The action in this movie was all sorts of fun with really well-choreographed stunts and pretty seamless CGI and set pieces to go along with that. Like Indiana Jones action scenes they're paced so well and still have that incredible amount of suspense and exhilirating energy. And they're not throwaway action scenes that look flashy to just keep making the movie entertaining, but it's great that the action has a purpose for the story and that these are obstacles Steve faces and is able grows from.
I know one of the complaints I've heard was that the montage with Steve, Bucky, and the rest of their band of fighters overshadowed the longer action scenes those could've been. I disagree mainly because they would've slowed the movie down and they served a purpose to showcase the progress of Steve and his team. The gist of those smaller scenes in the montage was only important to build up the next big action scene where we lose Bucky. Such battles resolve nicely for those characters, too, so there wouldn't have been a whole lot of character growth there if each little scene were longer. I mean would it be awesome to watch all that full length action with those awesome characters involved? I wouldn't have minded, but for the context of the story, it was for the best to make those scenes tighter to fit into a montage and get our story going.
Speaking of characters, Chris Evans was a spot on casting choice as "Mr. Star Spangled Man With A Plan", Steve Rogers aka Captain America. If the movie didn't make this character as likable, selfless, mighty, and charismatic as he's depicted here, this movie would've failed. Evans does a great job perfectly encapsulating those traits and because of that gives us a very believable underdog, who soon becomes the hero we all know and love. I also really loved the supporting cast with Sebastian Stan as James Barnes/Bucky. I really liked the friendship bond they depicted here and the chemistry felt so natural that you understood that the two had a history together. No idiotic exposition to set things up, just natural conversations amongst two friends.
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter was also very good in the movie playing a pretty freakin' awesome character that not only served as a great love interest for Steve but also goes against the grain of female characters in this kind of movie. They don't have her in there for the sake of making her eye-candy and to be the only main female character who blatantly swoons over Steve. I liked that the movie hints at her progressively falling more and more in love with him and that it's nothing too over-exaggerated and cheesy. She fits the role well, she's a fighter, and there's a great bond bubbling between her and Steve and it's great to see how it soon escalates, especially towards the end. And isn't also great to see Tommy Lee Jones playing the stern Colonel with probably my favorite lines/one-liners in the entire movie?
Also, I really liked Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Eskine and how he was set up to be Steve's important Obi-Wan Kenobi type figure, the mentor, so it did hit when he was killed off early on. I would've loved to have seen him utilized more, but that really earned a great solid emotional pull from this movie. Hugo Weaving as Schmidt/Red Skull was a very enjoyable and entertaining villain as was Toby Jones playing his assistant Dr. Armin Zola. Both played off of each other well in the campier antagonistic roles and what I also did like about Weaving's performance was that he brought that boldness and menace to the role that made him come off as a pretty believable. Maybe he does fall into that category of being another power-hungry villain, but I can't deny he was a very fun villain.
Another aspect that I felt could've been handled a little better was the band of soldiers Steve freed along with Bucky, the small ensemble itself I really liked and had pretty amazing personality and charm. Part of me feels they were underutilized and maybe could've had more of a part to play in the latter half of the movie. I'm not saying there needed to be so much focus where we learned about each and every single backstory for each character, but a little more of the team dynamic in the more pivotal scenes while balancing everything with Steve's story. Maybe it didn't fit the context of the story, but in the end more of the team dynamic and more to Red Skull are merely serviceable gray areas that could've been done better. Other than that Joe Johnston knocked it out of the park!
"Captain America: The First Avenger is a very exciting and really well-told origin story in the Marvel franchise that has an amazingly fun and adventurous spirit that'll make viewers fall in love with the Star Spangled Man and eager to see more of his future endeavors."
Verdict: A
It really was a great movie that leads into the first Avengers movie and this was another case where even though this and the first Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor were building up to The Avengers none of them felt like set-up movies. They were able to be their own character pieces and as someone who loves the art of film and filmmaking, I feel the Marvel folks ever since Phase 1 did some great quality work with those 4 films. Iron Man 2...not so much, but you know how I feel there.
Look out for my review of The Avengers this week and I'll definitely try to get a head start on Phase 2 with Iron Man 3 and Thor The Dark World. I'm very behind with my Marvel reviews, but I will do them in time for Infinity War.
If you're interested in my previous Marvel reviews, be sure to click here. I have a whole page of the ones I covered new and old. Check it out.
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