There has not been another movie that I have been waiting for more than this one. After months of waiting, biting my nails, and watching every teaser and trailer, I finally got to see Captain America: The First Avenger.
There was no way that I was going to miss this one, there’s no way. I had been following Captain America (the movie) so closely that the last time I was this anxious for a movie was Avatar; I felt it had that much heat.
When IronMan was first released and I had heard that Nick Fury made an appearance after the credits, I knew The Avengers happening was now inevitable. I had followed comics for years and I was rather familiar with them. With every recent Marvel superhero movie coming out (with exception to Spider Man and X-Men), I knew there were going to be hints about the next upcoming character and their appearance/movie. The anticipation kept building up as each movie released. From the split second frame of Captain America’s shield buried in the snow in The Incredible Hulk to Tony Starks using it as a way to keep his machine propped up, there seemed to be more Captain America references than any other Avengers character. The finally at the end of Thor, when Nick Fury shows Dr. Selvig’s character the box with “the energy”, I didn’t quite get the correlation with Captain America but hey, an easter egg is an easter egg. I literally counted down the days.
We’re finally going. I couldn’t help myself but I ended up reading the last few sentences of a review online. It said that the 3D effects weren’t all that special and that you wouldn’t really miss much if you go with the 2D version. I thought what the hell and paid the extra money. I figured I waited months upon months for this movie, the last thing I’m about to do is start penny pinching the one movie I’ve been salivating for.
I thought the beginning of the movie was rather decent. We were introduced to Steve Rogers, a scrawny no name guy that’s short both in stature and in confidence. There seemed to be a lot of CGI done to make Steve Rogers look as anorexic as he did. Though it was done, I thought it actually looked believable; which brings me to my first pro of the film. I thought the graphics were great. It wasn’t overdone or overused. There were a lot less graphics in Captain America than in ANY of the other Marvel movies.
I thought the storyline was pretty good. I’m really giving the benefit of the doubt to this one because I truly feel that there was way too much to be done in 124 minutes. First you had to introduce Steve Rogers because there wouldn’t be a Captain America without him. Then you of course had to show the transformation from dud to stud. Josh Whedon (the Director) had 60 years of comic book history to deal with. The movie needed its Avengers tie ins and you still needed it to be entertaining to both the general public and super geeks alike. I thought it was a tall order and somewhat unattainable but I was happy with the outcome. One of the things I wish was given more attention to was Bucky’s character. In the comic books, Bucky is Steve Rogers oldest buddy and becomes Captain America’s right hand man. There was a pretty big void there without having him so I would have liked to see more of him. Another thing I thought was a bit lackluster was the comedy in the movie. The only reason I’m not really jumping on this is because I don’t really recall Cap ever being funny or having those Chris Evans-esque one-liners. In just about every Marvel character, both good and bad, there’s a common thread there with them battling their own personal demons. I think it’s those demons that give those characters their own individuality and understanding. In Captain America, he’s so noble and honorable that it becomes a bit cookie cutter. Those would be the only things that I would have liked to see addressed, but like I said, I think there was too much to be said in too little a time. Also, at the same time, that's not necessarily what Captain America is all about. All in all though, I thought their team did really well with the story. The origin of Captain America was just as captivating to me as the Incredible Hulk. The one aspect that I truly loved about this movie was that the main villain was Red Skull. I believe that if Marvel or Josh Whedon chose another villain to go against, that would have upset a ton of fans and the movie wasn't going to be as good as it was. So on that note, good job.
I thought the cast of the film were great. When I first heard Chris Evans was going to be Captain America, I was excited. To me, he just matches being Cap. Yeah, I know, he was The Human Torch in Fantastic Four but I think this is the super hero he was born to play. Hugo Weaving was the Red Skull, and he did a wonderful job portraying one of the most sinister villains in the comic book world. Tommy Lee Jones was also great; he was very convincing as the General. My favorite character in the movie was Dr. Erskine, played by Stanley Tucci. Over the last few years, I’ve become a really big fan of his. To me, he’s one of the most versatile guys out there right now. The only person that I didn’t care too much for was Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. It may be because she’s an unknown for me, but I personally thought they could have gotten someone a bit hotter (I know, it’s tacky. But hey).
As I’m trying to type this, it’s become clear that this isn’t much of a movie review. I think there was so much going on that it was rather hard to digest in 2 hours. I think maybe seeing it again may help. However, from what I did see, I definitely think this movie should be seen and it definitely has my seal of approval.
And as usual, make sure you stay ‘til the end to see the “Easter egg”.
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