Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

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CAUTION: May result in spontaneous recitals of "The Star Spangled Banner"

Director Joe Johnston

Stars Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell

Things You Might Like

• A supremely fun superhero-war movie hybrid
• Winning performance from Chris Evans
• Extremely dastardly Hugo Weaving
• Dum Dum Dugan’s bowler cap and mustache
• Hail HYDRA! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place!

Things You Might Not Like

• Trying to figure out why a British agent is working with a secret division of the US Army
• Overlong USO fundraising scenes

Conclusion
A fantastic prelude to the upcoming Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger delivers an excellent, fun summer blockbuster experience.
5 out of 5 ‘V’s Pronounced As ‘W’s
Aaron Simon

***

I think that, by now, we know each other—you and I. But, if, for whatever reason, you don’t know where I’d stand in terms of fun, let me say this: I am a huge proponent of fun. In fact, I’m such a huge proponent of fun that I started a religion based on it: The Church of Fun. What are the tenets of The Church of Fun? Well, have fun, but don’t stop anyone else from having fun.

It’s a pretty simple ideology, I think.

So I come here today to talk to you about a movie which  shall sit high in the esteem of The Church of Fun: Captain America: The First Avenger.

Unlike the 1979 version—which, you see, was so godawful that to speak of it for longer than five minutes leads to cerebral hemorrhaging [citation needed]—Joe Johnston’s Marvel Studios-backed movie tosses viewers into a World War II-flavored, James Bond-esque war movie.

‘But Aaron,’ you may be saying, ‘how can it possibly compare to the 1979 version?’

To which I respond: ‘Are you high? Look at it.’

Jeez. It looks like the acid nightmare of someone who has a vague idea of what Captain America is, but has just left a motorcycle stunt show.

Luckily for the world, Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger follows the comics and delivers a non-aneurysm-inducing experience.

For the uninitiated, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a wimpy shrimp with a heart of gold. At the start of World War II, he really wants to go to Europe and fight him some Nazis because—as we learn towards the end of the first act—he hates bullies. And, you know, Nazis were pretty big bullies.

After being selected for a special training program headed by Col. Chester Philips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Rodgers is eventually selected—after proving his good nature and courage—to be injected with the super soldier serum.

And from there the action explodes. We’re tossed into World War II with a beefed-up Rodgers—who begins his career as Cap by leading USO fund-raising shows—heading up against the Nazis first, and then, after an entire division are captured, against the mysterious, SPECTRE-esque HYDRA, led by a mad scientist-type named Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving).

It’s a bit of a tweak on the canonical biography of Marvel’s most patriotic hero. Fans of the comics won’t be disappointed by the origin story, though. Evans plays Rodgers with an overwhelming amount of American apple pie-charm, making the lead-up to the inevitable clash between Red Skull and Captain America beyond enjoyable.

Is it silly at times? Yeah. But come on, this isn’t a Christopher Nolan-directed movie based heavily on Frank Miller’s version of Batman.

Because that wouldn't fly in the Marvel universe--Punisher notwithstanding

This is a guy who’s so blatantly patriotic his name is Captain America. He’s close enough to the G.I.s to be low on the chain-of-command, but still an officer—so you know he’s got class. He’s a boy scout, driven by an almost absurd altruism, but not so overpowered to be an avatar of God on Earth.

Or, you know, an alien.

And, you know, the whole movie is based around a superhero who gets his powers from steroids, fights a dude with no skin on his head, and is resuscitated after being frozen for sixty years. You might say it’s not entirely realistic.

Which is why I get seriously concerned for the mental well-being of film reviewers when I see stuff like this:

‘Unhappy the land that has no heroes,’ says someone in Brecht’s Life of Galileo, to which Galileo replies: ‘No. Unhappy the land that needs heroes!’ Make that superheroes and I’d say: ‘Hear, hear.’

It’s missing the point of these movies. They’re summer blockbusters—not quite turn-your-brain off caliber, more forget-you-have-an-advanced-degree-in-literature.

It’s a two-hour block wherein you sit in a big room with a lot of other people and cheer your head off when a superhero makes a stupid pun. And, wouldn’t you know it, Captain America: The First Avenger was one of the finest examples of a summer blockbuster/superhero movie I’ve seen—right up there with Iron Man and X-Men: First Class.

So whaddya waiting for? You might be able to still catch it in theaters!

See you later, true believers!

Theater, Pi—Y’know, not even going to waste the time. Go see this movie in theaters!

Buy Captain America: The First Avenger from Amazon