Captain America: The First Avenger - Review

Captain America: The First Avenger is your very generic, standard superhero film. It stars the wide-eyed, naive hero with good ethics and values, facing against a Nazi organization bent on world domination with your typical origin story thrown in. So, this movie sucks doesn't it? Well, the standard isn't so bad sometimes. Sometimes standard is all we need. While this is definitely not one of my favourite films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it still is an entertaining movie with some elements that make it stand out from your other generic superhero movies. So I'll start with the good. By far the best thing about this movie is the production design and the attention to detail from the filmmakers to make this film feel like a 1940's adventure. This director also directed the Rocketeer so this man knows what he's doing when it comes to this time period. What makes it unique is that it doesn't feel like your average Hollywood version of the 1940's, every scene looks like it came off a World War II American propaganda poster. Chris Evans also plays Steve Rogers like a hero from the 1940's. Not too complex, just your standard American role model. A man that always does something for the good of others before ever thinking of himself. Stanley Tucci also plays a great scientist that you may find in an Indiana Jones movie or any adventure from the 1940's. Can you just imagine him saying, "Dr. Jones" in that German accent? I can. The last thing that really impressed me was the effects to make Chris Evans look like a much skinnier and shorter man. While many of the effects in this movie look rather cheesy, the effects on Steve Rogers face were extremely impressive. Luckily, all of these good elements make the film worth at least one watch, but it does have its flaws. Captain America fights the Red Skull and his army of Hydra, too bad this organization Captain America is fighting against doesn't really feel that threatening or intimidating. Even the Red Skull himself, while having a menacing tone, did not have the real swagger of a villain that you felt could really defeat Captain America. He's just your standard bad guy. However, Marvel movies have gotten by in the past with having villains that aren't quite the most interesting characters, but by far the biggest problem or missed opportunity was in its action. There are some cool set-pieces for great action sequences, but most of the coolest ones are condensed into a two minute montage. Even the action sequences that don't get the montage treatment aren't particularly exciting. The chase through Brooklynn after Steve Rogers became a super soldier because it was the first time we get to see him use his new abilities and how he is adjusting to them. Other than that, none of the action sequences seemed to have any real weight to them. Meaning, I never had a doubt in my mind that Captain America was going to walk away from the fight without a single scratch on him. With little to no stakes, it's really hard to get invested. On paper, Hydra's plan is truly menacing, but since you don't really get a chance to hate these guys, investing in Captain America stopping them is much more difficult. What this film needed was a villain you could really hate, and that one stands out action sequence. It needed a Spider-Man 2 train battle. I can barely remember what happened on the train battle in this film. However, even with these flaws, Captain America: The First Avenger is an enjoyable movie. It has a unique production design in terms of most other superhero films and Captain America is likable as the basic hero. Not a great film, but a solid one.