Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a soldier in World War II who is willing to undergo an experimental procedure that allows Rogers to become a super-soldier of sorts. He takes the experiment and becomes a new breed of super hero known as Captain America. Meanwhile on the German side, a Nazi officer, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), locates the fabled Tesseract (as seen in Avengers Assemble). Upon finding it, Schmidt undergoes a similar experiment that Rogers went with but is turned into super villain Red Skull. Captain America know has to stop Red Skull from using the Tesseract to destroy America as well as the woman he loves, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
The four Marvel films (Iron Man 2 doesn't count) all have an aspect that makes up Avengers Assemble. Iron Man has humour, The Incredible Hulk has character relationships, Thor has character development and that leaves Captain America: The First Avenger which is where the action orientation originates from. Sure, Iron Man 2 arguably had more action, I felt Captain America focused on it more. Being set during the Second World War may have something to do this that. This may be a reason that it isn't as good as the other films mainly because the humour seems forced and the character interaction just isn't as interesting maybe due to the lack of development. Sure there are some great characters such as Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Red Skull but it isn't enough to compete with a film like Iron Man 2.
Actually, speaking of Avengers Assemble, what is with the subtitle of the film: The First Avenger? Sure, this film takes place before the rest of the others but he is the last one introduced and, if the comics are any indication, he joins The Avengers after Iron Man, Hulk and Thor. It is quite ambiguous in the film whether Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) finds Captain America after he's already got hold of everyone else so I highly doubt he is the first Avenger...
Captain America is definitely the weakest of the Marvel Cinematic Films but in it's defence, the other ones are hard to top. The characters, while not as great as other films, are still enjoyable and likeable and the action is great. There are excellent twists and turns throughout the duration of the film and it builds up to a great climax. No. Avengers Assemble is not my next review, IT WAS MY FIRST! Go find it for the epic crossover extravaganza!
Verdict:
7/10
The weakest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but that's not to say it's bad. Great action, characters are a highlight and it leads right into Avengers Assemble.
I think the reasoning behind calling the movie The First Avenger, was because he was the first Avenger Super hero, because the movie was set 60+ years ago from the other Marvel movies. I was disappointed in Captain America when I saw it at the theaters because of Iron Man 2 and Thor and the action they had, I think I went into with my expectations set to high. The one thing they did get right with this movie was the time in the movie, it doesn’t seem to take place in two days like Iron Man 2 did, or have too many pace changes like Thor did. We had a marvel weekend last weekend so of course I had to revisit Captain America, even after the dismal theater viewing, luckily most all the movies can be found on various pages on Dish Online, Captain actually is streaming on the Epix page, and I liked it a little better this time. Maybe it was because I had no expectations in it this time, but it isn’t a bad movie at all, just not a great movie. Unfortunately some coworkers at Dish disagree with me, I think its because she has a thing for Chris Evans.
ReplyDeleteI can see where they're coming from by calling it the first avenger, it was just a bit strange and it's in the wrong context. Yes, I also was disappointed until I saw it again. It shouldn't have been released next to Thor and Iron Man 2 otherwise I probably would have liked it more.
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