Captain America review

Captain America: The First Avenger Review

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Screenplay by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Genre: Action/Adventure

Running Time: 124 minutes

Released: July 22nd

8.2/10 Dropps

Captain America is the third superhero movie to come out this summer from Marvel Studios, and the fourth superhero flick this summer. Including summer blockbuster hits like Harry Potter and Transformers also coming before Captain America, it would seem easy for an audience to get worn out.  However, Captain America is a well-structured, well-shot, all around well-made film. It is closer to Iron Man and the original Spiderman films than anything Marvel has come out with recently, and that is a very good sign.

Captain America takes place during World War II, where a scrawny Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) is once again rejected by the U.S. Army. He later catches the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who helps him become the hero that everyone knows. Elsewhere, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) leader of the private terrorist group HYDRA plans on taking out pivotal locations that would change the course of the war.

The visuals of the film are of course mainly CGI, however it is not overdone like other summer films that have come out recently. They complement the action scenes very well as well as scale down a huge Chris Evans to make him look like the size of the skinny pre- super-serum Steve Rodgers.  The origin story gives you a more or else complete view of how Captain America became who he is, while also driving the audience through the smoke of World War II.

The film features a great ensemble cast that lends this film more acting chops than its contemporaries. Chris Evans plays a solid Captain America, yet it is his scenes as Steve Rodgers that should get praise for performance. Hugo Weaving is Johann Schmidt/ Red Skull the arch-nemesis, prototypical villain bent on world domination. The only disappointing thing about Weaving’s performance was that there wasn’t enough of him. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones play supporting members of Captain America’s team, as the gifted scientist and tough-as-nails drill sergeant respectively. They both bring plenty of humor to their characters and it pretty easily livens up the film. Lastly, Hayley Atwell plays Peggy Carter the romantic love interest who steals the show in her scenes.

Their were some occasional points in the movie where I wish Marvel would have gone deeper. There were goofy laser cannons that were meant to scare the audience because they could vaporize anything but it seemed like a cop-out to not show guns. HYDRA’s henchmen also seemed overly goofy with their double salute instead of a Hitler salute, but these oversights don’t take away from the film. It is an exciting film that gets the viewing public psyched for next summer’s Avenger movie.

-Mat Karako