Captain America: The First Avenger: Review By CBF

Culminating in an exciting four year calvacade of Marvel Studios films leading up to the biggest of them all, "Captain America: The First Avenger" is the final nail in the coffin and last piece of the puzzle before next summer's highly anticipated ensemble superhero smash, "The Avengers." And what a treasure Cap is.

Story (Spoilers)

When a dangerous Hitler associate, Johann Schmidt, locates the Tesseract - the sacred Cosmic Cube of Odin's Treasure Room, all bets are off as he discovers how to weaponize its' unearthly power, bringing a futuristic technological advantage to his Nazi division, HYDRA, during the Second World War. Meanwhile, a brilliant German scientist has invented the formula for a Super Soldier Serum that will change the face of the war and all future conflicts. Previously, Johann, seeking a way to brand himself a superior being in order to harness the awesome power of the Gods once he finds the Cosmic Cube, learns of this serum through Hitler and his plans to inject his armies, and injects himself with it, disregarding the fact that the formula has not yet been perfected, and as such, experiences some negative consequences. Fleeing to America to escape Hitler's clutches and tyrannical reign, the scientist, Dr. Erzing, collaborates with the US military to find the perfect candidate for the serum, which will be the first-ever experimental unveiling of the scientific procedure.

Back home in 1940's middle America, during the midst of the war, a short and skinny Steve Rogers is determined to become a soldier on the front lines. His best friend, Bucky, is already enlisted and waiting on orders to be shipped out. However, Rogers is a 90-pound asthmatic which pretty much all but guarantees he will never step foot on the battlefield. He has heart and courage despite this, and Dr. Erzing, cooperating with a Col. Philips (played by Tommy Lee Jones of "Batman Forever" and "Men in Black" fame), sees this and waives him into the army and chooses him for the super soldier experiment.

Dubbed "Operation: Rebirth" (not revealed in the film), Rogers is led into the secret government installation where the experiment is to take place. Led by Dr. Erzing and the genius of Howard Stark, the procedure involves a pre-injection of painkillers to ease the body's reaction to the serum, injecting the serum into the body, and then using Vita-rays to stimulate growth from the serum. The procedure works, though events develop that hinder the procedure useless to other soldiers, and Rogers walks away the first and only man to successfully suvive the operation with no negative side effects.

Now taller and completely ripped, Col. Philips decides against using him since he cannot lead an entire army of super soldiers, and Rogers is reduced to a propaganda machine, used to spread awareness and optimism towards the American people during the war. Dressed in a cloth costume inspired by the USA national flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, he is presented in mainstream media as Captain America, being utilized in comic books, commercials and films, and also performs at US Opens in cities all around the country to gain support for the troops.

As the conflict pushes forward, Bucky's miltary division, the 701st infantry, is ambushed and captured behind enemy lines of one of HYDRA's closest bases. Rogers, performing his Captain America routine overseas for the remaining troops from this unit, is informed of this, and decides to do something about it in order to save his best friend Bucky. With help from his platonic love interest, Peggy Carter, who helps train the soldiers, and her mutual friend Howard Stark, he is able to parachute into enemy territory and rescue the POWs. This gives him a Medal of Valor and the respect needed to be properly used as the super soldier he was meant to be. Rogers brings back a small piece of one of the weapons made from the Cosmic Cube, and Stark examines it, discovering its' awesome source of energy. Stark also redesigns his uniform, hearing that he has become attached to the Captain America character, and lets him choose a new shield - the only one in the world made from Vibranium, the rarest metal on Earth.

Now the real deal, Cap, as he is affectionately referred to by his A-list team of fellow soldiers, including Bucky and "Dum Dum" Dugan, is given the confidential assignment to stop HYDRA at all costs, shutting down their bases of operations one by one. Schmidt, now revealed as the Red Skull of HYDRA, will stop at nothing to use the weapons harnessed by the mystical power of the Gods to eliminate all of his enemies, committing treason against the Nazi regime in doing so. Cap must stop the Red Skull from destroying New York City, the first of many high-profile targets, before the aircraft "Valkyrie" reaches its destinations.

I enjoyed the story immensely. The propaganda scenes were somewhat cheesy, but that was the overall idea. The first Stark Expo world fair is shown and Howard hosts it in true Stark fashion. After French kissing one of the lovely dancer ladies, he reveals a new invention that sets up the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier: hovercraft technology that supports flying vehicles. I loved the setup that the Cosmic Cube is on Earth but is one of the Treasures of Odin, and Stark discovering its' source of energy and potential ability to power things indefinitely, which ties this WWII-era flashback film to the origins of the Arc Reactor and repulsor technology in "Iron Man," the mysterious new element which powers the Mark VI armor in "Iron Man 2," and also Loki's actions in "Thor" and "The Avengers." The Super Soldier Serum also makes an appearance in "The Incredible Hulk," to beef up Emil Blonsky so he can go toe-to-toe with The Hulk, with General Ross briefly hinting towards its' origin that is now finally revealed in this film. The audience can now grasp the last piece of the puzzle and how it connects to all the other films. It's a nice last reveal in the final film before "The Avengers."

Acting

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers: Evans comes a long way from his hilarious antics in the parody comedy "Not Another Teen Movie," and even his comedic touch to the Human Torch himself, Johnny Storm, in that other Marvel movie franchise he was in, "Fantastic Four." Here, he does not portray comedy at all, and I must say, without the witty one-liners and comedic timing, he seems more grown as an actor. He's actually trying to convey a sense of range - and he succeeds with ease. I think Evans is developing into a better actor with a more serious role like this. He did fairly well, despite my initial misgivings about him personifying the iconic Steve Rogers. And while I wasn't blown away by his performance after first doubting him like say a - oh, I don't know - Heath Ledger - his improving acting talent is nevertheless impressive.

Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull: Hugo Weaving gets all the best roles. We all agreed? 'Nuff said. Let's move on.

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter: Easy on the eyes and strict when it comes to emotions, this little lady means business. I enjoyed her depiction of Peg but that may be because I don't know too much about her. Much for the same reasons I neglected a Comic Comparison on this review, I suppose. However, there could have been a lot of talentless actresses (or rather, actresses who don't take the role serious enough because they scoff it off as just a campy comic book flick) who could have filled the position as in many Hollywood films these days, where they simply pick a name off a list, but I give Atwell the benefit of the doubt because she gave a believable performance. To the point I wasn't at all distracted by any bad acting to take me out of the movie. And that's all I can really ask of actors in general for any movie. Kudos to Atwell.

Sebastian Stan as "Bucky" Barnes: Here's maybe where I had the most problem. But it wasn't with acting, I actually thought Stan did a great job as the initial alpha male archetype and then, later, the lackey, as a reversal of roles took place. I guess I just didn't like his character arc, since I know that in the Marvel continuity, Bucky actually takes up the mantle of Cap after what happens to Steve Rogers at the end of what is called, the Civil War. Okay there's my one nugget of Cap comic book info. Alright, maybe I know a little more than I'm leading on, but I'm getting off track here. Bucky was played well, and I'm just going to leave it at that to avoid a major spoiler.

Neal McDonough as "Dum Dum" Dugan: I have enjoyed McDonough since his cancelled TV series, "Medical Investigation," and have since seen him in random movies peppered here and there, such as Lindsay Lohan's flopper, "I Know Who Killed Me," and his voice acting of the lead role in the recent DC Universe Showcase animated short, "Green Arrow" (which was packaged with the Two-Disc DVD of "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse"). He is a great actor, in my own humble opinion, and even though Dugan doesn't get much screen time, he gives the character some abstract personality to reflect off the others in the movie.

Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark: Cooper truly gave Tony's father justice, and definitely resembles a fellow family member of Robert Downey, Jr. He is a man of many talents - a billionaire pretty boy, a brilliant engineer and inventor, and the nation's richest entrepeneur, not to mention he is backed by the U.S. government through patents (hinting at his company's future weapons contract in the later storyline of "Iron Man"). Dominic played him better than anyone could have, a la John Slattery from "Iron Man 2," and gave an aire to his persona that embodies the Stark family name. Kudos to Dominic Cooper - if any sequels to Cap or flashbacks to Howard in future Marvel films are to be made, I would like to see Cooper back in the role.

Directing

Joe Johnston, director of "Jurassic Park III," does an amazing job bringing the adventure of Captain America to life. Directing the screenplay by Markus & McFeely (writers of the "Narnia" films), and with production by Marvel's own Kevin Feige (please don't ask why I mentioned the guy; his disrespect and termination of former hulkster Edward Norton for "The Avengers" film deserves his name erased from the books forever), Johnston gives the film a good-natured quality and makes it lighthearted in tone; that is to say, not only is it an awesome superhero adventure, it's also a fun family film.

Visuals

I'll be honest - the visuals could have been better. For the most part they did a good job, however, I am so critical on special effects that if one effect catches my eye on how fake it looks, it suspends my belief of the film. In this case, there were several scenes that did that. Watch the action shot of the plane in the sky when Cap sneaks behind enemy lines, and shots of Cap jumping and smacking enemies with his shield after he jumps off the motorcycle. There's more, those are just examples. The video-game esque effects are not bad, but are noticeable and partially cheesy. But as I said, for the most part, the effects are good, there's just more than a handful of them that they could have cleaned up or made to have looked a lot more realistic.

Overall

In summary, the movie was a great adventure for all ages. While it is a period WWII piece, there is not much on-screen violence and it is stylized to mostly suit the comic book main and supporting characters. There are some allusions to the previous years' worth of Marvel Studios films that connect the dots leading up to The Avengers, and comic fans or not, that should please everyone. There is a post-credits "secret scene" to stay tuned for, as you most likely know by now if you have been aware of them in all the Marvel Studios films since 2008. You definitely want to stay for this one, even if it is a tad short. Any way you slice and dice it, Cap was a pretty good movie all around.