Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Plot Summary: The United States Government is working on a super-soldier program to help win World War II. While there are plenty of bigger and stronger men, Dr. Abraham Erskine selects a smaller candidate Steve Rogers for the job because of his courage. The experiment is a success and now Rogers has the physique, endurance, and strength of a super soldier. However, Steve is looked at as a gimmick for the war effort and, instead of fighting in combat, is used for motivational speaking and stunt shows as Captain America. The war effort will need his help in more ways though, with a secret organization called Hydra planning on taking over the world with machines powered by a mysterious blue cube called the Tesseract.
Our final stop before The Avengers is Captain America: The First Avenger. I don't know about most people, but when Marvel was doing their early projects like Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four, all I kept saying to myself was "one day...we will have a movie about Captain America." That day took many years to accomplish, but all it did was take the revealing of the iconic shield in the Iron Man movies to get me excited. Then they announced that the former Human Torch would be playing Captain America and I was absolutely skeptical. Was the film the success Marvel needed heading into The Avengers? Let's find out...
Chris Evans stars as Steve Rogers. Admittedly, I was very skeptical of Evans playing Captain America, since I already knew him as the Human Torch. The two characters are very different in terms of personality. Torch was more humorous and impulsive (like Tony Stark), whereas Cap needs to be more courageous and stoic. Evans did a great job and left me pleasantly surprised. Nowadays, I can't see Chris Evans without seeing Captain America, he's THAT good at it. The thing about Captain America that is so compelling with viewers should be because he's relatable. He starts out not being the biggest or strongest, but has a caring heart and courageous attitude. He wants to help people. It's very admirable, and as a viewer, we want him to succeed. Not because he wants to be a superhero, but because he just wants to be a hero.The main antagonist for the film is Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving. Weaving is no stranger to the geek community thanks to many iconic roles, so his presence here is more than welcomed. Without giving too much away, the fate of Red Skull at the end is up in the air. Some think we will never see him again, and others wonder where he will pop up next in the MCU. I really liked Weaving's portrayal, so I hope we get to see him in at least one more film. But if he isn't showing up again, then I'm happy what we had with him in this film. So much of his appearance (his REAL appearance) is kept a secret and not revealed until much later. When we finally see him, it had to be an amazing sight for comic book fans. It's easy to have an actor play a character well, but to actually look like something off the pages of a comic book. My hat's off to the effects department for making Red Skull a reality.
Like a lot of the films in the MCU, this one has a great supporting cast of characters, starting with Col. Phillips, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Jones is one of those well-respected actors that may not blend into his surroundings the best, but you still love seeing him involved in a project like this and he gets many chances to deliver funny one-liners. Hayley Atwell plays Agent Carter, a character so popular she has her own spin-off show. She's definitely a more rounded character, rather than just being a love interest. Steve's best friend Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes is a loyal and compassionate friend and you can instantly see the friendship Steve and Bucky have with each other. Dominic Cooper plays brilliant inventor Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark. It's fun to see a character related to another Avenger featured in this film, as it really starts to fill in the gaps. But my favorite supporting character is Dr. Abraham Irskine, played by Stanley Tucci. Tucci is quickly becoming one of my favorite modern character actors. He gives his all in his performances and it really shows here. He plays a man who is both hilarious and brilliant, and is the first person to really see Steve's loyalty and courage. He believes that Steve can be a hero, and it's a very heartwarming bond they have before the procedure to turn Steve into Captain America.
But of course, it wouldn't be a MCU movie without a post-credits scene, so *SPOILERS*...
The final scene of Captain America: The First Avenger cuts to Rogers working out in a gym, still probably getting over being in present time, when Nick Fury walks in. He comes with a mission for Rogers to save the world. It then cuts to a teaser trailer for The Avengers. This may be the simplest post-credits scene so far, but it absolutely delivers in anticipation. After 5 movies of setting up this universe, we finally get the payoff we've been waiting for. A chance to see Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America together on the big screen. Once people saw this trailer, they knew that the countdown was on for May 2012...
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This was easily the best movie in the MCU since Iron Man and really set up a proper amount of tone and excitement for The Avengers. Captain America: The First Avenger tells a great origin story and maintains unique historic aesthetics with its World War II setting. As a standalone film, it's worth all comic book fans checking out at least once, and if you're getting ready for Age of Ultron, I strongly recommend giving this one a watch.
Captain America: The First Avenger and movie images are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment