Captain America Review: Decent Entertainment, But Nothing New

Captain America is the newest in the long string of comic book movies from Marvel Studios. This time, director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, October Sky, Jumanji) takes the reins on a script written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

From the very beginning, I felt like I had seen this movie before. It’s a little bit Spider-Man, a little bit Iron Man, but without much of the character. Chris Evans is the lead as Steve Rodgers, a 90 pound weakling who is recruited to join the Army solely as an experiment to test a powerful serum that transforms him into Captain America, the spokesperson of the American presence in World War II.

Even though it feels familiar, the first act of the movie is the strongest as it is the semi-interesting origin story of our hero and shows the audience his strong will and courage. But when we start moving along plot-wise it becomes very predictable and almost plays out as another commercial for The Avengers.

The action sequences are good, but not great, and do not seem like anything you haven’t seen before. There’s also an out of place love story that does not feel earned. We have some good performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaver as Red Skull, but I think the lead performance from Chris Evans leaves a little to be desired. Perhaps it’s the source material or the writing, but I’ve yet to see Chris Evans in a lead role and thought, “that was great acting!”

The film was converted to 3-D, and I do not recommend seeing this version. There may be one scene that benefits, but the rest is just a money grab to get the 3D surcharge.

Captain America would have been perfect if it was released in 2001, the time the first Spider-Man film came out. It would have been the patriotic hero that all Americans would love to stand behind. Released now it feels like another of many superhero movies Marvel needs to release in order to sell The Avengers.

I feel generally the same about every facet of this movie. Mediocre. It’s decent entertainment, but don’t expect anything new.

Grade: C

Grade: C
Review By: Mike Faria

Responses

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  1. Emma, you are one of the few to break ranks on this movie. The reviews have been pretty strong across the board. I’ll probably see it because it’s just so hot outside and this seems like a good enough diversion. Here’s another review I really like only because it’s so bizarre – from a Finnish film reviewer trying to write in English – funny stuff I have to pass it along.

    http://mankabros.com/blogs/btp/2011/07/22/captain-america-the-first-avenger-review/

  2. I saw Captain america this last Sunday and I really liked it. Of all the Marvel movies it may have had the most complete story from beginning to end. I enjoyed the retro style the film had that reminded me of The Rocketeer (which apparently had the same director). The Howard Stark character was great and Hugo Weaving did great as Red Skull (and possibly had the coolest car ever!). I do think it could have been a bit shorter but overall not too bad.