2011 | Dir. Joe Johnston | 124 Minutes
"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies, no matter where they're from."
During the height of the Second World War, Brooklyn-born Steve Rogers, a man with a heroic heart but severe physical limitations, is chosen by scientist Dr. Erskine of the Strategic Scientific Reserve to participate in a secret Super Soldier Program. Moments after Rogers' successful transformation, Dr. Erskine and his chemical formula are lost in an enemy attack. Adopting the moniker Captain America, Rogers combats the forces of Hydra, a rogue Nazi science division. Headed by the ruthless commander known as the Red Skull, Hydra attempts to annihilate their enemies utilizing an ancient mythological weapon.
Director Joe Johnston accomplishes no small feat in bringing Captain America to the silver screen, doing justice to the property's war-era roots and delivering a fine superhero film. Taking viewers from 1940's Brooklyn to the battlefields of war-torn Europe, the film looks and feels like a pulp novel come to life. Much groundwork is laid in this film to establish the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward but it does an amazing job introducing their most heroic champion. The visual effects augment the film in unexpected ways. During its first third, lead actor Chris Evans is digitally altered, drastically reducing his height and build to convincingly transforming him into Steve Rogers before the experiment. Unfortunately, the digital European battlefields aren't nearly as seamless. While the film is cast incredibly well, with strong performances across the board, the action scenes are at best competently standard, and at worst less than captivating.
Chris Evans is great as Steve Rogers, delivering a strong performance as a good man who has known weakness all his life given the chance to fight bullies of the grandest scale after a miraculous transformation. Hayley Atwell shines as Peggy Carter, a fierce soldier in her own right who falls in love with Rogers. Their touching star-crossed romance is aptly developed. Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers' childhood friend and surrogate brother, convincingly chummy and macho. Genre character actor Hugo Weaving does what he does best under countless layers of make-up in an over-the-top portrayal as the Red Skull, while Toby Jones matches his campy energy as the groveling scientist Arnim Zola.
Stanley Tucci is memorable in his limited role as the affable Dr. Erskine, continuing the Marvel Studios trend of casting the best actors to be featured in heroic origin stories. Dominic Cooper is a wonderful as the roguish genius inventor Howard Stark, the perfect analog to his son Tony Stark who carries on his legacy as Iron Man. Tommy Lee Jones delivers some of the film's best lines as the dry no-nonsense Colonel Phillips. Rounding out the cast are Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi, Bruno Ricci, and JJ Feild as Captain America's brave companions the Howling Commandos.
Captain America: The First Avenger is a fine addition the Marvel Cinematic Universe, setting the pieces in motion for future Marvel Studios productions while delivering a great origin story for an inspirational superhero. As with Iron Man and Thor, the filmmakers at Marvel Studios successfully take one of their less popular properties and give it a massive jolt of pop culture relevance.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
A brief teaser for The Avengers opening with Steve Rogers receiving a new mission from Nick Fury.
STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man appears briefly as a confused general.
FRAGMENTS
- The Tesseract, first teased in the post-credits stinger from Thor, makes its official debut as the MacGuffin, primary plot device, of this film
- Character actor David Bradley, most famous for playing Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films and Walder Frey on Game of Thrones, appears in a small part as the old man guarding the Tesseract at the start of the film
- Steve and Bucky visit the World Expo in New York and witness a tech presentation by Howard Stark, a callback to the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2
- Chris Evans played Johnny Storm the Human Torch in 2005's Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007
- The original Marvel Comics Human Torch is prominently displayed in the Expo sequence
- One of the young women with Steve and Bucky at the Expo is played by Jenna Coleman, Clara Oswald on Doctor Who
- Richard Armitage, Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's Hobbit film trilogy, plays the Hydra spy that assassinates Dr. Erkine
- Neal McDonough, playing Howling Commando Dum Dum Dugan in this film, was the voice of Bruce Banner on the 1996 Incredible Hulk animated series and notably played First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton on Band of Brothers
- Captain America's classic costume from the comics is utilized as the outfit Rogers wears to sell war bonds, leading the way to a more practical military uniform that features elements of the classic design
- Natalie Dormer, Margaery Tyrell on Game of Thrones, plays a soldier who steals a kiss from Steve Rogers
- Marvel One-Shot: Agent Cater (available on the home video release of Iron Man 3) offers a brief look at Peggy Carter's life immediately following the events of this film, a concept eventually developed into a television series
