CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Of all the superhero movies coming out this summer, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is the one I‘ve been worried about. I was worried that it would be rejected by audiences who would find the idea of a patriotic hero to be hackneyed and silly. I was terrified that audiences would ignore and reject the RAIDERS-esque vibe that Joe Johnston was aiming for and shovel the film in with other similarly-themed retro-hero pics such as SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW and THE ROCKETEER (which Johnston also helmed). Most of all, I was worried that this version of Cap would suck as badly, if not worse, than the previous film incarnations fans have had to endure over the years.

I was also worried about Chris Evans as Cap. Don’t get me wrong, I think Evans a fantastic actor and his work in the comic film genre (Six adaptations total including roles in SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, THE LOSERS and PUSH) is quite admirable. Thing is, I associate him with Johnny Storm in the FANTASTIC FOUR. I’m pretty sure that most people do. And Johnny (aka The Human Torch) is to Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) as night as to day. That is to say that they are completely different and his excellent work as Torch (easily the best part of both FANTASTIC flicks) had me terrified about what he would bring to Cap. Would the most straight-laced, pure and patriotic of all the Marvel heroes be given a smart-ass makeover?

Turns out those worries were totally unfounded. Movie made a mint at the box office over the weekend and rightfully so because CAPTAIN AMERICA rocks. I’d almost declare it the best superhero movie of the summer, but I can‘t. I say “almost” because X-MEN: FIRST CLASS still has it beat, but Cap does come awful close to usurping it. I actually might end up liking this flick more than FIRST CLASS in the long run but I’ve only seen it once and I can’t really make that level of a judgment call without having a few more screenings under my belt. I’d definitely say that the two are pretty much tied for now.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (I’ll be ditching the unnecessary FIRST AVENGER moniker for the remainder of this review) is without a doubt the most complete film in the current Marvel Studios catalog. Johnston doesn’t approach the material as a comic book or as a some pseudo-prequel to next summer’s THE AVENGERS but as a real film. I know that’s a strange thing to say but comic movies tend to usually suffer from too much focus on the origin of the hero and not enough on an actual story or too much story and not enough origin or too many villains and not enough hero or even sometimes not enough of any of that and all your left with is a bunch of flashy visuals. You know this, I know this, movies like GREEN LANTERN and GHOST RIDER have suffered because of this. Cap, on the other hand, manages to find that magic sweet spot that perfectly balances origin, villain and plot.

Click on the pic to read my full review…