Saturday, July 23, 2011

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Written by: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely


Plot:
After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.


Review:
Opening the same weekend as Comic Con, Captain America is the fourth and last superhero movie to come out this summer. The trailer had everybody buzzing and it looked like a film to impress. Everybody was hoping that it wasn't going to turn out like The Green Lantern. Well, thankfully it didn't. Sorry for the scare. This movie was a far from perfect film but it was extremely entertaining and was on par with Thor.


Chris Evans was perfect for the role of Captain America. He played off the innocent, scrawny guy really well in the first portion of the film. I was not sure how Chris Evan's head being superimposed on top of this tiny body was going to go but it was not as bad as I expected. It also really helped with the continuity through his transformation and gave a chance for Chris Evans to show some real acting chops.


Hugo Weaving gave a great show as well. He played the devious Red Skull and looked like he had a blast in this film. The one thing I noticed was that he never seemed like a real threat. Yes, you will see that he processes a powerful weapon but all of his plans seemed to be foiled a little too easily. Without ruining anything, I believe we will see the Red Skull in a future movie, possibly The Avengers, and I am looking forward to this. 


The film did get a little too cheesy at times. I don't like it when my super hero movies do this but luckily they casted Tommy Lee Jones. He was the main source of comic relief in this film. If there was ever a cheesy moment and he is around, don't be surprised if he throws in a line that ruins the moment.


My biggest complaint about this movie is the editing. I am not sure if it was the actual editor himself or if it was the director that didn't give the editor enough shots, but it was extremely sloppy. The first cut of the movie broke the cardinal 180 degree rule. The montages seemed sloppily put together and sometimes had no continuity. This probably will not bother the majority of people but it was something I could not block out. The other thing that bothered me was the story structure towards the end of the film. It felt like the writer hit a roadblock. So he closed his eyes spun around and when he stopped he said lets go this way. It still made sense at the end of it all but there was no journey to get there. 


This is a worthwhile movie to go see. It comes on par with Thor and follows the same funny and entertaining theme that the Marvel Universe is portraying very well. Captain America gets you even more pumped for The Avengers movie coming out next year and if you want to learn more about it stay past the credits.


Rating: 7.5/10














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