Captain America: The First Avenger

my rating: 3.5 out of 5
Captain America: The First Avenger is an exciting and adequate Captain America origin story. In the 1940s, young Steve Rogers is desperate to join the war effort. He is, however, stricken with asthma (and a whole slew of other ailments) that prevent him from joining. Not to mention, he's like 90 pounds. But, he is resolved to join the war effort. Soon enough, because of persistence, he gets chosen for an experiment in a new breed of super soldier.

There are a few elements of Captain America that have always been inherently goofy. The costume, the whole "yay America" cheese. The giant shield. But, this movie addresses that adequately and makes sense of it. We are shown how Captain America becomes a national symbol when the "higher ups" decide to make him a chorus girl. He runs around the country, performing elaborate musical numbers and wearing tights. Steve Rogers never asked to be the icon of American victory, but it was bestowed upon him.

The real enemy in Captain America is the Red Skull. They sort of breeze past his origin and focus only on his demented and vague plan to "take over the world." Some of his origin is explained in expositional dialouge, which may be for the best. With a running time of 2 solid hours, there's hardly room to go exploring extra stuff when there's Captain America's origin to deal with.

With the cartoon nature of the characters and dialouge (even more cartoony than Iron Man ) there are parts where adults may find themselves rolling their eyes. However, there are some intense, and somewhat greusome fight scenes that were surprisingly graphic. I'm not sure how young children would respond to that. So, my main criticism is that Captain America falls somewhere between adult action and children's cartoon fantasy, without deciding which route to commit to. On the up side, it is a sprawling, ambitious, and action-packed Captain America origin story, filled with all the modern special effects and a gigantic budget. Chris Evans is a great choice to play Captain America.

As with all Marvel comic movies, there is a "bonus scene" at the end of the credits. You must stay in your seat to see this scene.