MCU Filmathon: Captain America: The First Avenger

We near the end of Phase one and just before The Avengers we have Captain America: The First Avenger. The films starts with people excavating in the Arctic and they discover the Captain's shield. Before we know it we're back in WWII and we are introduced to Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans. Who goes from a rather lean and small person with countless health conditions who lacks the ability to quit, to genetically enhanced super soldier. The only thing he must do now is prove himself to his comrades as a fighter rather than a figure that helps sell war bonds.

After watching the film again and some trailers it shows everything it promised to. It brought to life the patriotic hero and a character that has quickly earned his place as one of Marvel's greatest superheroes. But the film isn't greatly exciting nor did it show anything more than what was seen in the trailers. Although this isn't a bad thing, the storyline is good, the acting is good and the allies are good too. But it's no more than just a 'good' movie. It doesn't stand out and it went back to the old conventional villain whose one purpose for power is not justified in enough detail. Despite this though there are loads of good points to talk about in this movie!

I do give credit to Director Joe Johnston with the 1940's theme; this is different from what Marvel has done so far because it goes into the past. But when Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) steps up onto
that stage to reveal a hovering car, it doesn't go over the top and keeps the 1940's theme. Even when the car breaks it shows that even Stark Industries have failed to build that. We also see elements of Tony in Howard which is nice to see but we can also see (from what screen time Howard has) that he is also a different person. It was nice to see connections between the two characters.

First we'll start off with Steve Rogers. Chris Evans plays the part convincingly, considering he's had
experience in the past with bringing to life comic book characters, but this one is probably his most important yet and it's good he got it right from the start. He starts as the bullied little man who only wants to be like everyone else; Evans manages to convince us that Rogers is eager to prove that he is worth more and able to help his country. He does prove himself when he becomes the super soldier and saves all those prisoners of war. The sequence after he steps out of the enhancement container is exciting and thrilling in the way he literally runs after the stolen car with Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage) inside and becomes familiar with his new enhanced abilities, like jumping from car roof to car roof and swimming after his submarine type boat. We are given an idea of what to expect from Captain America here and it's probably one of the best sequences of the film. Although the special effect used to make Chris look small are a little strange, it isn't convincing and looks like his face has just been slapped on a child!


Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is probably one of the best characters in the MCU and her getting a TV show is even better. Her relationship with Steve Rogers is also one of the most believable from all the
films so far. They managed to connect on the level of emotion that is needed for one to realise they both love each other, which is strange because most Marvel movies don't managed to get this across. It makes the last scene when Steve is forced to crash the plane into the ice more emotional than you think as this is the last time the two characters will ever speak to each other again. Not only this, Peggy is seen throughout as a strong character and probably a little understated in the movie. Even though it is Cap's story I wish we could have seen more of her in action like we do Black Widow because I'm sure Peggy would give her a run for her money!

I would also like to say Tommy Lee Jones' Army Colonel character has got some of the best lines in the movie, perfectly delivered by a legend of an actor!

One huge gripe I have about this film is Red Skull, who is a hugely underdeveloped character. He
spends most of the film building his death plane than he does posing a threat to Captain America. Then in the end he isn't even killed by Cap, the Cube does that job for him. He's a villain barely mentioned in the MCU like Obediah because of their underdevelopment and it does annoy me a little bit that the films don't focus on the villains enough. I'm all for learning about the heroes but this film would have benefited from Red Skull having more of a background and actually stretching the acting abilities of Hugo Weaving who probably didn't even break a sweat in this role.

Like I said this movie is good and nothing more, it would benefit from a little more development of characters as I have said and I think that would have made the movie more interesting. It isn't the film I think of when I want to watch a marvel movie but it isn't the movie that I would turn down the opportunity of watching.

Just one more movie to go then we move onto Phase 2!

Marvel's The Avengers is next!

Thanks for reading! :)

Comments

Popular Posts