In 2005, fan boys around the world were introduced to Chris Evans as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four. In 2011, Chris Evans was given the hefty task to make us forget about his Human Torch portrayal, and instead remember him as a courageous, patriotic, all-American superhero, a task which he surprisingly succeeds in accomplishing.
Joe Johnston whose resume includes Jurassic Park III and The Wolfman serves as the director of Captain America: The First Avenger, and Chris Evans stars in the title role. The film serves as the final lead-up to the much anticipated The Avengers movie due out in Summer of 2012, and notable connections from the other superheroes in the Avengers team can be seen in this film.
The movie opens in present day where a group of scientists in the Arctic uncover a massive silver disk with red white and blue color painted on it. After the reveal of the iconic Captain America shield, the audience is then taken back to 1942 where the movie takes place. Steve Rogers(Chris Evans), a scrawny and short Brooklyn native is rejected for the fifth time from being enlisted as a World War II soldier much to his dismay. But after giving a heart-felt and passionate speech about being a soldier to his best friend Bucky(Sebastian Stan), Steve's driven personality is noticed by a scientist(Stanley Tucci). Thus begins his transformation into an American Superhero, and after the scientist Dr. Abraham Erskine performs what he calls the "super-soldier experiment" on Rogers, the once small boy now becomes a tall and buff soldier that will sure leave female viewers in the audience swooning.
Hugo Weaving stars as Johann Schmidt, Adolf Hitler's appointed head of advanced weaponry who later turns into the super-villain Red Skull, and Hayley Atwell portrays Peggy Carter, Captain America's love interest. But of the supporting cast, it was Tommy Lee Jones who was the real standout in his portrayal of Colonel Chester Phillips. Jones brought both humor and spark to the otherwise tedious and formulaic movie.
I must admit that Chris Evans did prove me wrong about his acting capabilities, but his scrawny pre-transformed Steve Rogers state was unconvincing (though that is not Evans' fault, but the production team for creating a poorly constructed CGI body). The action sequences were exciting to watch at first, but the choreography for the combat moves quickly became repetitive and boring. And while I did appreciate the well-rounded plot and Avengers Easter eggs sprinkled across this film, there was nothing new or special about this superhero flick.
There is nothing in Captain America that we haven't seen before, but credit should be given to Chris Evans for his decent portrayal of the superhero; and although the movie was better than Thor, it certainly is no X-Men: First Class.
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