Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Film: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Stars: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper
Director: Joe Johnston
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Captain America, in my mind, was always the most boring of the Avengers growing up reading the comics.  Iron Man was a cool gadget-y guy, Thor was a studly God, and the Hulk was giant and green.  Captain America, on the other hand, was just a sort of lifeless figure on the page.  He was too generic, too noble-he was the Marvel equivalent of Superman, classic but with no edge.  It's the principle reason why I actually skipped out on the first two Captain America films when everyone else across the country was catching them in theaters (I didn't get acquainted with Chris Evans in this role until The Avengers).  However, when Winter Soldier got a shock Best Visual Effects nomination, it became a need and not a want to see the film, and so that I did.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film on the surface feels like almost every other superhero movie at this point.  Honestly, part of me was really glad that Guardians of the Galaxy came out this past year because it felt different, something that was still an origin story but with humor and fun and panache.  Captain America: The First Avenger isn't what you'd consider one of the more beloved films in the Marvel franchise, and there are a variety of reasons for that.  For starters, the Hydra villainy here isn't what you'd call particularly impressive.  The film's focus, which is in the first half on a scrawny Steve Rogers and in the second-half on a jacked-to-the-hilt Captain America, spends probably too much time trying to have it all, and that starts by making us feel like there's a compelling villain at the center of everything.  Hugo Weaving's Red Skull is too major of a character from the Captain America comic books to not be his first villain, but I have to admit that I never found him super eye-catching (this has always been the problem with Marvel villains compared to the iconic cavalcade of DC baddies-someone like the Joker or Lex Luthor is always going to tower over a Red Skull).  Part of me almost wished they'd gone with Toby Jones' Arnim Zola (thankfully they did in the sequel) for the villain as he always felt a bit more ruthless and get under your skin.

The rest of the film occasionally veers into fun, which is welcome in the increasingly serious world of Marvel comics.  Sebastian Stan, for example, is wonderful as Bucky, Rogers' sexy and over-confident best friend who has the roles reversed on him when Steve becomes a leader rather than a sidekick.  I also loved the whole sideshow aspect of the film-there was something so unsettling about the way that they turn Captain America into something of a war propaganda tool, rather than the hero we consistently see in the comic books.  Chris Evans is such a game performer, and so loose at comedy and charm that this was the perfect avenue to take him in (this was why he's the saving grace of the Fantastic Four movies).  I also thoroughly enjoyed Hayley Atwell's Agent Carter at the beginning, though I felt like toward the end she lost much of her identity to Captain America and his love interest (Marvel cannot seem to write interesting female love interests, even if they're far better at female superheroes...even though the only one they seem interested in is the Black Widow).  Aside from Weaving, in fact, the only person who feels a bit on autopilot here is Tommy Lee Jones, who is doing his curmudgeonly act for the 17,000th time, and there's nothing new here to warrant mention except when everyone else seems to be elevating their game you'd think he would too.

The effect of Chris Evans body, I have to say, feels like an effect that just isn't going to age well.  It's such a cool idea that I am totally behind it in concept, but the execution feels sloppy-you never really believe Chris Evans is a scrawny dude and the entire effect feels cheap, like something you'd see in a 1950's Sci-Fi film.  The fight sequences, as well (except for the one where Bucky falls from the train) are also underwhelming.  This may in fact be because there just aren't that many, but to that I wonder why they didn't get outside the traditional action film mode a bit more.  What's the point of having even a super-villain to conquer-why not just have Captain America become someone that could become a leader and make it a personal growth story?  Why force a romantic connection to the only female character when you could have a friendship there, at least at first (we don't need Peggy Carter to be Steve Rogers' girlfriend for the subsequent film to work, after all)?  These sorts of questions are worth pondering as we get more and more and more superhero films out into the market and we start to hit a saturation point.

All-in-all, though, this is a fine if not particularly compelling ride.  It's different enough to be interesting, but not different enough to be great, and there's nothing truly marvelous to see here.  We'll get to the sequel in a day or two, but what are your thoughts in the meantime?  Do you share my ambivalence for the film (and Captain America in general)?  What do you think of Chris Evans and the way that his career has become about two superheroes?  Share in the comments!