Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

[Vik]

Saw it. Thought it was decent but rather hackneyed. 3/5

[alandhopewell]

So I just got back from Captain America and I must say, that was incredibly enjoyable and fun.  It's the story of Steve Rogers, a little wimpy guy from Brooklyn, who becomes apart of the Super Soldier program that turns him into one of the greatest supheroes ever, Captain America.  That's the abridged verison mind you, I'm not say anymore than that other than the fact that the story was great (It's not like the director hasn't done any other superhero movies set in WWII).  The story also had some solid and great writing in this film, probably the best I've seen in any comic book movie recently.  Tommy Lee Jones probably had some of the best lines in the film.

Starting from the top, the characters were all good and solid, allowing me to get a sense of who they are and what they are like.  The acting helped as well and I am happy to say everyone turned in a great preformance.  Shockingly, no bit of hammy or cheesy dialogue anywhere like I thought there would be.  Set design, costumes, visuals, and much more really helped the feeling and mood of the era this was taking place in (I loved the 40's propaganda musical number they had).  The use of CGI was pretty flawless in some scenes.  For example, Chris Evans [Captain America] was digitally reduced in size to show the character when he first started off and it was incredible.  I was looking hard at him trying to see if there was any obvious flaws with it, but I couldn't see anything.  Bravo movie, bravo.  Finally, the 3D.  It was a post converted one, so basically the film was made first and had 3D inserted.  Frankly, it was actually pretty good and help with the visuals.  You don't need to see it in 3D, but you wouldn't feel disappointed if you did.

Now, what about the action?  This is a superhero movie after all.  It was awesome and stellar.  No choppy editing to ruin the pacing and no overuse of slow-mo (It was used now and then, but at the right points).  The movie also had a ton of action scenes, so there was no way you were going to easily lose focus or have your mind drift off.  Also, it had some great death scenes, two of which sort of remind me of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If I had to point out a flaw with the film, it's the soundtrack for me.  It was good and all, but nothing feels really rememberable or really sticks with you after the film, with the except of the musical number I brought up.

This was a great summer movie, comic book movie, and just a good movie in general.  Probably the third best I saw this year so far and is the only one that really makes me want to buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray once it hits stores.  I highly recommend this movie all of you who wants to see a really good superhero film.  It's the last one for a while and probably would make up for the Green Lantern film if you didn't like it.  I say check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J3HfllvXWE

     I saw it a couple weeks ago, and I must admit that I went in with a bone to pick, i.e. the alteration of the costume; I wanted the standard Timely/Atlas/Marvel model.


   

     However, as the film progressed, I saw this as a minor quibble....this was the picture I'd waited forty years to see.
It's one thing to dress an actor in a costume, and tell him, "Go play  _________", and an entirely different thing to give a loving audience the hero they'd grown up with. This film does that, in spades.

     This is the #1 film I've seen, not just this summer, but this year.

[Chainsawmidget]

3- This ties in with both of my previous points. I felt like the conflict between Cap and the Red Skull wasn't really well-formed. Aside from Cap being the good guy and RS being the bad guy, they never really had any meaningful reasons to hate each other. And their final battle was underwhelming (at least for me), in part BECAUSE of the fact that there was little dramatic resonance between the two men clashing.

Red Skull is a Nazi.*  hey hate everything and it's perfectly okay to want to punch them in the face.What more do you need? 

*At least in the comics.  I have yet to see the movie, but doubt they changed that part much.

[odinn7]

I had just decided to add this to Netflix and wait it out. While on vacation, the wife and kid were off doing something I had no interest in and the theater at the place was showing this film so I decided to kill some time. I was actually glad that I did. As it turned out, the film was way more than I expected. It wasn't the best superhero film I've ever seen but I had a great time watching it and look forward to more.

On a side note...Some people came in about 35-40 minutes into it (why would you even bother?) and obviously missed the beginning. After the movie was over, I heard them complaining that the ending was stupid and made no sense...and wasn't really needed. See what coming in late will do for you? lol

[Hammock Rider]

I liked the singing on stage with the dancing girls.

 

I was rather surprised at the lack of action, but it was kinda cool and having Tony Stark's dad in it was a pretty cool touch. The whole art design of this film was great too.

The bad guys were delightfully evil and and who doesn't like Toby Jones???

  I agree. I'd actually go see a Howard Stark movie.

[tracy]

All I can say is....I loved it! It was full of action and good old fashioned butt-kicking.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Saw it yesterday... a rell done action flick with out many gimmicks that ruin so many other movies.(I'm looking at YOU Michael Bay).  I have to say I really loved it.  But I love Cap... both the Marvel version and the Ultimate version.   Can't wait for Avengers, and plan to get to Thor now.

I call it good High Adventure!

-Ed

[The Burgomaster]

At least the costume in this movie was better than the Reb Brown TV movie costume:



WTF???????????????????

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

But the blastic shield that Reb used was SO much cooler... Check out Ken Begg's review from his archive site:
http://www.jabootu.com/capam.htm
-Ed

[The Burgomaster]

But the blastic shield that Reb used was SO much cooler... Check out Ken Begg's review from his archive site:
http://www.jabootu.com/capam.htm
-Ed

Maybe cooler, but not the same shield he used in the comic books!  I remember when Tony Stark modified Cap's shield by adding some high-tech gadgetry to make it more accurate when Cap threw it.  After awhile, Cap had Tony remove the gadgetry because it messed up the shield's balance and Cap preferred using the shield without any "add-ons."

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

There are two shield moments I just love in the comics. 
1) When Cap is trapped in the Smithsonian without any gear, and stumbles on his WWII gear and uses the steel kite shield in figh toff the bad guys.
2) One of of Bucky-Cap's first outings in the suit, he's attacked by AIM thugs, throws the shield and it goes wild, the guys start laughing and Bucky-Cap kneecaps em with his pistol. 

-Ed

[tracy]

At least the costume in this movie was better than the Reb Brown TV movie costume:



WTF???????????????????

Oh,dear....he looks like he's about to fight Speed Buggy.

[Mr. DS]

I just got around to seeing it, I really liked it a lot.  I really have nothing much more to add oddly.