Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – Film Review

29/12/2012

1791

Director: Joe Johnston
Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell
Certificate: 12A

by Joss Spry

Marvel bring forth yet another of their superheroes in snazzy dress. This time in the form of Steve Rogers. He’s a weedy patriot who transforms into a superhuman soldier thanks to an experimental serum cooked up by Stanley Tucci’s German boffin.

Failing to find job-satisfaction as a poster boy for America’s wartime recruitment department, Captain America employs his new found athleticism against the fearsome Nazi villain Red Skull, for whom said serum had less aesthetically pleasing results.

“Visual appeal that’s hard to find”

Evans makes what is one of the blander good guys of the comic-book world into a likeable hero. His gang of dashing good-chap types support him ably.

The retro-setting is cool. Particularly the Nazi’s arsenal of Death Rays and Super Planes and such-like. They give the film a visual appeal that’s usually hard to find in this kind of movie.

It doesn’t quite match up to the high standards for the franchise that were set by Iron Man, but it’s a worthy precursor to the mighty Avengers Assemble.
7/10