Jasonic Reviews Captain America: The First Avenger

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield
All those who choose to oppose his shield must yield!"

For diehard Captain America fans, this might as well be the first thing that pops into their head the moment they hear reference to the Star Spangled Man himself. For those who haven't heard of the Captain before, well, they may as well come across it after getting into him upon seeing this movie. If anything, he may as well be the epicenter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe if I do say so myself. Ever since I first saw the movie a few years ago, I may have had a small feeling that Cap would ultimately become my favorite part of the universe with time. And, while I'll admit I wasn't super into the MCU films until The Avengers came out, this had to have been the diving off point for me at the time. And why would this be the case, you may ask? Well, read along and see for yourself why I consider Captain America: The First Avenger to be, at the very least, a decent film (and a good one at the most).

Believe it or not, guys, this wasn't the first time Cap ever made the jump to big screen; his big screen debut dates back really to 1990, but that movie, from what I read briefly about it, was considered trash and is not worth talking about. After a few years of dealing with lawsuits for Marvel Studios to acquire the rights for the character, Cap finally became a part of the then-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe with plans for the movie to come out right before the much anticipated Avengers movie. With the prior successes of Iron Man and Thor among others, the MCU at least had a strong critical and financial foundation for Cap to be a potential success on its own. As mentioned before, I consider Captain America to be the main piece of the MCU, one of the reasons being that it, taking place first in the timeline, lays a lot of the groundwork for the universe in years to come. The question, as such, regards in what ways did it succeed and in what other ways did it at least help the movies move along? The answer lies in a careful analysis of the film's many aspects that worked in the long run.

***SPOILERS FOR THIS MOVIE AND OTHER MARVEL MOVIES AHEAD***

Unlike the previous MCU installments, the film does not take place in modern times and, instead, takes us back in time to 1942-43 when the United States had just entered World War II. A young, skinny man from Brooklyn named Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) becomes eligible for fighting on the front-lines in the war thanks to the approval of Dr. Abraham Erskine (played by Stanley Tucci). With Erskine's help, Rogers becomes the first test subject of the "Super Soldier Serum", which ultimately makes him the world's first superpowered man with strength, agility, and regulatory capabilities unlike any other. With the help of his many comrades -- among them Howard Stark (played by Dominic Cooper), Peggy Carter (played by Hailey Atwell), and his best friend, Bucky Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan) -- Cap takes on the evil organization known as HYDRA in their quest for world domination. In the clash with a villainous Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving) and his menacing forces, Captain America will become the legend the world has been waiting for.

Generic as it may sound, the story may not have been the most interesting to those looking for a superhero origin movie that pulls away from the "wimpy guy becomes the big strong hero" trope. Unlike reviewers of the time, I have the advantage now of viewing the story from a more interesting perspective -- one that involves me looking back from the present day. What strikes me most about that is just how many major plot threads it managed to establish in the MCU back then. This was the first Avenger origin (hence the title) in terms of chronology, the ancient cosmic artifact known as the Tesseract, which plays significance in the Avengers films, came into play, and a tight relationship was established between Cap and Howard Stark that would ultimately affect how the latter's son, Tony (aka Iron Man), viewed the captain among other things. I won't spoil any other films as I plan to get to them someday, but, if anything, I enjoyed looking back on the movie and spotting the beginning of most, if not all, of the universe's plot threads. And, for that matter, it genuinely feels like the movie draws the viewer back in time (in both a literal and figurative sense).

Simply put, the movie well does succeed in establishing an authentic World War II setting that really draws you back to the forties. Similar in fashion to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the whole time period is brought to life by the more simplistic landscapes and old timey gadgets. Even the more tech heavy locations such as the tech expo and the HYDRA bases looked like something that would fit the time period whether or not it was all science fiction. And, on top of that, even the song, "Star Spangled Man", which they came up with for Cap whilst he was nothing more than an entertainer sounds like it could have come straight from that time in (alternate) history. Little things like this make me appreciate the period piece all the more. I mean the film was originally supposed to take place half in forties and half in modern times, but, given what I've said so far, I can't really see that working. Neither would I if it was just a film about Cap in the present day having flashbacks to his first mission.

Another thing that helps the film is the acting and the ways in which the characters play off each other. Christ Evans, undeniably, is the perfect choice for Cap; having recently played a superhero in the old Fantastic Four films, Evans does a great job here of capturing Cap's character all around. Whether he's noble, humble, jocular, or just all around awesome, Evans and his snarky one liners remains the reason why Cap is my favorite character in the entirety of the MCU. While Cap himself is clearly the most significant character in the film, the many assisting characters don't serve much of a purpose, although they do play well off of Steve's personality. Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, while not the best villain in the MCU, is the perfect anti-Cap with good acting to boot. Right off the bat, we can tell that he and Sebastian Stan's Bucky are best friends in the ways in which they playfully pick at each other and help the other out -- like when Bucky saves Steve from the bully in the back alley (on a side note, this makes Bucky's supposed death about 2/3 through the film all the more saddening). In addition, even though she isn't given much to do here, Agent Carter has a way with forcing the army men in training, including Steve himself, to man up assume their position. Having seen their relationships grow in future movies, their interactions in this movie definitely mean all the more to me now.

Ultimately, what makes the movie for me is the use of special effects. Most notably, pre-super serum Steve Rogers, through the many techniques the film utilizes, appears to be a realistic scrawny man's body and clearly isn't just Chris Evans' face slapped onto a skinny CGI doll. Unlike the previous MCU films, which featured high tech robot battles, giant monsters wrestling each other, and demigods clashing powers, the action in Captain America is clearly more grounded than most of the other films. While it isn't exactly the most stellar action we've seen in the series, I appreciate how it doesn't overcrowd every action scene with CGI (except with the Tesseract-powered weapons that HYDRA uses) and instead resorting to classic gun battles and occasional hand-to-hand combat. Some scenes, though, like the part where a newly superpowered Steve jumps on cars to chase down a HYDRA agent may appear a bit dated (wherein you can clearly tell it's most likely him on strings), but, in the end, I think it fit the time period they were portraying. And with that, the director did a great job of staying true to everything even a majority of the comic book source material.

So while Captain America: The First Avenger may not be the biggest film to ever grace the MCU, it's essential in the long run for a number of reasons. Between establishing heroes and future plot threads, showcasing an authentic World War II-era setting, selecting a great cast for now and future movies, and realistic action set pieces, the amount of hard work put into expanding the universe through this one movie has, so far, had a really solid payoff. For that matter, it's one reason Captain America remains one of my favorite Marvel superheroes (behind Spider-Man, of course) and is probably one of many good reasons so many fans of both the movies and comics have come to appreciate him. With that, I give the movie a B- and would surely recommend it to those looking to find a good starting point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thanks for reading y'all and I will see you in the next review!