Captain America: The First Avenger

Released: 2011
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving

Bonkers fun – a great summer blockbuster

Marvel are having a bit of a blast at the moment with film adaptations of their comics.  In the past couple of years we’ve had Iron Man (1 and 2), Thor, Ghost Rider and this summer’s blockbuster Captain America.  I’m not a comic book fan so I had no prior knowledge of the story or any preconceptions about the film.

Chris Evans is Steve Rogers, a wimpy little guy from Brooklyn who just wants to serve his country in World War II.  He is continually rejected by the Army until Dr Abraham Erskine spots his potential and accepts him into a special scientific unit.  Here Steve is chemically transformed into a prime specimen of American beefcake.  His talents and new handsome appearance are initially put to use on the Home Front as a morale-booster and government bond salesman but he soon moves on to battle evil Nazi Johann Schmidt who plans to use a super-weapon to take over the world.

The big name cast is absolutely brilliant.  Chris Evans isn’t the best actor bless him, but he is good looking and buff and that’s good enough.  There’s plenty of great actors here to take care of that side of things.  Stanley Tucci is fabulous as the scientist who has the developed the ability to turn a weakling into a superhero; Tommy Lee Jones is gruff and funny as the Army Colonel in charge of Rogers and Hugo Weaving hams it up magnificently as the baddie Schmidt.  The rest of the cast is a roster of famous faces who all put in decent performances in their supporting roles.

I’m not sure I’ve had such good fun at the cinema for quite a while.  Captain America is absolutely bonkers, but in a good way.  The action scenes are exhilarating – lots of evil henchmen are dispatched in a satisfying manner by Captain America and his loyal band of followers.  Lots of gasps of “oooh” and “nice” in the cinema as another fabulous punch was thrown.

The CGI which turned the hunky Chris Evans into a weakling was outstanding but some of the other effects didn’t quite work for me.  At one point Howard Stark’s plane was scarily reminiscent of Thunderbird 1 as it shook across the sky.  I doubt that viewing Captain America in 3D rather than 2D would have enhanced the experience in any way, although it might have been good to see  how the end credits were rendered.

My over-active mind sometimes helps and sometimes hinders how I watch films and it was definitely in play here.  Every time I saw Schmidt’s Hydra Skull logo I automatically thought of the line  “Hans, are we the baddies?” from a Mitchell & Webb Nazi sketch

I had a great time seeing Captain America, especially as we went to a fantastic little independent cinema with only five rows of seats, ‘air conditioning’ provided by ceiling fans and the reassuring whirr of the projector in the background.  A good film in an atmospheric cinema makes for a perfect Saturday night.