Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The fifth installment in the MCU and the final one before the first mega team-up, Captain America: The First Avenger introduces the only avenger that was so far missing in the Phase 1 plan, and unlike the previous entries; this one is a period piece whose story is set predominantly during the Second World War.
The movie told the story of Steve Rogers; a frail but patriotic man who wants to enlist in the US army but is constantly rejected due to his poor health. But then he is accepted into a human experiment program which transformed him into a super-soldier with enhanced capabilities after which he tried to stop the fanatic leader of a cult organization from carrying out his plans of world domination.
Directed by Joe Johnston, the plot tied in nicely with other films of the same universe, making fine use of humor from beginning to end, and remained a light-hearted, crowd-pleasing entertainer for the most parts. It featured a great cast in Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, and others with most of them really leaving a lasting impression. Especially Evans who did well to keep the story glued together and was nicely supported by the film’s periodic feel, large-scale action, a mesmerizing score, old-school patriotism as well as some clever references to many adventure classics of the past.
On an overall scale, The First Avenger definitely was a great entry into the franchise. The storyline never took itself seriously which could be used both in favor as well as against it. The plot sometimes wandered in the middle and even lacked a sort of freshness as the main plot treaded into areas it had been before in many other examples of its genre. Though, despite a few shortcomings, Captain America: The First Avenger still delivered what it promised. Worth a shot.
