Following Thor, the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Captain America: The First Avenger, which introduces the star-spangled superhero in a thrilling WWII adventure as he fights against frequent comic book foil: the Red Skull.
Buy Captain America: The First Avenger (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)After a frozen aircraft is found in the Arctic, the story travels back to 1942. As the Allies fight the Axis powers, a schism is occurring within the Nazi forces as Lieutenant General Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), leader of Hydra, the Nazi’s scientific research division, forms his own plans for world domination. He leads a group into Norway and finds the Tesseract while has other parties searching for religious artifacts in the desert (a fun Easter egg that references another classic adventure movie)
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans by way of mildly distracting CGI) is an undersized, young man repeatedly designated 4F even though he wants to serve his country as does his pal James “Bucky” Barnes. Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) offers Steve a chance. What he lacks in brawn, Steve makes up for in resourcefulness and bravery as he proves during basic training, which is partially supervised by MI6 Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
Hitler wanted Erskine to make a super soldier serum, but he fled the country before completing it. Schmidt took an early version, which alters his facial features. With the help of Howard Stark, future father to Tony, Erskine puts Steve through the procedure, making him taller and significantly stronger. An undercover Nazi agent steals the remaining serum and kills Erksine. Steve pursues the Nazi, getting used to his new body and abilities.
After news of Steve hits the papers, he becomes a marketing tool for the military, selling war bonds and performing at USO shows. When Steve hears that Bucky’s squad has been captured behind enemy lines, he takes it upon himself to rescue them when the army commanders don’t want to risk greater casualties. After the rescue, Steve leads a group (Marvel readers will recognize them as the Howling Commandos) against Nazi and Hydra targets. One mission sees Bucky fall from a moving train at a great height.
The climactic fight between Steve and Schmidt occurs on a massive plane headed to destroy New York, and those who remember how the movie began, won’t be surprised by the outcome. The post-credit scene finds Steve talking with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and then a preview of The Avengers.
Captain America: The First Avenger succeeds in large part due to the casting of Evans, who exudes heroism even before Steve is bestowed with great power. Evans endows Steve with charisma and, along with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, a compelling righteousness with which no fair-minded person could disagree. It’s why we root for him to succeed, whether against bullies or with Peggy. The Red Skull is great adversary for Steve as their new abilities come from a similar source.
Director Joe Johnston (who previously directed The Rocketeer, a superhero from the same era) and his team do a great job executing scenes of story and scenes of action. As the sequences get bigger, the focus on the characters and the logistics of what’s occurring always remains clear.
Captain America: The First Avenger is a marvelous movie, as a standalone story and also as an expansion of a cinematic franchise.
