Personally, I’ve always found Captain America a little…boring. His virtuosity, his unflagging wholesomeness, it’s just too vanilla for me. But you have to credit to Captain America: The First Avenger for nailing Cap on the first try, perfectly capturing the character’s apple pie and baseball aura.
Similarly to the inaugural Iron Man, the first act is fantastic. Through the wonder of spectacular effects work, this part of the film stars scrawny Chris Evans as pre-super serum Steve Rogers, which makes for an unusually engaging origin story. Director Joe Johnson aims squarely for Americana nostalgia with his depiction of 1940s Brooklyn, and he hits his mark and then some. And Stanely Tucci shows up for a great comedic turn as the sardonic German Dr. Abraham Erskine.
But, also similarly to Iron Man, the rest of The First Avenger is uneven. In general, things just get less interesting once Captain America becomes a superman and heads to Europe to win World War II with a gang of forgettable sidekicks. Hugo Weaving, in a role that embraces outlandish comic book zaniness, peels off his fake human face about halfway through and spends the rest of the film as the villainous Red Skull (he wasn’t exactly a sweetheart to begin with). And that’s pretty fun, actually! It’s the sort of pulpy weirdness superhero movies are always hesitant to attempt. Unfortunately, Red Skull receives one of the least memorable denouements in the genre’s history. Yet, even when Captain America sputters, it’s still an enjoyable ride that does a fine job establishing the character and setting the groundwork for better films down the line.
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