Captain America: The First Avenger D movie review (2011)

Captain America:
The First Avenger [3D] (2011)

Full review: We all know that Marvel-based superhero movies are money making machines, so when "Captain America: The First Avenger" was announced 'in production' no one was surprised by the news. Although it's a huge imrpovement over the 1990 disaster, the 2011 version of "Captain America" certainly doesn't rank amongst the best Marvel movies, nor is one of the worst. In other words, it's average at best, and a bit overrated by both the ctitics and audiences. "The First Avenger" is often inoherent and suffers from a weak script and lack of "WOW!" moments, however, it still remains satisfying, fun, and moderately entertaining. Joe Johnston's direction feels a bit all-over-the-place at times, but despite that, he manages to provide us with lots of deverse camera angles and dynamic camera movements, as well as some subtle that balance the pace and the energy of the movie. In terms of style and visuals, "Captain America: The First Avenger" suceeds vastly. The muted, 'smokey' cinematography suits the old-fashioned vibe of the movie amazingly well, and the authentic and incredibly atmospheric settings add to the already stunning look of the movie, however, the visuals hardly compensate for the lack of strong script and jaw-droppoing action. The action scenes themeselves are well-staged and fairly exciting, yet somewhat unimpressive. They start from the middle, jumping from one scene to another so fast, it's like watching them in fast forward. The 3D effects are passable, sometimes unnoticable, and... rather unnecessary. The performances range from mediocre to great. In the first half of the movie, Chris Evans does a good job as the skinny, overly enthusiastic soldier rejected from the military, but later on when he transforms into Captain America, his strong screen presence suddenly disappears, and he becomes very unconvincing, even goofy playing the title character. Usually, I don't mind heavy British accent, but Hayley Atwell's is maybe a bit too pretentious, and her performance - rather forgettable. Hugo Weaving, on te other hand, turns in a great villain, delivering the show-stealing performance as the nutty, intimidatin Nazi officer, Johann Schmidt / Red Skull. The rest of he cast deliver decent performances overall, but without any real standouts.

Overall summary: For better or worse, "Captain America: The First Avenger" feels like a light entrée before the more serious main meal ("The Avengers" 2012) - thanks to its outstanding retro production design and atmospheric visuals, it's a real feast for the eyes, yet sadly, it fails to deliver a compelling story, memorable protagonist and stupendous action scenes.