Captain America: The First Avenger

[JohnnyGossamer]

Just revisited this undervalued slab of pulp euphoria. Sure, Johnston borrows liberally from Spielberg's Indy verve. But, hell, sure is fun. Pacing suits the tone. B+ Everything Sky Captain should've been... Only Iron Man and The Avengers rank ahead in Marvel's cinematic world.

 

Edit: Revisited Sky Captain later and enjoyed it more than I initially did too.

Edited April 15, 2016 by JohnnyGossamer

[Goffe]

the first act is really nice, undeniably super fun, but it goes downhill from there as the superhero stuff start to take form. The action is couldn't be more inept and the already annoying score theme gets overplayed, and in the most inappropriate, sometimes cliche moments. Peggy and Rogers last scene is decently emotional. The very last scene is utterly ridiculous for me to take it seriously. Evan is a good as Captain America, but really bad as skinny Steve Rogers, Tommy Lee Jones gives one of his best performances in years.

 

+60/100

 

Iron Man +80/100

The Avengers -80/100

Guardian of the Galaxy +75/100

Thor +70/100

TIH +65/100

Iron Man 3 +60/100

Cap +60/100

The Avengers 2 -60/100

Thor 2 +55/100      

Cap2 +50/100

Iron Man 2 +45/100

Edited July 14, 2015 by Goffe

[ddddeeee]

I've really tried to love this one, I can't. 

[Goffe]

the film would fare a little better if the last hour wasn't just an action reel, and one of the most boring at that.

[keysersoze123]

I really liked this movie. Especially 1st 2 acts. Retro feel sets it apart from rest of Marvel Flicks. But 3rd act isn't good. But that is mostly norm with marvel ficks. Overall Solid B+.

 

Only series I dislike is Thor. 1st one was kind of ok while 2nd one was fucking awful.

[Goffe]

About the visuals, sometimes they looked gorgeous, like that breathtaking shot of the emerging submarine (or whatever that aquatic vehicle was), but for the most part it was super drab.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Goffe

[Blankments]

Captain America: The First Avenger is the best solo movie of Phase 1. The casting works from the lead to the smallest role, and the action is pretty great despite the overhated montage. Tucci and Jones shine in show-stealing supporting roles, and Weaving and Jones make a fantastic duo in villainy. The real stars are Evans and Atwell, who have some of the best chemistry in any superhero film. Who else could do Captain America as well as Chris Evans? He's perfect in the role, and if Marvel ever needs to recast, that task should not be envied. Johnston's direction keeps the pulpy vibe alive and Silvestri's score is the best in this entire MCU enterprise. Captain America: The First Avenger is a worthwhile introduction to the best Avenger, and a unique film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A-

[Jay Beezy]

On 4/13/2016 at 2:39 AM, Blank Panther said:

Captain America: The First Avenger is the best solo movie of Phase 1. The casting works from the lead to the smallest role, and the action is pretty great despite the overhated montage. Tucci and Jones shine in show-stealing supporting roles, and Weaving and Jones make a fantastic duo in villainy. The real stars are Evans and Atwell, who have some of the best chemistry in any superhero film. Who else could do Captain America as well as Chris Evans? He's perfect in the role, and if Marvel ever needs to recast, that task should not be envied. Johnston's direction keeps the pulpy vibe alive and Silvestri's score is the best in this entire MCU enterprise. Captain America: The First Avenger is a worthwhile introduction to the best Avenger, and a unique film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A-

 

I didn't hate the montage. The whole point was to give it an old school feel which it most certainly did.

[Kalo]

I loved this movie so much when I first saw it, I think I said it was my favorite movie of all time for a brief time. it has gone down quite a bitfrom that, but the first two-thirds are pretty much bliss, Chris Evans is fantastic as Cap, Hayley Atwell, plays the best love interest to grace the MCU so far.  love the pulpy period feel Joe Johnson has created here, the third act is kind of a drag though. but overall very solid. A-

[RobinHood26]

53 Minute review/breakdown/Discussion for this leading up to Civil War. If have nothing better to do....

 

http://cinemasesh.libsyn.com/captain-america-the-first-avenger-sesh

[Joel M]

3 Reasons why it is one of the best superhero movies of the last decade:

 

-Being a period piece helps a lot to sell the "most boring superhero ever" and Joe Johnston makes a meal out of it. The retro aesthetic, the analog technology, the War montage reminiscent of 1940s serials even the showstopiing musical number do a lot of the heavy lifting in grounding a time a lot more black/white than today.They tackle the inherent corniness of the concept with full on earnestness and it works.  

-Cap has a beautiful arc evolving from bullied kid to lab rat, to dancing monkey, to war hero before he even suits up. And at the same time the movie makes a compelling case of him being always just the guy that will cover a grenade to save others and that this conviction matters more than his superpowers.

-The love story is very engaging and the sad ending completely earned, because Peggy is the rare unicorn of comic book love interests that a)is a real character who has more to offer than be the damsel in distress for the final act and b)her relationship with the hero is the emotional backbone of the entire thing. Even if the pace falls a little during the last act when Cap boards the plane and talks with Peggy about the date they'll never have, just hits me everytime.

 

I know the movie is not exactly perfect, but after another rewatch I have a hard time caring about the FLAWS. I didn't mind Red Skull at all, I think he's fine. Not interesting enough on his own but he's fun in a "made out of pure evilinium" way, he so evil not even the Nazis want him anymore lol. Even the redface look is just the right amount of silly for this story. Also despite being full of set ups for the Avengers, all those easter eggs outside of the modern day framing don't feel shoehorned in at all, because outside of the 2 leads, the movie has time for other smaller characters. Zola, Bucky, Erskin, Howard Stark even Tommy Lee Jones' Colonel are all very memorable no matter their screentime. The biggest takeaway this time though is how much of a step up from every previous mcu movie the action is. The effects are a little dated now but there's a sense of geography and beautiful comicbook-y WHAM! BAM! shots that still hold up very well.

 

The only thing that feels out of place or taken from a completely different movie is the modern day framing device (because it was), otherwise it's a perfect superhero origin story.

 

A-.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Joel M