AMERICA! EF-YEAH!

Captain America: The First Avenger = Awesome!  Not sure what else there is to say.  Well...maybe I can find a thing or two.  America!  Ef-Yeah!

First off...I am a comic book nerd.  I admit it and I think that most people that I know would agree with me.  The funny thing is that Captain America (and the Avengers as a whole for that matter) have never been one of my regular reads.  Other than an issue here or there that I would get in the comic packs that you could get from the J.C. Penney's Christmas catalog that my parents got me almost every year, I have never really read a lot.  I was an X-Men reader and there were more than enough related books there to keep most people busy.  That said, I always liked the character of the good Captain.  I have to say, Uncanny X-Men #268 that starred Wolverine and Captain America together (and drawn by the amazing Jim Lee) was always one of my favorite issues.  Cap demanded respect and got it from those around him.  You could tell from just that short story in a single issue that he was a leader and people followed his leadership easily.  That sense of respect is one of the things that I loved about the character and I thought would be one of the main things that movie would need to get across.  He is going to lead the Avengers a year from now, right?  Did the movie succeed?

Captain America is a great movie.  As far as the growing pantheon of Marvel comic book movies go, it is right up there with Thor, Iron Man, and X-Men: First Class in my mind.  It hits so many of the right beats and takes you on the journey of one man who just wants to serve his country and ends up saving it.  Steve Rogers, a scrawny kid from Brooklyn, just wants to go to Europe and serve his country during World War 2 and do his part.  I won't recount the entire movie, but he becomes a guinea pig, an icon, and a soldier (in that order).  The movie does a great job of moving Steve through these stages and developing him into a leader who you want to follow before it is all said and done.  It isn't a perfect movie.  It really should have spent at least a little time (a montage maybe) to show what all he was capable of after the super soldier serum was used on him.  You knew he was fast and strong, but nothing was really explained and that would have been nice for people who weren't totally familiar with the character.  Also, there seemed to be a lot of liberties taken with technology.  I know that Hydra was working on advanced tech, but there were some really big jumps that seem to have been made.  But in the end, it was Captain America and not Saving Private Ryan, so I am not too uptight about that...nor should you.  Oh and stick around after the complete credits...makes me want it to be next summer soooo badly!

As for the actors...well, they did great.  Hugo Weaving was menacing and had such an aire of badassery.  Tommy Lee Jones was...well, Tommy Lee Jones and that was perfect for his role.  Hayley Atwell was wonderful and beautiful.  Sebastian Stan was perfect in his role as Bucky and how his relationship with Steve gets turned upside down.  Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Tody Jones...there are just so many good performances.  Even a lot of bit parts were great and I honestly wanted to spend more time with the Howling Commandos.  Then there is Chris Evans.  He did really great and it honestly made me forget he was ever in those other Marvel movies.  He went from being the comic relief to the man you wanted to follow.  He owned it from beginning to end and looked amazing doing it.  Don't believe me?  Take a gander at Exhibit A:


Exhibit Flippin' A

 So, as you can tell, I liked it.  It was the summer comic book movie that my dad would have liked.  Really wish I could have had the opportunity to take him.