Avenge
Rating: 6/10
Running Time: 124 minutes
US Certificate: PG-13 UK Certificate: 12A
Captain America: The First Avenger follows wannabe-hero Steve Rogers as he is turned down repeatedly for military service during World War Two because of his ultra girly body. Everything changes for Steve when he is chosen to be the guinea pig for Project Rebirth – an experiment that utilises the human body’s strength to its full potential. When the scientist responsible for the experiments is assassinated by the Red Skull – a Nazi agent – Steve uses his extraordinary wits and courage and a new found physical strength to go after the killer and his Nazi chums.
After being on the sidelines in a number of films – including Fantastic Four and its sequel, Scott Pilgrim and Sunshine – Chris Evans has eventually got his leading role and despite not being given too much to work with he does a good job. He plays the Captain with surprising pathos and likeability however Hugo Weaving steals the show with his Herzogesque German bad guy and Stanley Tucci once again shows that he cannot put a foot wrong.
Captain America suffers from the same kind of problems as Fantastic Four, Evans previous superhero vehicle, as it heavy on the brooding, slow-moving plot and light on the action and story progression. We are treated to yet another gritty Batman Begins-type reimagining with the story grounded in the real world – how original. Overall, the movie is pretty boring and Captain America doesn’t really seem to be special enough to warrant all this attention – think Wolverine but with less charisma and a weapon phased out in the sixteenth century.
It's Got: Good acting turns by Evans, Tucci and Weaving
It Needs: To be more urgent in its storytelling, to have a more interesting superhero
Summary
This fairly uninteresting and unoriginal superhero is saved somewhat by a few decent characters and acting turns.