Review of Captain America: The First Avenger: Absolutely magnificent

I just got back from seeing Captain America: First Avenger, and it was, in a word, amazing.

If you're read my tribute to Captain America at The Good Men Project, you know how inspired I am by him--and if you know me personally, it won't surprise you that I was fighting back tears through the entire movie. That was my Captain America up on that screen; the movie was pitch-perfect in capturing all of his virtues: honor, courage, humility, and heroism. If you've seen the preview footage of the basic training grenade scene, that's just the tip of the iceberg--get ready for much more.

Now I'll get into some details, so mild spoilers after the jump...

I honestly didn't expect the movie to show Cap's death--I knew they started the movie in the modern day with the discovery of his shield (and presumably him) in the Arctic, but for some reason I didn't think they'd come full circle. But they dud: in a 124-minute movie they told his origin, surveyed many missions during the war against the Red Skull and his Hydra forces, and then showed his death (very emotional--I lost it during this scene). But it made sense to introduce Cap to the modern world at the end of the movie (helped by Nick Fury), which set off the post-credits Avengers teaser perfectly.

The Howling Commandos were magnificent, as was Bucky, who was introduced--and then killed--in interesting ways but ones that made perfect sense within the movie (with the death in particular invoking the classic comic imagery albeit in a different setting). The USO bits were well-handled, justified as supporting the war effort but, of course, not enough for Rogers once he realized he might be able to save Bucky, and then he was in full-on soldier mode until the end. And Tommy Lee Jones almost stole the movie, playing... well, Tommy Lee Jones, but it fit perfectly.

There were many Easter eggs for Marvel fans, too: a familiar form in the 1943 World's Fair and the very fitting visual introduction of Arnim Zola. There are many links to the other Marvel films, such as the Red Skull referencing Asgardian lore, the important role played by Howard Stark throughout the film, and of course Nick Fury's presence both during the war and in the modern day. (And how great is it to see "Dum Dum" Dugan on the big screen, right?)

I'll end with my favorite line from the movie, spoken by Dr. Erskine to Rogers the night before receiving the treatment that would transform him into a super-solider. Erksine asks Steve to always remain who he is: "not a perfect solider, but a good man."

And what a good movie, in the most emphatic sense of the word.

Comments

[Dan]

Cool Captain America looks good.