Old-Fashioned Heroes

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2016)

I feel like Captain America: The First Avenger could have been a lot more. The cast of characters does an admirable job. The use of time period set pieces is quite effective and a refreshing throwback for superhero film. At the same time, the film lacks a certain "je ne sais quoi" and ultimately presented the biggest challenge for me to describe.
After some distillation, one of the film's weaknesses, in my opinion, is the slightly straightforward plot. I understand that Captain America is one of the original superheroes and can lay claim to some of the superhero tropes, the use of an octopus-branded rogue secret society with claims for world domination sure does sound familiar. (Yes, Hydra merely comes across as a knockoff of James Bonds' nemesis group Spectre.) Again, I enjoy the use of World War II as the time period, but still dock a bit for originality, but I feel they should have done more to make Hydra their own.
The relationship between Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bucky Barnes seems a bit rushed, especially given its importance later on. I guess I was not totally convinced that the two were best friends; instead they come across as military comrades and friends by necessity, but not best pals.
My final problem with Captain America: The First Avenger revolves around some of the realism, or lack thereof. At times the movie is really violent, even showing gunshots and blood on screen, earning its PG-13 rating. Other times, the film glosses over the cost of the war and leaves the titular character as a bit one-dimensional and hokey. As a result, the movie seems a bit wishy- washy and tries to have it both ways and muddles the message of the film, which is (I think) that every person can contribute during tough times.
All that said, I loved the awkward and old-fashioned relationship between Rogers (Chris Evans) and British agent Peggy Carter (the lovely Hayley Atwell). Tommy Lee Jones plays a delightfully crotchety military office and shows once again that he is such a consistent actor (just forget about Batman Forever...). Finally, the appearance of Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) helps relate this to the other Marvel films and gives you the impression the filmmakers know what they are doing.
For the most part, they do, but I'm not as enthusiastic about this one. The Cap'n gets 2.5 out of 4 stars.