"Don't win the war till I get there."

Rating: 7/10 (12 February 2012)

If I had rated and reviewed this picture when it first came out it would have scored a notch higher. Watching today though it lost some of it's original magic, and begged the question - do I have to watch every movie more than once to give it an objective score? I just don't have the time or inclination to do that.
On balance, the first half of the story, well maybe the first third of the story is what bears kudos. I like to see how movies handle the origin stories of comic book characters that originated way back in the Thirties and Forties. "Batman Begins" was a good one for example in the DC Universe, along with the modernized version of the origin of Spider-Man that kick started the Marvel movie franchise. The super serum project that amplified Steve Rogers' ninety pound weakling physique into that of a steroid freak was particularly effective here.
What I didn't care for this second time around was the latter part of the story with it's over extended battle scene between Cap (Chris Evans) and Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). The Nazi villain's demise was way too anti-climactic, and given the decades long relationship between Captain America and his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in the comics world, his death here seemed contrived and almost certain to disappoint Cap fans.
One of the pluses for me, and I always mention this, is the appearance of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee in a cameo role. This time around he shows up as Army brass at a Captain America war bond drive. Another would have been at the very end when Cap wakes up from his frozen slumber and enters a new age, to be greeted by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and commissioned into a modern day assignment. Here's hoping The Avengers raises the bar at least back up to the level of the original "Iron Man".