Pleasantly surprised

Rating: 7/10 (8 August 2012)

I didn't really have any expectations going into this one. It was released right at the time when I simply felt there were just too many super hero movies being released. I assumed Marvel's temptation to gild the lily meant a decrease in quality, but I found Captain America to be pretty entertaining with a minimum of silliness.
I can't begin dissecting the movie without first mentioning the way they handled the physical change of the main character. It was done brilliantly in my opinion. My number one complaint with movies these days is the liberal use of CGI, a lot of which I find very distracting. In this case however I think it was about as seamless as you're going to get. When I logged on to IMDb to learn more about the film I was pleased to read about the clever body morphing used and actual movie-making techniques that were combined to create what I feel is a masterful success. Evans has a bit of a deep voice so that was a little distracting to me when he was a small guy early in the film, but other than that I really don't think they could've done a better job.
I was already impressed at that point, but the rest of the movie is pretty good too. It could be accused of taking it's time but the story arc of Cap was rich and thorough which I appreciated. Tommy Lee Jones was a pleasant surprise and was a good choice for his role if you ask me. It was also nice to see Hugo Weaving in a role that's unique to his usual Mr. Smith or Elrond shticks which I was afraid he was getting too comfortable with. On a random note, I thought they did a good job with the costume as well. The mask was a little goofy but it actually fit right in when you think of the 1940s war motif so overall I thought they pulled it off. Lastly I really liked the ending. I knew Cap was frozen originally in the comics so I was wondering where they were going with that and they didn't disappoint.
I was so very glad I took a chance on this one, but I will admit to having some slight criticisms. The "super weapons" that Hydra was carrying around create some issues. It seems like their guns can penetrate pretty much anything, but during the prisoner escape scene our heroes have no problem mowing down bad guys and blowing up enemy vehicles while you don't even see a Hydra soldier even fire at them. Too much of a shooting gallery, and any time Cap got in some trouble the bad guys happened to have flame throwers, not the all powerful guns they usually carried around. I also groaned a little when Howard Stark showed up, but I understand they're trying to tie all the franchises together so whatever no big deal.
To summarize Captain America is a fun ride. The story is pretty tightly wound and I was never really bored. I think trimming 15 minutes or so off of the run time would've have hurt, but at the same time there were no scenes I minded in the least. A nice super hero movie that's pretty solid overall.