A very enjoyable film which embraces its comic book heritage

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2015)

The only Marvel Cinematic Universe that I had seen prior to this week, I went to see it at the cinema because I was familiar with Captain America and the Red Skull from their appearances in the 1990s "Spider-Man" animated series and I remembered them as being rather cool. Watching it again, I did not enjoy quite as much as when I first saw, in part because "Thor" set the bar very high for MCU films. That said, it is still a very enjoyable film, it has a good script and it is great fun from start to finish. However, it could have been structured a little better as the second half was generally stronger than the first. The film is very well directed by Joe Johnston, who previously directed another (and, for my money, better) period superhero film, namely "The Rocketeer".
Chris Evans is not as charismatic a leading man or as good an actor as Robert Downey, Jr., Edward Norton or Chris Hemsworth but he is extremely likable as Steve Rogers. At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to him as a sickly and very brave young man who seeks to serve his country by enlisting in the US Army but is repeatedly rejected because of his numerous health problems. He is eventually recruited into the Strategic Scientific Reserve's super-soldier programme (which was nicely foreshadowed in "The Incredible Hulk") and the serum transforms him into a superhuman. Steve is a kind, noble, courageous and compassionate man but he is not the most interesting character in the world. In contrast to Tony Stark and Thor, Steve does not really grow as a character over the course of the film as his transformation is purely a physical one. Whether as a man of below average build or a superhuman, he is the same good, decent person, which means that he doesn't really have a character arc. He is most certainly a likable character but there's no real internal struggle as with the characters in the previous films.
Hayley Atwell, one of my favourite young actresses working today, gives a great performance as the British agent Peggy Carter, who resembles the film stars of the period with her hairstyle and bright red lipstick. While Jane Foster from "Thor" is still my favourite MCU leading lady, Peggy is a great character who manages to be a strong woman in both the conventional sense and in the ass kicking sense. On the one hand, she has a sharper mind than most people and doesn't suffer fools gladly. On the other, she is a highly trained agent and a crack-shot rather than merely a damsel in distress. The fact that she is a woman who is very successful in a predominantly male profession at a time when men were far more openly sexist than today means that she is in many respects an outsider. As such, I think that she and Steve can relate to each other better than most people. I'm looking forward to watching her TV series "Agent Carter" as I think that a great deal more can be done with the character than could be done in a two hour film of which she was not the protagonist.
Hugo Weaving is suitably creepy as Johann Schmidt who, interestingly, is only referred to as the Red Skull once in the entire film. He is a great, old-fashioned villain with a requisite plot for world domination. Weaving uses a slightly over the top German accent, something which I actually think worked in the film's favour as it is consistent with its pulp tone. As Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer did to Tony Stark in "Iron Man 2", Schmidt provides a dark reflection to Steve but this element is not explored as much as I would have liked. Tommy Lee Jones is great as Colonel Phillips and has some very funny lines. Dominic Cooper is quite strong as Tony's father Howard Stark, whom we previously saw as an older man in the aforementioned film. It is interesting to see the seeds of Iron Man being sown more than 60 years before the events of the first film. Sebastian Stan offers great support as Steve's best friend Bucky Barnes and I love the sense of camaraderie and brotherly competition between the two of them. Of the other members of the squad, Neal McDonough and J.J. Feild stood out the most as Dumb Dumb Dugan and James Montgomery Falsworth (who reminded me of actors such as David Niven and Richard Todd in old World War II films). The film also features nice appearances from Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, David Bradley, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Brandon, Jenna Coleman, Sophie Colquhoun and, in his best cameo yet, Stan Lee.
I loved the design of the film as the sets and costumes perfectly recreated the 1940s, even though its tone is more consistent with the World War II of pulp comics and old films than the real thing. Speaking of which, Steve and Peggy's understated romance was the sort of thing that you would find in films of the period while their final conversation is highly reminiscent of Peter Carter and June's first conversation in "A Matter of Life and Death". The special effects of the film are very good, the best example being the CGI used to make Evans look like a considerably smaller man in the first half an hour or so.
Overall, this is great fun. Of the MCU films that I have seen so far, it seemed to be the most obviously based on a comic book. It's great "Boy's Own" stuff.