The Star of Summer 2011 Missed it By that Much

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2011)

By all accounts, Captain America: The First Avenger should have stolen the spotlight for all of 2011. The special effects consisted of easily the most impressive batch of explosions, gunfights, and fantastical vehicles so far this year. There were no complaints in the acting department: Chris Evans was born to play the Captain and was strongly supported on each side by the talents of Hayley Atwell as the gorgeous Peggy Carter and veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Phillips. And as well all know, Hugo Weaving, perfectly capable of delivering the most dreadful of villains, had his shot at the infamous Johann Schmidt (or Red Skull). Adopting one of the most classic American stories of our time, and across the fascinating historical backdrop of WWII, this film had all the elements perfectly aligned and was geared to set the bar for all superhero movies to come. Don't get me wrong, Captain America: The First Avenger was solid in almost every aspect and incredibly entertaining, but a groundbreaking superhero film it is not. What went wrong? Warning: Criticism and minor spoilers lie ahead!
Film adaptations of comic books are notorious in their development of the superhero. In many cases the film waits until its latter half before fully empowering protagonist, and the confrontations with the villain are squeezed into a rushed conclusion. Captain America actually reverses this timing decision, and Steve Rogers' transformation into the American hero is one of the first events that happens in the movie. But the remainder of the film STILL manages to feel miserably rushed. Superheroes are typically given a couple chances to gain a command over their powers; they practice, experiment, and sometimes even fail, but the hero is developed as a result of the learning process, not instantaneously established. Captain America is at fault here. The moment a relatively inexperienced Captain America decides to leap past enemy lines he immediately, and miraculously, becomes a human wrecking ball, knocking away everything in his path from Nazis to high-tech tanks. In fact, all of his 'missions' to destroy the enemy bases - except the first and last - are shown within one frustratingly short montage full only of Captain America glory shots. Montages can work, when timed correctly, but Captain America utterly fails to build up to this sequence - Steve Rogers is simply thrown into the fray... and wins. Another major miss can be attributed to the character of Johann Schmidt. In my humble personal opinion, a superhero movie can only be as good as its villain. Apparently the writers did not share my sentiments, because Hugo Weaving was awarded a criminally small amount of screen time. Weaving gave a good effort but was unfortunately not given much to work with. The most 'evil' the Red Skull gets is expressed through a couple angry snarls and intentional friendly fire during the action montage.
However, the most impacting flaw was the film's conclusion. I won't say exactly what the ending entails, but I will say it is frustratingly ironic. After a sudden and abrupt cut in the action, instead of wrapping up any of the romantic or historical plots of the movie - in fact, instead of wrapping up ANY part of the movie - it suddenly shifts to a drastically different setting in order to set up the future 'The Avengers' film. Whether or not The Avengers will take care of the loose ties remains to be seen. It seemed like a tragedy that the original story was not concluded at all to my satisfaction, but when I remembered the full title of the movie I chided myself for expecting anything different.
I left the theater feeling a bit divided over what my opinion of the film should be. On one hand it was an improved Marvel work that everyone seemed to enjoy, but on the other hand it betrayed my expectations for the 10-star superhero masterpiece I had imagined. In the end, I'll give the movie the benefit of the doubt; while it still has flaws, Captain America: The First Avenger may still come out on top of the Marvel pile.
8/10