Final preparation, class, for "The Avengers"

Rating: Null/10 (11 September 2011)

After "Hulk", "Iron Man" and "Thor", this one is obviously a must-see as a pre-requisite to next year's major movie event: The Avengers. In what generally acknowledged as a more "human" story, the plot line follows the determined quest of titular protagonist Steve Rogers, a 90-pound weakling (miraculous CGI work on 6-foot Chris Evans) with Hercules-size heart and will-power, to get into the U.S. Army to serve his country in WW II. By a stroke of luck, his dream is fulfilled when he is chosen as an object of a scientific experiment through which he is transformed into not quite Superman, but certainly a man with above-human physical capabilities. Ironically, the ultimate role of this Captain America, as conceived by the authorities, is a "chorus girl" in a public relations and morale boosting road show. To cut a long story short, he finally achieves his goal, culminating in an epic dual with nemesis Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), a German megalomaniac who seeks first to replace Hitler, then to rule the world. As expected, our hero wins, but not without cost. While fortunate to escape almost certain death, he ends up in a coma, only to wake up 70 years later, to find that he has missed a date with his love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), British military agent with a face of an angel, fists of steel, and a heart that appears to be of the same stuff but actually has a soft spot in it. The cast is impressive. Evans handles well this meatier role after trivial pursuits like Human Torch. Those who ever doubt Atwell's acting ability show see "Brideshead revisited" (2008). Weaving appears in the first half of the movie in his familiar persona and look, and in the second half, while with persona intact, transforms into the hideous "Red Skull". Tommy Lee Jones, looking a little like Bob DeNiro, serves well as the typical army man. Stanley Tucci has a cameo-type appearance as the scientist who discovers Rogers. And there is of course Samuel L. Jackson who appears in his now customary Nick Fury cameo, linking all the component movies of "The Avengers".