Captain America: The First Avenger

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2014)

I totally misunderstood the whole plot and concept for this latest Marvel flick it seems. I kinda assumed it was set during WWII with the Cap becoming super and heroic then the film would move into the present and we would have him running around being all mighty in a hi-tech world...so completely wrong there then.
I must admit at first I was getting twitchy as the film was most definitely childish and along the lines of a live action video game adaptation, but as the plot unfolded I did find myself enjoying the film a lot more. I think one reason I enjoyed the film is because it runs along the same kind of lines as 'Iron Man'. It does look good and it holds a slight sense of believability with its use of semi realistic technology (well it looks possible) over magic, sorcery and alien type characters etc...Its not an overly exaggerated fantasy in other words...unlike 'Thor' which is a completely different animal, certain aspects could be seen as more realistic.
Going back to my live action video game adaptation notion, I firmly believe ideas may have been borrowed from the old video game Wolfenstein. The troops of Hydra with their aggressive intimidating helmets and body armour, the flame thrower troops, certain sets, evil scientists, heavy metallic war machines etc...It was almost 'Wolfenstein: the Movie' but that ultra-tech Nazi combination always did have a powerful intriguing and exciting vibe about it.
I'm pretty sure in the original comics the Captain was actually fighting the Nazi's back in the day. I think that aspect was watered down to make this more easier going for younger viewers...I think, I'm not an expert on these matters. Shame really because it would have been much better with Nazi's, 'The Rocketeer' and Indy franchises both worked well battling against those naughty Germans.
That aside I think the development of the lead character Rogers was excellent in this film (best yet), really brought out that classic can do spirit that the allies had during the time with all the propaganda...posters TV adverts recruitment ads in cinemas etc...The film was really put together well in this aspect and did the period proud I think with accuracy and visual style. Also we don't just get an eight minute flashback history of how Rogers dons the suit, it takes most of the film to bring him around to that point, learning what he needs from experience in the field of combat whilst piecing together the suit and shield (with Stark). Most of the time he's actually in military uniform and only wears the suit for missions which is much more realistic as you would assume the Hollywood bigwigs would want him in it 24/7.
Again much like the other Marvel films the casting has been really good and elevated the film greatly with strong solid performances from Jones and Tucci adding the class. Evans actually is pretty good as the Captain and much more likable than the cocky jock in 'Fantastic 4'. Weaving is piling on the bratwurst as The Red Skull and doing it in his usual decent dastardly manner, Cooper makes a surprise success of Stark senior and finally Atwell is perfectly peachy as the love interest doing a far better job than Paltrow. Must add I loved Rogers hand picked team for his special missions, especially Neal McDonough's handlebar moustached bowler hat wearing tough guy. A really unique looking team of soldiers that kinda has a steampunk feel about them if you ask me, like something out of the classic video game 'The Chaos Engine'.
So after the reasonable 'Thor' we are back on track with the Captain but one or two plot niggles bug me. What happened to Weaving at the end exactly? what was the cube thingy? what happened to the cube thingy? how exactly did The Red Skull manage to finance all those machines...win over so many men to be his soldiers presumably from the Third Reich and evade Hitler whom I'm sure would of been after him for deserting? And why did the serum do what it did to Schmidt?
Apart from that and some dodgy moments of bluescreen I did like the film. Its cool seeing all these Marvel films intertwine with each other...like the use of Stark senior. A thoroughly enjoyable tongue- in- cheek pulp magazine styled action fest with dashing heroes, caddish evil villains, damsels in distress and of course plenty of good old fashioned Americana.
7/10