Marvel's best outing since Iron Man.

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2011)

In between the lacklustre Hulk and average Thor, Marvel Studios released Iron Man, a thoroughly enjoyable superhero film driven by perfect casting, tight pacing and well-scripted characters (well, about as good as they can get for blockbusters anyway). I would consider Captain America, the last film to round out the team of Avengers, on par with Iron Man, albeit for different reasons.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a wimpy-looking young man with the heart of a lion. Indeed, the only attribute keeping him from the military service he so desperately wishes to partake in is his physical presence. Enter Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Doctor Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who arrange to have Rogers injected with a serum that gives him speed and strength beyond that of any normal human. Having become the poster boy for the Allies in the midst of World War II, the Cap is tasked with thwarting Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), an ambitious Nazi who has cut ties with Hitler and formed his own army of hi-tech super soldiers.
The acting is generally without fault across the board. Rogers goes through the motions, letting his stunts speak louder than his words. Weaving (Australia's second-favourite son, naturally wedged between Geoffrey Rush and Hugh Jackman) seems to have villainous performances down to a tee by now, and an impressive German accent to boot. Tommy Lee Jones has fun hamming it up playing someone who is basically a caricature of Tommy Lee Jones, and Tucci also does justice to his small role as the good doctor.
Speaking of role sizes, I was only expecting a cameo appearance from Howard Stark (that's right, Tony's dad) but he goes on to become an almost omnipresent character. More importantly, I was pleased to see he wasn't lazily characterised as a carbon copy of his son. Howard is more a professional than a playboy, and the right decision was made in giving him a subtler demeanour, if for no other reason than the pleasure of seeing something different.
The film does a good job of immersing the viewer, which is crucial due to the unusual plot. At the crux, it's still a matter of 'you either buy the story or you don't', but Captain America successfully suspends disbelief wherever necessary, and never forgets what kind of movie it is. It puts a limit on the self-serving American patriotism I expected going in, but in keeping with most other Marvel films, it still sneaks in the odd cheesy one-liner and/or joke. Also in keeping with most other Marvel films, many of these wisecracks fall flat, although some are admittedly saved by the deadpan, sarcastic delivery of Lee Jones' no- nonsense Colonel.
Perhaps the only major criticism of the film is a couple of inconsistencies: one to do with the plot and the other related to a character. As one friend pointed out, it seems that the entire war effort has become focused solely on Schmidt's army, and that his defeat will signal the end of the war. Meanwhile Hitler is apparently free to do as he pleases. As for the latter, I find it highly unlikely that a woman would find herself so high up the ranks of the military given the time period. I understand she exists solely to accommodate the romantic subplot, but a career change should have been in order. Regardless of her role in the comics (of which I am not familiar with), there is certainly no crime against taking some slight poetic license for the sake of a better outcome.
Overall, though, a more-than-satisfactory effort is made, en route to a good score out of ten. The clincher for me was, despite the film's relatively insignificant shortcomings, the fact that I rather enjoyed the experience. Time just seemed to fly by, which I'm certain was the primary intention of director Joe Johnston in the first place.
*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review.*