Marvel's middle of the road film

Rating: 4/10 (21 November 2015)

With the success of Iron Man it made sense that another Marvel heavyweight in Captain America should come to the big screen and the result is a flawed but decent enough old school action piece. Joe Johnston had shown ability to handle highly stylised films in the past and Chris Evans had experience in the comic book field with the underwhelming Fantastic Four films. What we end up getting is a film that manages to put its pulp roots to good use and makes the well- worn underdog story work okay because of how it uses the basic elements. It definitely stutters throughout, but it's a nice to have another comic book film that knows how to provide plenty of adventure.
Story: Set during WW2, a frail man named Steve Rogers continually fails to make the army grade until he is given the chance via a serum that enhances all of his abilities. Now involved as the patriot hero Captain America, he goes after a Nazi organisation named Hydra which is headed by Johann Schmidt who has used the same serum as Rogers. The plot is relatively straight-forward as we see Rogers grow from a plucky underdog to the defender of America and even the villains plan is simply to cause havoc with advanced weaponry. The issue is that this is a story that has been so many times that it is entirely predictable and though the film does it well, it doesn't do it exceptionally well and doesn't really add anything new onto the formula.
Hero: Chris Evans does a surprisingly fantastic job as the titular hero and is probably the best thing here. He perfectly portrays Rogers as upbeat and courageous, but with a kind innocence in that he just wants to help out. It's a character that is easy to get behind and care about, while Evans also convinces in the suit and handles all areas of the character effectively despite his lack of an arc.
Villains: Hugo Weaving does a convincing job as the devious Schmidt, but is let down by no character development. Weaving makes you believe the guy is evil and his expressions alone are great, yet we learn next to nothing about his past or true intentions and his grand scheme is overly convoluted. He simply becomes a very boring obstacle as the film goes on. The Nazi soldiers are pretty much black Stormtroopers and Toby Jones gets little to do as Schmidt's biochemist.
Support: Hayley Atwell is very good despite her lack of development as Peggy Carter. She manages to get across the characters sweet demeanour, handles the dramatic moments well and she has excellent chemistry with Evans, but she certainly deserved more time devoted to her. Tommy Lee Jones did what he does best as the sardonic and grouchy colonel, whilst managing to get a few laughs throughout. Dominic Cooper cut a suave and effectively dashing figure as Howard Stark. Stanley Tucci is good fun as the German scientist who recruits Rogers and provides some good laughs, it's a shame he isn't involved for long. Sebastian Stan is just okay as Rogers' best friend.
Action: The action scenes are done more in a classic sense. There are plenty of large scale army battles and mass gun fights to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Captain America himself has an impressive fighting style and we get to see him do many things that only humans can dream of, though he does manage to avoid injury a few too many times. The final confrontation with Schmidt is a bit of a let-down and doesn't have the intensity that was needed, but the climax is satisfying enough.
Music: Alan Silvestri provides a very forgettable score. I honestly cannot remember any compositions that stood out, the music doesn't build up the fight scenes and the main theme itself is totally unmemorable. It just feels like a typical run of the mill action score and has none of the required bombast for such a film.
Production: Visually the film is something of a mixed bag. Johnston shoots the action well enough and there is an atmosphere to certain scenes that works. Everything seems highly stylised during the 1940's and that does lend a comic book feel to proceedings, but then things like the advanced technology are never explained properly even if it will later tie into some of the other Marvel films. The costumes and sets were all very good in making you believe that it was a different era. Yet it does suffer badly from some really blurry frames and some downright weird editing, there were some scenes that literally cut away out of nowhere which was very jarring. This leads to another big issue, the CGI. This film has some truly awful CGI and it just completely takes you out of what is taking place on screen when it pops up. As a result many of the large scale sequences or action pieces just didn't have any weight behind them.
Conclusion: So Captain America is an enjoyable adventure yarn, but it is a very flawed film and is just downright dull in certain areas. It has its moments with some impressive spectacle, a solid cast and Chris Evans is impressive as the Captain. However it is weak in too many areas to be thought too highly of as it has an overdone storyline, a bland villain, ropey CGI and some off-putting direction. Many of the elements where in place here for something great and though some of them pay off, many of them fall flat. As far as the Marvel films are concerned this is slap bang in the middle, it's a film which is easy to enjoy but equally as easy to forget.