It's All American.

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2011)

"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history. But every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier. We are going to win this war because we have the best men. And they, personally, will escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell." Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones)
In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has been determined unfit for service in WWII, so he volunteers for a secret project that changes him into America's ace defender, Captain America, and the first of the Avengers, who have adorned our summers with satisfying action forever it seems.
What makes this such an agreeable adventure sci fi is director Joe Johnston's ability to underplay the graphics in favor of the characterizations. While some of the artillery is molecular obliterating, mostly it's pumped up WWII munitions with the real pumping coming in the terrific war boosting scenes with song and dance, just the way the US sold war bonds to finance the real war.
With Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips and Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull, the adventure is old-fashioned comic-book good and one of the highlights of the summer. Nobody plays the hard-nose with a heart better than Jones, and Weaving's nefarious Nazi makes you almost, but not really, forget Christoph Waltz's Oscar winning Col. Hans Landa.
I have always judged these movies in part on the central romance, that formulaic hookup between the hero and some form of a fawning female. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) loves scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a silly connection with a silly Portman goo-goo eyed over the godly visitor. On the other hand, Captain America's connection with army officer Peggy Carter movies gently in a dance that has the usual rough beginning but ending nicely with love and admiration.
Captain America: The First Avenger belongs to all the cast, who delivered just the right beats to the overall music of playful, escapist summer.