Mediocre at BEST....no....it's simply bad.

Rating: 3/10 (28 July 2011)

I really wanted to like this movie. After all the terrible superhero movies that have been released lately, I was somehow hoping that "Captain America" would be different. It wasn't.
I liked the idea of the idealistic but physically weak protagonist who was impossibly patriotic, but beyond that the movie completely fails. I have never understood why superhero movies always feel the need to go completely over the top with outrageous super-villains. In this film Hugo Weaving plays Red Skull. The Red Skull mask looks like something a kid would wear for Halloween...it's that cheesy. Red Skull is apparently possessed with powers similar to Captain America, but also has at his disposal an army of minions with very advanced (and largely unexplained) technology weapons. Yet, these laser beam style weapons seem to do nothing for them.
I guess I don't get it. Would it not have been enough for Captain America to simply be involved in fighting the Nazi juggernaut portrayed in a fashion similar to what history recorded? Wouldn't the Nazis be adequate villains for anyone? If I seem to be dwelling on this issue, it is because for me the silly, cheesy "bad guys" really ruined this movie.
The movie also fails because it is obvious from the beginning that Captain America is basically invulnerable. It is very clear early on that nothing is going to happen to him. I was under the impression that his "powers" consisted of nothing more than being extremely strong and athletic, yet his antics in the movie remind one more of Superman. Captain America's shield certainly cannot shield everything, yet the protagonist is apparently completely immune to the effects of gunfire and laser blasts. Yawn. Even Superman had his kryptonite....
I imagine the superhero formula is more difficult to pull off than it might appear, and this movie fails yet again. It is largely silly and boring.
I would recommend that you skip it.