Captain America: The First Avenger is the best filmed version of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's creation yet!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2011)

So, after spending the last month watching the previous films that depicted Captain America in live action, I finally watched this latest one in 3-D with my movie theatre-working friend and I have to say right now, this was the most awesome of them all! I mean, finally, they get it right in having the true origin of how Steve Rogers went from a skinny weakling classified as 4-F to one becoming 1-A because of a scientist named Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) showing an interest in him. Those scenes with Tucci and Chris Evans as the eventual superhero bring gravitas to what makes Cap such a great patriot. Also great are the supporting cast of Tommy Lee Jones as the doubting Colonel Chester Phillips and Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter whose spunk and looks make her one of the most alluring leading ladies in these comic book superhero-based movies. Then there's Hugo Weaving as the great villain Johann Schmidt a.k.a The Red Skull. He's sure a hell of a lot more menacing than the one depicted in the 1990 Captain America, that's for sure! If there's one disappointment, it's that while there's a Bucky at last in one of these CA movie adaptations, he's not a teenage boy and he doesn't even wear the costume associated with him. Instead, he's just an enlisted friend about Steve's age who happens to travel with him when they go on missions. Though at least there's still enough of a friendship between them that we get it when Steve tries to drown himself in drink after James Buchanan Barnes (Sebastian Stan) falls off. And I also believed in the almost-relationship between Steve and Peggy. And most of the action scenes were great especially Cap's chase with a stolen taxi. And how about those humorous touches like Steve's shilling for war bonds with dancing girls and "Adolf Hitler" in tow? So on that note, Captain America: The First Avenger gets a high recommendation from me.