Nothing special but at least it is an entertaining romp without too much Avengers baggage

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2011)

I'm starting to go off the endless churn of superhero movies that keep coming out – they tend not to differ from the others and I dislike the way that all of the Marvel ones currently have the unnecessary weight of linking to next year's Avengers movie, tending to make them cluttered. Having heard Thor called one of the better ones, and then not really caring for it, I didn't hold out much hope for Captain America being much cop. I was curious to see it though because I figured they couldn't make it as bad as the cheap and nasty one from 1990.
The film does what they all do which is to step back to the origins story and go from there; this is often a good device and it works well here to, allowing the viewer to get in with the characters while also providing a solid storyline for the majority. Although I know that the Red Skull is a key villain within the Captain America story, I'm not sure if I would have rather seen him kept back for a separate film and maybe only alluded to here. He does provide a solid thread for the second half of the film but it did feel a little rushed and I thought the conflict between the two of them lacked a real edge or personal investment – he was just the "baddie" and thus has to fight the "goodie", more could have been done with the aspect of them being "related" in terms of the creative process to add some teeth to them – but it wasn't.
It does still work though, mainly because, unlike Thor, the film remembers that while it may want to pave the way for another blockbuster, its primary function is to entertain. I found it quite fun, it never seemed overly heavy and while it did try and stay away from the pantomime nature of its hero, it didn't try and force a lot of darkness onto it. It is daft and it doesn't have much in the way of substance but the effects are pretty good and I never really tired of it in the way I did with Thor. The film also benefits from the time it is set in as well as I liked the period touches and generally the advanced weapons were given a nicely dated feel to them (although some of the bigger laser cannons did look a bit silly in my opinion).
The cast do a solid job with what little there is to work with. Evans is a solid lead and is likable enough – he keeps the heart of his character which is important and even when "super" he never comes over like he is indestructible. Atwell works well with him and is easy on the eye while Jones shows that even when he phones it in, he is still a strong screen presence. Weaving as always is a good presence and here is no exception even though every time he spoke I thought of Wenger Herzog; he is a good presence though and again this was part of the reason I was sad to see his character only be part of the film and not made more of. Support is solid from Cooper, Tucci, Luke and many other familiar faces.
Overall Captain America is not a good enough film to make me overcome my general apathy towards the endless parade of these Marvel superhero movies (we have years of these characters planned to come) but it was at least one of the ones that I enjoyed. The "Avengers" clutter is mostly kept to the side and the solid origins story makes for a cheerful and entertaining romp. Not brilliant by any means but I did enjoy it for what it was – which doesn't sound like much but too often even that is a bar that some of these films aren't able to reach.