Good - but not has good as I had hoped

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2011)

SOME SPOILERS(?) Not really... (But DO stay for after the credits!)
It is quite possible to love Captain America the comic book too much. It is also quite possible to love those trailers with Stanley Tucci as Dr Erskine telling skinny Chris Evans / Steve Rogers that "It's about being a good man."
And it is quite possible to get entranced by the humility and guts of this young man who would do good. Because at the heart of this comic book hero is a story about a good, pure- hearted man who would do whatever he could to do the right thing... and keep getting back up when bigger and more capable men would have long given up.
And that is touching.
And for the first half of the movie the story touches this admirably. My only beef is with the second half which seems to ditch the brooding character development of what is essentially a gentle and loving soul learning to finally enjoy his life... and gets too much into the action.
Now, GRANTED, this IS a comic book movie. And GRANTED, this is also an action adventure story.
But the spine of the story as portrayed in the first half of the story should have played a more central role in the second half. I think that would have made this into a "perfect" super hero movie... but moreso a solid, and touching drama.
Because at the heart of this story SHOULD have been about a good man, learning his self- worth, and the love of a good woman who would inspire him to move forward even when he far outlived her.
THAT, would have made the story thematically and emotionally unified. So maybe if the story was 30 minutes longer with that aspect of the drama placed within the heart of the story I would not have felt so numb and let down in the second half.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Just one other point: This movie is MEANT to be a setup for next year's AVENGERS movie. It would be a serious waste if they stopped making Captain America movies just to focus on Avengers stories. At the heart is still a man who is discovering his own self-worth. And that is plenty important in this day and age.