A Solid Origin Story for the First Avenger

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2011)

By no means is this film a masterpiece of cinema but at the same time, as a super-hero fan (read NERD) it was a thrilling, action-packed and witty work of fiction that kept me interested from beginning to end.
Captain America finally has himself a big-budget Hollywood movie that's not only not bad, it's actually damn good. The origin story plays out exactly as it should. We meet Rogers before the transformation, when he's a scrawny kid from Brooklyn who desperately wants to do his part in WW2. Due to health issues and his pathetic physique and in spite of his strong moral character and courage, Steve Rogers just isn't cut out for combat. Luckily a secret science division of our armed forces (read forerunner of SHIELD) has acquired a German scientist, a defector who offers his super-soldier serum to create a new army. As you may have guessed from the trailer the plan to create an army doesn't work... well it does sort of, in that they create themselves a one man army in the form of Captain America.
The strong points of the movie, other than the action sequences, are actually the characters. The movie does a decent job of making us feel for all of them and despite his hulking post-serum form Cap is a pretty normal guy. He's awkward around women, can't dance and is, really, just a guy from Brooklyn. The movie relies fairly heavily on comic-book style science which involves Nazis with ray-guns and metals like Vibranium (makes up Cap's shield). I should really call the villains Hydra agents, Cap spends most of the movie fighting NOT Nazis but an altogether more sinister enemy, Hydra, lead by the notorious Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).
The acting is good as is most of the humor though there were a few gags that didn't quite connect with the audience and others that only seemed to connect with some.
As for the action it was surprisingly sparse but that's far from a flaw, the movie prefers to focus on its characters and moves at just the right pace with just the right amount of action. I felt like cheering every time Cap bashed a baddie with his shield. I would easily put this film on par, or at least close to it, with Iron Man (2008) and Spider-Man (2002). Be sure to stick around for the scene after the credits, which is more a trailer for the Avengers. As much fun as this summer has been for Super-Hero fans next summer is gonna be a hell of a ride.
It's about a 7.5 Out of 10 but I'll round it up to an 8 for managing to live up to my already high expectations.