Surprisingly Excellent

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2011)

Watched this last night and found myself waiting for the movie to make that odd little death- flop that comes with simply making itself an advertisement for "The Avengers" (which is what I felt "Thor" ended up being).
Director Joe Johnston understands the era, though, as seen thru his film "The Rocketeer", and realizes that one can put characters in peril all while not completely depending on new technology. The movie also does an excellent job of poking fun at the cheesier side of the 1940's war efforts while contrasting them with the dankness of actual war.
There were some steam-punk elements to this film that reminded me of the show "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." and led the film easily into connecting with the upcoming "Avengers" with hints of modernization.
The Actors played each character well, ESPECIALLY Chris Evans who, obviously, as the titular Captain, wears both bravery and humility on his shirtsleeve without becoming a parody of a weakling. Each supporting actor seemed to be having fun, not unlike actors in Johnston's "October Sky". Hugo Weaving was a great choice for Red Skull IMO. Also, UNLIKE "Thor" (sorry to rain on his parade), you feel like Cap and Red Skull are a perfect match for each other. Either one could kick the others' butt, it was just a matter of who would get the upper-hand. In "Thor", Thor and Loki would get in a fight and it would look good but you had no reason to believe one could be more powerful than the other outside of the fact that the movie was Thor's to begin with.
What I was happy about is that there were a few very explicit connections to The Avengers and a few subtle HINTS at other Avenger-related franchises. While I will not give them away, each seemed to have a purpose that suited the characters and their function in the film, which was incredibly satisfying to me (again, considering what I thought was truly weak about "Thor"). If this film had simply had to run on its own merits, minus the possibility of any sequels, we would have had quite a good film alone.
If I had to compare it to any other Marvel film, I would mostly compare it to the first "Iron Man" because it uses War as a backdrop to test our characters. And Tony Stark and Steve Rogers have completely different approaches to survival. Sure, the war in the movie realistically gritty as actual war, but that really doesn't affect how you feel at the end.
This is a pretty good movie to take your 10-year old to (minus some violence) on a Sunday afternoon. Here's to Marvel and their success in making more fine films that blend Character, Action and Story together, just like their Comics do!