Marvel has given me some hope. This film is all about Captain America and not 'Avengers 2'

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2014)

I make no apologies and am very frank in my admission that I have been disappointed with the vast majority of Mr.Feige's cinematic endeavors. 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Iron Man 3' do nothing for the characters other than remind you that Joss Whedon will use them again in his grand 'Avengers' follow up. I walked into 'Captain America' with a fair degree of cynicism and some low expectations. I was blown away. 'Captain America' is Marvel's best offering since the original 'Iron Man'. This is no small praise. 'Captain America' does everything a good superhero movie should, have a hero with convictions who has to actually suffer to bring justice to the world. 'Captain America' not only stands up on it's own but it also actually gives weight to the Marvel cinematic universe.
Surprisingly, this is a very gritty action film. The Russos stage fights that could happen in an R rated action film. The movie uses the least C.G.I of any Marvel film. And thus the film is great benefited because we are not disconnected from our heroes. Characters bleed when they get hurt. Captain America isn't fighting monsters or men in Iron suits who wield flames. This is like the best of the Bond films. It has more in touch with Daniel Craig's Bond then 'Avengers'.
A major problem I had with 'Avengers' was that it blatantly advocates the use of SHIELD as a secret police. Upon re-watching Whedon's opus recently I actually thought that Loki and his monologues about 'freeing mankind from freedom' had more or less the same intent as Powers Boothe and his world security council. Sure there are moments when the gang question these overlords but the entirety of the Avengers become Fury's lapdogs by the end of the film. I was so disillusioned by this. It would seem that the screenwriters were as well. 'Captain America' is so timely in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations that the film has an eerie quality to it. It is challenging territory indeed and in lesser hands I don't think the film would have worked so well. The marriage between pulp entertainment and political commentary has been rocky but this movie is seamless. I think that this is because we have a perfect hero to represent these themes.
Captain America is a great hero because Marvel at their best really do try to make the character match the spirit of Americanism. That spirit has often come in conflict with the government and the secret security agencies set up to "protect" us. Chris Evans really stresses the strong convictions of the character. I think the film could have worked just as well without Hydra or even the Winter Solider character. The idea of SHIELD violating the liberties Captain America holds so dear is villain enough. This isn't a film about villains. It's a film about a strong hero fighting a righteous fight. Marvel films haven't been about that aside from the original 'Iron Man'.