Angela Jul 28, 2011 (edited Jul 28, 2011)
Though it's unconventional for me, I'm going to go ahead and directly quote the Rotten Tomatoes consensus in my review, because it's right on point this time: "With plenty of pulpy action, a pleasantly retro vibe, and a handful of fine performances, Captain America is solidly old-fashioned blockbuster entertainment."
I had a pretty good feeling about Captain America: The First Avenger from the start. Unlike this year's Thor, I was thinking the former's 1940s World War II setting was going to make for a more interesting setting than the Asgard/modern-day Earth mash-up. Conceptually, though, the film's a bit of a weird beast. While backdrops and set pieces tend to suffer from an oversaturation of green screen, the costume designs and props look incredibly authentic. As a period piece, this clashing of direction and tone makes it fall moderately short -- but as a comic book movie masquerading as a period piece, it feels right at home. The point is further validated once they introduce sci-fi elements such as the Cosmic Cube and HYDRA's high-tech weaponry. Campy? A bit, but it's camp told with confidence.
Characters are portrayed in broad, archetypical strokes, but it works in favor of the film's cut and dry sensibilities. Chris Evans plays up Steve Rogers as the selfless good guy from start to finish: caring for his fellow man and loving the country that gave him everything, I like how he treats Cap not as an almighty, invincible superhero, but more as an able-bodied warrior who's been blessed with a fighting chance. The supporting cast follows suit; Tommy Lee Jones, amusing in his crusty, gruff mannerisms as military leader Colonel Phillips. Stanley Tucci's Dr. Erskine shares great chemistry with Evans. Erskine, who understands Steve's plight more than anyone else, provides the heart for a good chunk of the film, and also boasts some of the more memorable scenes. (My favorite was undoubtedly the..... Schnapps toast. 
) The relationship between Cap and Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter works far better than the relationship between that of Thor and Jane; theirs is a slyly coy dynamic that feels richer and a bit more earned by the end. And then there's Hugo Weaving, who's just about perfect as Red Skull. Playing up a terrific Werner Herzog impression, Weaving's slow build-up to the eventual facial reveal is particularly effective.
If there's a fault to level against the film (aside from Alan Silvestri's decidedly lackluster music score), it's that the pacing is a mite skewered. The first half, which is devoted to Steve's origin story and his moving up in the military ranks, feels much stronger than the action-heavy second half. It's this first half that makes the movie so inherently enjoyable; it's chock full of characterization, entertaining not only in watching Steve's progression, but also how the cast bounces off of the two physical sides him. Once we get into the thick of the plot, things start to run a bit more on auto-pilot. The introduction of The Howling Commandos livens things up, but they bring with them some baggage in terms of excessive action fare. I'll hand it to the story, though: while the conclusion starts to become more and more predictable as the film wears on, its actual delivery threw me for an emotional loop I wasn't entirely prepared for.
Having now experienced the complete "Marvel Cinematic Universe" line of films (including The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor), I can safely say that Captain America: The First Avenger is my favorite of the lot. While every movie suffers from having that nagging piecemeal feel to them (crafted so in order to build into a larger canon), Captain America is the first entry that's actually gotten me excited about the prospects of an Avengers movie. Or, at the very least, the continuing story of the good captain.
