Pick of the Week - Captain America: The First Avenger

By Horacio Garcia

The greatest hero the United States has known is back…and we are one step closer to the coming of The Avengers. We already have Ironman, Thor, The Captain and The Hulk. I know for a fact that Hawkeye is not getting a movie of his own and Ant Man never had a chance.

I must confess that I went to Captain America: The First Avenger with a little foreboding. It's the most "cartoon like" of the bunch -the outfit have always being ridiculous, so…surprise, surprise! It turns out Captain America is by far the best Superhero movie of the year. This is big, loud, outrageous, fast paced action fun. Not only that: Captain America is old fashioned Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Flash Gordon fun with great FX but relaying more on solid performances and  an straight-lined story.

The story: When a SHIELD research team finds a mysterious plain in the Arctic Ice engraved with the sign of Hydra, the call goes straight to Colonel Nick Fury, because something Big has being found. Then, times rolls back and  the action begins more than 70 years before, in 1942 in  Brooklyn, New York, where a weakling, asthmatic, ninety-five pounds boy named Stephen Rogers tries to join the Army for the 4th time and is rejected again.

But he gets lucky because while visiting the Queens Faire grounds he is noticed by a mysterious Dr. Erskine who's got a lot of pull with the military. Stephen is accepted in the US Army, not to be shipped overseas to kill Germans but to be part of the super soldiers Program. You can imagine the rest.

What is it that works so well in Captain America that does not in Green Lantern or Ironman II? Simply put, director Joe Johnston went back to the basics: a great story plot of good vs. evil, lots of action and very good actors. Hugo Weaving playing Red Skull is simply sinister, with Tommy Lee Jones as the Colonel (there is always one) and Hayley Atwell providing the pretty-yet-lethal Agent Carter, the love interest of the hero. But above all, Chris Evans really nailed it this time.

The transformation from the little, skinny Stephen Rogers into the Cap is flawless and not only on account of the great effects and make-up they used, when Evans comes out of that pod, he really is The Captain. He believes in his character in exactly the way Ryan Reynolds did not believed in his in Green Lantern and this  film is so much better for that.

Special mention to the excellent Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine and the always professional Toby Jones as Dr. Zola, Hydra's main scientist and Red Skull right hand. Again, one of the best things in the movie is the solid cast of secondary actors, including the regular cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of the movie. Remember; The Avengers is Nick's personal project and the movie is coming next year. Of course, you really have to wait to the very end of the credits to see the clip. All in all, a very good adventure movie.

Tags blogger: Horacio Garcia, Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Tommy Lee Jones