Reviews forCaptain America: The First Avenger
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.
The movie's beginning, like the rest of Phase One, is a pretty good time. A fine enough introduction to the character, why the audience should care, and why the character stands out against the people around them. For Steve Rogers, it's due to the fact he's a good man despite his many physical and health issues. The movie does an overall adequate job in showcasing the heart Roger has...though I wished it continued throughout the film. I think that is the biggest problem, outside the quite lacking villain (a consistent issue that has been plaguing this phase) and the action sequences, is that Rogers doesn't change. He gets the chance to finally be on the frontline, to battle for what he believes in, to experience war...but it's all very clean and very optimistic. I don't think the movie needed a full halt to suddenly have Rogers be depressed and go 180 on the tone, but a bit more pushback from the people around him or perhaps a sequence on how losing a man he knew had affected him. Beyond that, the movie's action sequences are rather lackluster, lacking a real wow factor due to the poor cinematography or proper back and forth for most conflicts. Characters like Agent Carter or Bucky Barnes do appear with some personality, but it often feels more there to fulfill certain archetypes like "love interest" or "war buddy". It's disappointing, as I can see the seeds of great characterization in the short snippets we do see a character act, such as Agent Carter's sharp shooting in the first chase scene and in the climax. It was still a good time in a similar vain of _Iron Man_, but it just falls short in reaching the highs that movie had gotten. Average popcorn flick that I don't see myself coming back to over some of the other Phase One flicks.
