The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe review will be out this Friday for members of the POST Wrestling Café.
This month’s feature is “Captain America - The First Avenger” from Phase One.
Leave us your feedback, questions and comments below and tune in this Friday.
What a year 2011 was both in wrestling and in Marvel movies! I remember how high my anticipation was for these Avenger solo movies prior to 2012’s Marvel’s Avengers film.
All the Agent Coulson and Nick Fury cameos over the past films coupled with the great cliffhanger in First Avenger led to a fervor for the 2012 film.
As for this movie, I liked the idea of doing essentially a period war movie. Wonder woman had success doing a similar film recently. It showed that Thor, iron man, Cap shared a universe but each represented a distinct genre. I had misgivings about Evans’ casting as I saw him as a comic actor but he assuaged my fears with A genuine, heartfelt performance. He had instant chemistry with both Bucky and Agent Carter, although in different ways.
I thought the film got a bit too cute in the middle with the cap “tribute to the troops” scenes and red skull was too mustache-twirly but a solid adaptation and this movie sets the stage for Cap to be the heart of the avengers and sets up one of my fave films of all-time: winter soldier.
Cheap plug: I started the comics thread in the forum. If any listeners want to contribute anything comics related please do so. It’s fun hearing from listeners of different interests from various countries. Also, I do recommend the current Captain America comic written by novelist Ta-Nahesi Coates,whose Black Panther run echoed that movie. Thanks again guys for these reviews!
Merry Christmas John and Wai!
The Captain America movies are my favorite of the MCU, and this movie does a great job introducing the characters close to Captain America that non comic readers, like myself, weren’t familiar with. Stanley Tucci is one of the best character actors working and his role hits all the right notes, and Chris Evans exceeded my expectations and continues to be my favorite Avenger.
Watching back, I noticed how Civil War calls back to the first Captain America movie. When Steve is getting beat up in the alley by the bully he says how he “can do this all day” after repeatedly getting beat up, but never quitting. In the climax of Civil War, Steve repeats this phrase during his battle with Iron Man. Awesome.
Will in Chicago
Eric from Sudbury,
Captain America: The First Avenger is a fun superhero-period piece, and despite being somewhat outshone by its sequels, it remains a great introduction to one of the MCU’s lead characters. Chris Evans is fantastic as Steve Rogers, which is something I never would have predicted before watching the film. The plot is a bit basic, and many of the side characters are under-utilized, but the themes and lead characters of the film are strong, and this is overall a good outing for the MCU.
The First Avenger is another superhero origin movie, but it’s very different then any of the origin movies that preceded it, especially in the MCU. In most superhero origin stories, the hero has some sort of big lesson to learn, that by the end of the film defines who they are. Captain America is different. He never changes who he is, and instead it’s the people around him who develop over the course of the movie to adopt his ideals.
This movie says that you can be an idealist and not be an idiot, and I think that’s a message that is very relevant to the world today.
“Doctor” Ian from the UK,
Last time around I talked about how Thor was my underrated darling of phase 1 and maybe the best MCU stand-alone film. Captain America was very much the opposite. I wanted to like this film so much and found it all so overwhelming. I suppose it’s the squeaky clean white-meat babyface who ‘always does the right thing’ that doesn’t resonate with my more jaded tastes. I loved Thor because he was flawed and finds redemption, Iron Man is great because he’s the self-obsessed playboy who sees the light and reforms his way - Captain America is just a scrawny nice-guy who become a superpowered nice guy. I just didn’t find enough character development to keep me invested.
However, if you consider the larger picture - and consider that this is only Act I of a much longer and more sophisticated Steve Rogers narrative - then this is much more rewarding. Sure, Steve is the scrawny kid who was never short on courage but needed saving by Bucky Barnes. However, this belief in standing up for what is right, even if the institutions you once believed in can no longer be trusted to be ‘right’ makes Steve Rogers the most interesting character in the MCU - even if his debut feels very one note Americana Rah Rah.
This isn’t to say that this movie is without its charm: Tommy Lee Jones plays the grizzled army colonel with that perfect mix of disdain and hope so that we actually care about his turn in perspective towards Rogers, meanwhile Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull was well presented and it really is a shame he didn’t become a recurring villain in the vein of Loki. The MCU could have used another regular antagonist and it feels as though Marvel burnt through Red Skull way too quickly.
However, the standout to me from this film is Stanley Tucci. His belief in Rogers is absolutely infectious and he becomes the avatar through which the audience weighs the moraltiy in the film. Captivating, sincere, optimisitc and understated, Tucci is a treasure and he is the best thing about a very middle-of-the-road debut for Cap.