As a girl who didn’t grow up interested in comics at all, I’ve become surprisingly excited about them lately.  My latest conquest is reading through The Ultimate Avengers comics  to get a feel for what is coming for us in 2012 in something that I imagine will break box office records everywhere. Captain America: The First Avenger is another introduction to one of the characters in that movie, and in my opinion, only the Iron Man films have surpassed this movie on the silver screen (at least in the Marvel universe).

I know there were a lot of people up in arms over the fact that Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) now has gotten to play TWO Marvel characters, but I think he did a great job as the earnest, dedicated Steve Rogers/Captain America.   I was actually much more impressed with this role than I was with his portrayal of Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four.  Don’t discount the rest of the team, though – the casting directors made some fantastic choices here. Dominic Cooper (The Duchess, Mamma Mia!) as Howard Stark was a GREAT choice.  He resembled Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark in looks and cocky mannerisms.  Dr. Abraham Erskine was played by Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada, Lucky Number Slevin), one of my absolute favorite actors, and his small role in this was a great example of why I like him so much.  Hayley Atwell (The Duchess) was a beautiful, strong Agent Carter, and I really hope I see more of her in the future. However, it was Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men, Men in Black) as Colonel Chester Phillips who stole the show every moment he was on camera. What a perfect military man he made.  It was hard for me to pay attention to anyone else on screen when he was there.

Red Skull’s makeup job was phenomenal.  Granted, much of the time I found myself internally cringing because his particular shade of red reminded me of the bad sunburns I am prone to getting if I stay out in the sun for more than an hour, but it really was surprisingly close to the original comic drawing.  In a world full of regular (albeit badass) humans, he stood out and there was no mistaking who the bad guy was. Hugo Weaving (known for both the Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies) just plays a great antagonist – I think it’s the eyebrows, they just LOOK evil.

I thought that this film’s love story was probably the most genuine of most films I’ve seen lately.  Typically, as there’s only about a two hour window in which everyone can live happily ever after, we see the protagonist meet and fall in love with someone in what seems like a very unrealistic amount of time.  I am disenchanted by it – Thor’s love story is a perfect example of this.  The movie could have been great without it, but I suppose they needed something for “the female audience”.  I would like to put something out there for filmmakers – as a female, I do NOT need a love story in every movie.  I especially don’t need it while I’m trying to enjoy a good action film – I like focusing on the explosions and action and testosterone as much as any guy, and sometimes, these connections feel forced and rushed, detracting from the point of the movie.  I think there are many girls who would say the same.  I feel that Captain America got it right.  The story between Steve Rogers and Agent Carter was sweet. It had an innocent, brand new, fledgling relationship quality to it, and it never got to come to fruition.  I felt for them, even getting a sense of loss that they never got to have their dance.  I felt this was all handled beautifully and I was satisfied.

After the initial big fight/rescue mission, my boyfriend had mentioned that it seemed like one long action sequence.  I agree with that assessment, though I’m not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.  On one hand, I loved seeing what the Captain’s group did.  However, it did tend tofeel a bit rushed, like screenwriters Christopher Markus and  Stephen McFeely knew they had spent a lot of time setting everything up and didn’t have an extra half hour to use in spreading out the buildup, climax and conclusion.  I would have liked to see pan out a little more, but it definitely wasn’t a deal breaker.

I am absolutely recommending this film to the several friends of mine who have not been fortunate enough to see it yet.  It’s a great set up, the right amount of explosions and lovey dovey stuff  and courage and all that goodness – plus, it makes me WANT to read the series, and I hope it encourages others to do the same.