Captain America: The First Avenger

Movie Title--  Captain America: The First Avenger

Release Year--  2011

Running Time--  2 Hours and 4 Minutes

Director--  Joe Johnson

Cast--  Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Neal McDonough, Kenneth Choi

After being denied for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers to be a member of an experiment that turns him into the elite superhero, Captain America.

In 1942, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) marches his small band into German occupied Norway to steal a device known as the Tesseract that possesses unknown powers.  At the same time in New York City, Brooklyn born Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is rejected from the military for various medical reasons.  He is then visited by his friend Sargent James Barnes (Sebastian Stan), better known to his friends as Bucky, and is invited to go to an exhibit on future technologies.  While at the exhibit Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) hears Steve telling Bucky about how badly he wants to fight for his country.  Steve then decides to leave the exhibit and try to enlist again but this time Dr. Erskine comes into the room and tells Steve that he is going to allow him to enlist.

Steve is put in the SSR; the Scientific Strategic Reserve.  The group of young men that make up this group are being tested and one of them will be picked to undergo the "Super Soldier" procedure.  Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) are recruited to help shape the men into proper soldiers while also being part of the team that gets to choose the best candidate for the procedure.  The clear choice for Dr. Erskine is Steve but Col. Phillips doesn't agree with him, thinking a young man already fit for action is a better choice.  He then pulls the pin from a grenade and hurls it unexpectedly into the group of soldiers.  All the men scatter except for Steve, who jumps on top of the grenade to shield everyone else from the blast but it is quickly revealed that the grenade is just a dummy.  It is then that Col. Phillips relents after seeing Steve's willingness to sacrifice himself for his brothers in arms, supporting Dr. Erskine's decision.  The night before the procedure, Dr. Erskine goes to visit Steve and tells him that he is not the first person to undergo the procedure.  He then explains about Johann Schmidt and how he suffered some permanent side effects from the serum.

In Germany, Schmidt along with his comrade Dr. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) harness the power of the Tesseract with the intent of powering Zola's inventions that will mount an offensive that will change the course of the war and thus the world.  Schmidt calls his organization Hydra and ultimately plans to betray Nazi Germany once they have beaten the Allies.  Schmidt, also made a super soldier by Erskine's serum, finally found his location and sends an assassin to the USA to kill him.   

In the USA, Steve undergoes the "Super Soldier" procedure in front of a roomful of onlookers.  When the procedure is completed, the assassin moves forward and kills Erskine.  Steve then chases the man down but once he is caught, he takes a cyanide pill, killing himself.  With Erskine dead, the super serum is lost and in an effort to boost public moral and to keep himself out of a laboratory to be tested on, Steve is sent on tour as "Captain America" to promote the sale of bonds.

In 1943 Steve in on tour in Italy, preforming for active service men when he learns that Bucky's until went up against Schmidt's forces and is now MIA.  He is told that Barnes is presumed dead and not believing it, he asks Peggy Carter and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) to take him behind enemy lines where he plans to mount a solo attack in attempt to rescue the missing men.  He infiltrates Hydra's fortress, where he finds the missing men and sets them free.  On the escape out Steve confronts Schmidt.  Before Schmidt escapes he removes his mask and reveals a red skull underneath, part of the permanent side effect.

When Steve returns to base with the men, he is then made the head of a new team that will attack other Hydra bases.  Steve recruits Bucky, as well as some of the other men he helped to free.  With the help of Howard Stark and Stark Industries, Steve is outfitted in a new, advanced "Captain America" uniform and given a circular shield that is made out of vibranium, a rare metal that is nearly indestructible.  With his new uniform and freshly recruited team, they are sent out to defeat Schmidt and turn the tide of war.

PLEASE NOTE:

I have not read the comics, so therefore there will be no comparing 

one medium to another.

There will be only honest film opinions.

This is another Super hero film that I very much enjoyed.  The story was great and very action packed.  I feel like Steve Rogers is a very relatable character; he was a young man that had pride enough in his country that he wanted to defend it and he didn't give up trying to find his spot in the military.  It is a story that anyone that has ever been told they can't do something can find comparison in and it only proves that with determination, you can achieve the end result you are looking for; although, as far as I know, anyone outside of Steve Rogers has never really ended up like "Captain America".  That is beside the point however, which is to stay determined and never give up on your goals.

I think that Chris Evans did a great job as Cap but the guy I really want to talk about is Dominic Cooper's Howard Stark.  I have reviewed a few films now that Dominic Cooper has been in and I must say, the more I watch him, the more I see what the fuss is about.  He gives Howard Stark a sort of old school charm while at the same time being a little bit bad-ass in the engineering department.  I think that although he isn't in the movie very often, the life he gives to Howard Stark is one of the reasons to sit through this film.  

Watching this film as a follow up to Thor was not a disappointment.  Do I have a favorite out of the two?  No.  Both films can hold their own in the action and story departments.  I will say, as far as both films go, I am unhappy about the endings but since everyone knew (or at least figured) there would be follow ups to both films, it isn't surprising that both tend to leave the viewer hanging.  Captain America is worth the watch.  There is enough action and adventure in it to please the men and enough story and romance (oh yeah and good looking guys, did I mention that?) to please the ladies.  This film is also one that isn't too bad for children, well, older children at least.  I say gather your more mature family members together to enjoy this one and Don't Forget the Popcorn!