Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Directed by: Joe Johnston

1942, New York.  Puny, asthmatic Steve Rogers (Leander Deeny) wants to join the army but is repeatedly rejected, until a refugee German scientist Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) spots him at a recruiting station and decides he’s just what the army needs for its top secret weapons program.  So he’s injected with bright blue serum and the power output of a large part of the city, and emerges stronger, taller and much better looking (and now “bodied” by actor Chris Evans).  Initially confined to fronting war bond sales drives, he gets a chance for some real action when one of his buddies is captured by ultra-fanatic Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) who is constructing his own super-weapons and plans to destroy – well, just about everything, including Berlin.

There’s a definite pecking order amongst comic-book adaptations, with Batman being out at the top by some distance (even after its lacklustre Dark Knight episode).  Captain America is way down the list, and little care has been taken with plot, dialogue or characters in this movie whose only purpose is to get Capt. America established so he can join in the fun with next year’s The Avengers.

The action is so-so, with very little sense of peril – he’s got a shield, and some remarkably untalented enemies, so nothing is likely to hurt him.  Unusually for a Hollywood blockbuster, the movie feels small, with CGI of average quality filling in far too much (at times, it felt like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but without any of that film’s redeeming humour).  Love interest is supplied by Hayley Atwell who plays Peggy Carter, a glamorous secret agent working for the US Army, despite being British (no explanation is provided for this unlikely recruitment decision).  Not that it seems to matter: her identity is clearly not a closely guarded secret, since Captain America addresses her as “Agent Carter” in a crowded pub in wartime London.  Mum’s the word, chaps.

There’s also some very dubious morality at play.  He’s chosen when he’s a 90 pound weakling, but he’s really no good till he’s been beefed up and weaponised.  After that, it’s really a game of “my übermensch is better than your übermensch”.  

Acting is undistinguished, with Hugo Weaving at least trying hard, but Tommy Lee Jones delivering the same tough-guy-with-heart-of-gold soldier he’s played for years, and Toby Jones just looking sad to be there.  As for Chris Evans, his performance reminded me of Sam Jones in Flash Gordon.  And that’s not a good thing.