Movie Review- Captain America: The First Avenger

Here begins the journey of re-watching the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in order of time. I went over how to watch the MCU in order of time here. Let’s jump in.

About the movie:

Captain America: The First Avenger (released 2011, directed by Joe Johnston, rated PG-13)

Notable Cast- Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, and Stanley Tucci

About the movie– It is 1941 and the world is in the throes of war. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wants to do his part and join America’s armed forces, but the military rejects him because of his small stature. Finally, Steve gets his chance when he is accepted into an experimental program that turns him into a supersoldier called Captain America. Joining forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Captain America leads the fight against the Nazi-backed HYDRA organization.

PLOT

The plot was good! The first movie in the Captain America trilogy, this movie is not only important in explaining the character’s origins, but pivotal in the grand scheme of the MCU.

We’re introduced to Peggy Carter, who not only got her own TV show, but made several more appearances throughout the MCU (such as in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain America: Civil War (albeit, this was more of an homage rather than a cameo).

We meet Bucky Barnes, who many would argue is the backbone to Cap’s entire character arc throughout the entirety of the MCU (except for Endgame. We don’t talk about Endgame.) But he is his own character as well, and I’m so excited to see him in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier on Disney+ late this year or sometime early next year.

Fun Fact- TF&TWS was partially filmed in my city, and Sebastian Stan came into the Barnes & Noble I work at and was in the Cafe for lunch one day. I was so jealous I didn’t work there then 😦

We meet a young Howard Stark, who also stars in the Agent Carter show; and start to learn how his relationship with Captain America influences his relationship with his future son, Tony.

We also meet the Red Skull, who makes a surprising cameo later in the MCU, as well as see The Tesseract for the first time, which as we all know, causes looooots of problems for virtually every character and show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ACTING

Now I’m no acting expert, but as far as the acting in the movie went, I thought it was fine. Chris Evans is a phenomenal actor, and we as an audience were lucky to start seeing how Chris played Steve and brought him to life.

Another great actor was Sebastian Stan. He played Bucky wonderfully, and in future movies when we see Bucky and The Winter Soldier “switch”, he comes back to this original Bucky like a second skin. It’s amazing.

As for the rest of the actors and actresses, they were all pretty good. Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones were especially good, in my opinion.

Some fun cameo’s to spot were Natalie Dormer (The Huger Games, Game of Thrones) and Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Me Before You), as well as Samuel L. Jackson at the end of the movie as Nick Fury.

FAVORITE MOMENTS

I really loved anytime Steve and Bucky had banter, but especially when they are about to zipline onto the train (y’know, before things get SUPER sad) and they talk about a previous Coney Island trip. I think it’s one of my favorites because of the call back to it in CA:CW.

LEAST FAVORITE MOMENTS

Basically any time Steve embarrassed himself. I cannot STAND second-hand embarrassment, and this movie is rife with it. Fondue-ing, anyone? Or when he is on stage, or when he gets caught kissing that girl, or, or, or. I don’t watch this movie often for that very reason. If anyone knows any ways to get over that, hmu. Seriously.

MUSIC/SOUNDTRACK

This is one of my favorite soundtracks to listen to, because I absolutely LOVE vintage swing/jazz music. It just transports you to a different time. I also think the fight sequence tracks are good, along with the Showgirl tune. This one is a lot of fun to listen to.

REWATCH?

I probably will one day, but it’s not a movie I go to whenever I feel like watching a movie.

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE WATCHLIST?

Seasons 1 & 2 of Agent Carter! I’ll be honest, I’m kind of dreading these ones because of how cringe-y they can be (which we already know I have a problem with) and I already kind of watched them recently with my mom, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to them for it to really count as watching. And on any other day, I would consider just skipping the show altogether, but 1, I already made the commitment to watch it for this re-watch of mine, and 2, I know that a certain character has a pretty pivotal role in the MCU waaaaay down the line; and I don’t remember enough about the show from when I watched it live to get me through to that.

But, a light at the end of the tunnel- after I watch Agent Carter, I get to watch Captain Marvel, which I LOVE, and I’m so excited to watch again! I love that movie a lot.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Good movie, and a great start to the MCU. Enjoyable plot and characters, and fun to watch! So what did you think? Did you watch it? Do you enjoy this movie?