Captain America was pretty good. in fact, it's much better than it should have been or had any right to be considering it was directed by Joe Johnston, a director whose previous effort, The Wolfman, was an unwatchable mess. This movie is old fashioned (in a good way) and recalls the serials of the 1930s and 40s. At one point in the movie, some of those are even recreated as the character of Captain America becomes a propaganda tool of the U.S. government to sell war bonds.
One of the better uses of CGI you'll ever see is in the movie's first 20 minutes as tall, buff actor Chris Evans is transformed into Steve Rogers, a short, sickly weakling constantly targeted by bullies who is unwanted by the military in 1942, a time when men were desperately needed for the military. Rogers is a brave and noble soul who has no desire to kill Nazis but, rather, wants to enter World War II to stop the ultimate bullies. His bravery and fighting spirit, ill suited for his physical form, brings him to the attention of Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a scientist who escaped Hitler's Germany to keep his discovery out of Nazi hands, that discovery being the super-soldier serum that can take guys like Steve Rogers and turn them into heroes with super strength/speed/agility/etc. Steve is now both someone who can catch the eye of British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) AND go up against Hitler or, in this movie's case, someone worse than Hitler.
That would be Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), a man nicknamed the Red Skull for what eventually become obvious reasons. Schmidt is the head of HYDRA, a super-duper-mega-evil Nazi organization that wants to conquer not only the free world but Hitler's Germany as well. The Nazis figured this out but not before Schmidt got hold of the Cosmic Cube, an artififact supposedly stolen from the Norse god Odin himself. You may think it's foolish to believe in the legend of Odin until you realize that this movie takes place in the same universe as the recent Thor movie and that means Odin is a real guy and that the cube is an unparalleled source of mystical power that Schmidt and his lackey, Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), are able to turn into futuristic energy weapons.
The movie is not great but it is pretty good. It would have been better if the villain had been more interesting. Weaving does his best and the look of the Red Skull harks back to old Jack Kirby drawings but, in the end, he lacks the touches and nuances that made the Joker so unforgettable in The Dark Knight. Also, the action scenes get old after a while as Captain America throws his shield again and again amidst one explosion after another. Still, it is entertaining and they did think to add the Howling Commandos (minus Nick Fury who is now set in the modern Marvel movie universe and is played by Samuel Jackson) and that makes up for any sins the movie may have committed.
Fortunately, Captain America will be back next year in the Joss Whedon directed The Avengers along with Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, the Black Widow, the Smurfs, and the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis characters from Friends With Benefits so we have that to look forward to.
Captain America is playing in the Glens Falls area at Regal Cinemas in Aviation Mall as well as the Glen Drive-In.
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