Whenever news of comic books being adapted into movies come out, I almost always get excited. Never you mind if it's of some character I know little about. I look at it as an opportunity to get to know him/her better, sort of like an entry point for me to dig through comic books featuring him/her. This wasn't the case for Captain America, however. When news of a movie broke out, I took it with a bit of tepidity. I thought the initial photos were a little too boring, the costume a bit too lackluster.

That was until the first trailer hit the internet.


Despite having read some of the his recent important story arcs when they came out, (Death of Captain America and Captain America: Reborn), I wasn't really a fan of the character, and what I knew about him was limited to general geek knowledge. That din't stop me from drooling over the clip though. And so, the long wait began.

Months passed and the other night I finally got to watch Captain America: The First Avenger, and it was absolutely marvelous. All the things I knew about Steve Rogers was translated well on screen, and then some.



Let me start by saying I fucking loved Skinny Steve. I was literally guffawing every time he was on screen. Also, I cannot stress how mind-blowing it was that they were able to use special effects to transform the bulky Evans (who did a fantastic job by the way) into this sickly, 90-pound weakling. I heard they used some sort of 2D mesh warping technique. I'm not going to go into details because it's too technical for me. You can read more about it here though. Good job, Special Effects team!






Stanley Tucci (Dr. Abraham Erskine) and Tommy Lee Jones (Col. Chester Philips) were like icing on the proverbial yummy cake. Tucci provided the heart, while Jones provided the laughs.



Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter was more than just eye candy, thank God. She actually kicked ass playing the tough but compassionate army woman who develops a liking for the Rogers pre and post transformation. Usually I cringe at romantic scenes, but theirs came off kinda cute. It just worked. Or maybe I'm just biased towards beautiful women with killer accents. Yowza.



Perhaps my greatest gripe about the movie (aside from the sometimes goofy fight scenes) is how Hugo Weaving's Red Skull was under-utilized. It's HUGO FUCKING WEAVING FOR CHRISSAKES. I felt like he could have been given more. Do egomaniacal monologues or indiscriminately shoot people, I don't care. Toby Jones' Arnim Zola nearly stole the show.



Seeing the Howling Commandos was a plus, too, even though they had limited (again, my opinion) screen time. I also would like to say that [SPOILER ALERT] it was stupid how Bucky died. Falling off a speeding train? Ugh. [END SPOILER]

Lastly, and I know I'm nitpicking here, but I have issues with the shield having scratches and shit. I know it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye but the Star-Spangled Avenger's shield is virtually indestructible, you guys. It's not supposed to have scratches and shit. Also those scenes where Cap is jumping over fires and stuff need more work. Oh and the costume looked great by the way, although in some scenes, it looked too bulky and too padded.



Minor whining aside, this one is a definite must-see. Never you mind if you know nothing about the Captain America mythos; the universal underdog-rising-up-to-fight-back-the-bullies theme is more than enough to make you enjoy this great film. Thumbs up, soldier!