Throwback Thursday Review: 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

I apologize as this review will end up posted a few days late as I've had a very hectic week. Thursday, I was at the Ultimate Captain America Marathon almost all day so I was unable to publish the review and normally I would have prepped the review ahead of time earlier in the week, but I was very busy all week. A majority of my free time went towards the early screening of Captain America: Civil War that I saw first Tuesday and then again at the conclusion of the Marathon. Luckily, this film was a part of the marathon though and so it's fresh on my mind as I'm writing this. I typically watch films that I review as a Throwback Thursday right before I write the review anyways but in this case I don't have to watch it separately from the marathon. Next week's Throwback Thursday Review will be of J.J. Abram's Star Trek since Star Trek Beyond will be coming later this summer and that was one of the only available spots for me to place it in my ambitious Throwback Thursday review schedule. The following week will resume my Bourne reviews as I pick up with The Bourne Ultimatum.

'Captain America: The First Avenger' Review

Captain America: The First Avenger is the first in the eventual Captain America trilogy and the final Phase One film before The Avengers which tells the origin of Steve Rogers and his journey becoming Captain America. At it's core, the film is quite charming and I love the 1940's World War Two period piece feel to the film. The director, Joe Johnston, does an incredible job enveloping the 1940's period setting. Meanwhile, there are many fictional comic book elements to be found, such as Hydra's Tesseract weapons, that manage to fit in the era coming across as somewhat believable. Speaking of which, the visual effects in this film are terrific! All of the effects for Captain America's shield look great when there wasn't a tangible shield being thrown around, and Hydra's weaponry effects looked cool. All the World War 2 action is just loads of fun to watch and extremely enjoyable, particularly the montage where the Howling Commandoes takes out several Hydra factories. One landmark for visual effects was that the creative team managed to make Chris Evans look about 200 pounds skinnier (an authentic skinny Steve). Prior to seeing the film for the first time, I knew next to nothing about Captain America and wasn't really too interested in him as I saw him as Marvel's version of Superman. However, this film really fleshed out his character and he quickly became my favorite Marvel character. The film is down to earth, just like the character himself, and director Joe Johnston does a phenomenal job showcasing Steve Roger's morale that carries through the entire film. There's a specific scene where Steve is pummeled on by a bully in an alley way after sticking up to him when the bully had some disruptive theatrical etiquette. He gets back up again every time he goes down and says the line "I can do this all day." that really just resonates with the core of Steve Rogers. I think credit is due to the two screenwriters that shaped the entire Captain America Trilogy, Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus. The duo did a phenomenal job making Steve Rogers accessible to general audiences without making him boring but rather a complex character with simple morale structure. The performances in the film strengthen the film even more backing Chris Evans' Captain America. Chris Evans brings heart to the character of Steve Rogers and even does particularly well when CGI'd as skinny Steve. Evans manages to nail both his action scenes wielding the shield and his dramatic scenes opposite Hayley Atwell. Hayley Atwell makes for what I'd say is one of Marvel's best love interests thus far as Agent Peggy Carter. Carter's terrific as she can hold her own, kick butt and even saves Captain America a few times, no wonder she warranted her own Marvel One-Shot and television series (Here's to hoping it gets a season 3 renewal). The scene in which Captain America is forced to fly the plane into the Arctic Ocean leaving behind everything he knows is so emotionally charged and makes me tear up every time I watch it. All credit for my emotional reaction is due to the gorgeous musical score and incredible performances of Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell. Dominic Cooper is introduced as a younger version of Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, and Howard (I won't refer to his character by last name because that could get confusing) is essentially just like his son; a suave, "genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist" but in a 1940's setting. Sebastian Stan is quite believable as Steve's best friend, James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky. His scenes opposite Evans are great and he serves as a great emotional linchpin for the film. You don't really see his major acting chops till Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which I'll delve into in a Triple-R review soon. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones are both terrific authoritative supporting players that bolster the incredible supporting cast. Hugo Weaving goes full Nazi as the leader of Hydra, the infamous Johann Schmidt or the Red Skull. The Red Skull is one of the better Marvel villains in my opinion as he made for a great foil to Steve Rogers and a viable threat that was quite intimidating. One more thing I didn't quite touch on was the film's score, that I adore. Alan Silvestri manages to perfectly encapsulate a 40's feel and patriotism in his rousing musical score. In summary, I see Captain America: The First Avenger as one of Marvel's better origin films and it still remains to be one of my favorite Marvel films.

Film Assessment: B+ A-

Ranking of Top 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains

Given that Avengers: Age Of Ultron is only  six days away from release and it is one of my most anticipated movies this year, I thought I would make a series of Top 10 lists and this list will rank the top 10 villains of the MCU. I decided to rank villains because Ultron looks to be one of Marvel's strongest villains yet. I won't include Ultron because I haven't seen Avengers: Age of Ultron yet and don't know for sure that he will be a strong villain but I am very positive Ultron will dethrone the villain I have ranked first. I'm ranking them based off of their performances, development, and how much of a threat they were to the heroes. I'm basing this off of movies prior to Avengers: Age of Ultron so my opinions may change following that film. If a villain isn't on here that you enjoy on screen doesn't mean I dislike the character they just didn't make my list. 

10. Thanos- Thanos is number ten on the list due to the fact that he has lingered in the shadows and hasn't had an opportunity to shine yet. However, you can tell he is very powerful and has is manipulating many events. I can't wait to see him in Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.

9. Abomination- Tim Routh gave an interesting performance but the character is forgettable and doesn't really have as much motivation or as great of writing behind his character. It'd be nice to see Abomination return if possible but I doubt it will happen. 

8. Iron Monger- Obadiah Stane was somewhat of an interesting villain but he was a one-off villain since he was killed in Iron Man.

7. Ronan the Accuser- Ronan seemed convincing in the sense that he was a threat and I enjoyed Lee Pace in the role but the character was very underdeveloped and under utilized. Unfortunately he will probably won't return either since he seems to die at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy.

6. Aldrich Killian- Aldrich Killian had a clear motive to what he was doing, an interesting power set and seemed like a viable threat for Tony Stark and even more than that the United States.

5. Wilson Fisk (Kingpin)- Vincent D'onofrio gave an outstanding performance as the Kingpin,  and his character was really well written and developed in Daredevil. Kingpin was also a very convincing street level threat with a lot of pull.

4. Red Skull- Once again a great performance but the Red Skull hasn't been seen since. He was a valid threat and seemed quite powerful as well as a great foil to Steve Rogers.

3. Hydra- Hydra is as high as it is because it secretly remained hidden for over 70 years and awoke to unleash helicarriers that could kill millions of people at once. I think that makes them a very valid threat, they were well developed and seem to sprout up and consist of many great leaders. 

2. The Winter Soldier- Bucky Barnes is a character with a lot of layers. He was once Steve Roger's best friend but is now a brainwashed assassin that is trying to find himself. Barnes is a very intriguing character with a lot of depth as well as a very powerful villain with a metallic arm, reflexes, and enhanced strength. 

1. Loki- Loki is currently the number one greatest villain in the MCU because he is also very complex, played perfectly by Tom Hiddleston, and an interesting villain. He outsmarts the Avengers and it is understandable as to why he can take on all six of the Avengers using strategy, etc.