P. D. Griffith's P.O.V.

I’m beginning to think that Marvel Studios can do no wrong, and I thought Captain America was no exception.

But as of late, I am beginning to wonder if my love of these movies is stemming from the movie being spectacular, or if the references to the other Marvel movies/comics, and the buildup to my most anticipated movie event of the decade (The Avengers) next year, is amplifying my excitement and enjoyment while watching it, thus biasing my opinion of the movie itself. For a nerdy, fan-boy like me, it is hard to distinguish whether it is the former or latter, or both.

With The Avengers slated for May 2012 (and the amazing teaser at the end of the Captain America credits) I can best liken the Marvel franchise of movies to a television show, with Iron Man proving to be an entertaining and humorous pilot episode, and Captain America being that tantalizing episode before the earth-shattering and epic season finale.

So attempting to put my biases aside, I still thought Captain America – The First Avenger was an exciting, poignant and all-around entertaining summer flick. Chris Evans was surprisingly good in this movie. I gained a lot more respect for him after his performance in Sunshine in 2007, and I think this superhero role fit him much better than the Human Torch in Fantastic Four. And Hugo Weaving was perfectly cast at the Red Skull.

Following Thor in May and its post-credit showing of the Cosmic Cube (which made me giddy with excitement at the time), it was interesting to see that the plot of Captain America provided some history of the object leading up to that post-Thor scene. When I saw that initially, I believed the Cosmic Cube would play into the plot of a future Thor film, especially since they show Loki in the scene, but I am not upset that the tesseract became the catalyst for HYDRAs attempt at world domination and the events of Captain America – The First Avenger.

Overall, there was a good blend of fanboy shout-outs, comedic moments, action, and character development. I really liked the art direction of the film and the way they portrayed 1940’s America during World War II. And I felt there was a good emphasis on character-driven storytelling rather than being completely plot focused. The action almost seemed secondary in the film, and I would call that a good thing (but the action was still awesome!).

Final question: Which one of the Asgardian realms do you think Red Skull got transported to?

Rating: A