Captain America

Evan pitched a preview shutout. The last time that happened, so did The Last Airbender, so we didn’t have a good feeling after that. The Amazing Spiderman, Tin Tin, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and one more that doesn’t come to mind. I’d like to add them to the list. Maybe not Tin Tin, since it’s animated and may be for younger ones. The previous Spiderman franchise waited until the third instalment to go full emo, whereas this one appears to be doing it in the very first movie, so we may pass on that as well.

Anyway, Captain America opens in the present, with some people in the arctic discovering something large and metallic (a crashed spaceship?) They explore inside, and see an empty seat.

Then we flash back to World War II, and see a subset of the Nazis (now even more evil!) discover a mysterious source of power that’ll serve as a battery for all their awesome tech. The power source is not so mysterious if you’ve seen Thor, however. Are they counting on their audience not knowing this? I don't know.

Off in the US, we soon meet Steve Rogers and his friend Bucky, who’s getting sent off to war. Steve can’t go because he’s five foot nuthin, 90 pounds soaking wet, and has a plethora of conditions (asthma being the nicest, despite him not coughing at all). Anyway, he’s lied to get into the army, but they keep rejecting him. He finally gets accepted to join an experimental project, where he’s chosen to be injected with a serum that’ll turn him into Chris Evans (where do I get me some of that?)

Now he’s six feet tall, can run faster than cars, jump incredible distance, and is ready to kick ass. So they send him on a war bonds tour. Besides being a funny song and dance routine, I liked it because it’s something that’s never really shown in war movies, despite it happening a lot in real life. I like those kinds of details, but I’d prefer less sequins.

Steve gets his chance to fight when his act is shipped off to boost the morale of troops on the front lines. His pal (Bucky) is taken prisoner, along with a bunch of others, so he (against orders) goes behind enemy lines and busts his friend out. Rather than getting punished, demoted, or dishonourably discharged (what with the disobeying orders and whatnot), he’s tasked with taking down Hydra - that special subset of Nazis from the beginning of the movie. And so the action montage begins.

Character development doesn’t really happen, as Steve’s been a pretty good guy all along, so he doesn’t really need to change. That means we can charge full-steam ahead into the climax, which is long, awesome, and full of butt-kicking.

I liked this movie a lot. It’s funnier than I would have expected. The leading lady is surprisingly competent (I’m not saying I thought the actor would be bad, I was thinking her role would be more … passive). Tommy Lee Jones is great (as always). And I’m always a fan of Chris Evans. So it’s a theatre movie for me. And yes, you should stay around past the credits. I don’t think I should spoil it, so I’ll just advise you to stick around.