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Next up is another introductory movie, this time for the leader of the Avengers... Captain America: The First Avenger.
While wanting to enlist in the Army so he can join his best friend James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers is unfortunately rejected 5 times due to concerns for his health and physicality. However, a scientist named Dr. Abraham Erskine is willing to help him. He recruits Rogers in an experiment that will give him the strength and stature of a soldier. Meanwhile, HYDRA, the Nazi science division led by Johann Schmidt, are in possession of an ancient relic known as the Tesseract, which can turn the tides of the war in their favor. It's up to Steve Rogers, now known as Captain America, his love interest Agent Peggy Carter, Bucky, and a small group of soldiers known as the "Howling Commandos," to stop them.
What Worked: As always, the cast comes first. In what had perhaps become a custom for Marvel at this point, this movie also has some brilliant casting choices. This will actually start with the one that so many people were skeptical about: Chris Evans as Captain America. One of the main reasons why is because he had played a superhero before; in the Tim Story-directed Fantastic Four films, he was the Human Torch. Even if he was one of the highlights of those two movies, he still makes a better Captain America. He shows that Cap is a good soldier and overall a good man because he is dedicated to protecting his country and its people.
Another great casting choice here is Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips, the head of the "Super-Soldier" Project. He brings the commanding personality he had in films like The Fugitive over into this, and it works perfectly. Then there is Hayley Atwell as Peggy, an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve who also takes part in that project, later becoming Cap's love interest. She is another female character who can handle herself in a fight and look good doing it, and it shows in her performance. She even looks like a woman from that time.
Someone else who looks like they could be from that time is Dominic Cooper, playing a young Howard Stark (Tony's father). His personality and skill you can tell Tony would inherit from him. Even his relationship with Cap would become significant in Cap's eventual relationship with Tony.
Now for the best villain casting so far: Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt. Short version: whenever he's a villain, he's awesome. For evidence of that, go watch the Matrix trilogy. When he's a good guy, he's not too bad, either, but he's one of those actors where you get used to seeing him as a villain more. Here, his performance brings to life one of the MCU's more underrated villains.
Then there are four standouts here in regards to the technical aspects. The first is the direction by Joe Johnston, who has previous experience doing a period piece akin to this one with The Rocketeer. He also has experience working on films heavy on effects, like Jurassic Park III. Since this is a period piece (set during World War II, much like Cap's story in the comics), his experience shows. The second standout is the score by Alan Silvestri. It has that patriotic feel to it; the theme is also really good. The third is the tone. It is consistent, and it also comes across more like Indiana Jones mixed with James Bond than a period piece. The fourth standout has two parts: production design and visuals. The production design feels like the 40s, and the visuals appear as if they could be considered modern during that time, like how Cap's shield is introduced. This is mainly because the surrounding story makes sense, which allows for those to also make sense.
What Didn't Work: There were some cast members I didn't mention, like Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine, Toby Jones as Schmidt's assistant Dr. Arnim Zola, and the actors who play the Howling Commandos. The performances are still good, but most of those characters don't have much significance to the story here outside of when they're needed. Some of them become more significant in a later movie. While the effects are overall really good, there are some that might not hold up well.
Overall: When it comes to the movies that make up Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The First Avenger is the best solo movie since Iron Man. It even has parallels to Iron Man at points. It has the best villain so far aside from Loki. This is a rare case where using perhaps the hero's most iconic enemy in the first movie actually makes sense. The reason for that is because each Captain America movie would prove to be better than the previous one, and so would the villains.
The action would also get better, because this has really good sequences, but the best has yet to come there. However, if there is one thing this movie shows most, it's that Marvel knows the best ways to approach certain characters. It's actually for the best that the leader was set up last because the audience knows the other team members connect to his story. Seeing his story last shows them how, which makes them want to see everyone assemble even more.
As usual, a certain cameo and a post-credits scene are present here.