In its opening week, Captain America: The First Avenger knocked Harry Potter off the top spot (which was Potter’s 2nd week --- Potter still made 48 million bucks that week though, so don’t read too much into it).  You may or may not know that the Cap is a Marvel Comics’ property, and part of the ongoing Avengers franchise build up, which also includes Thor and Iron Man.  The character movies are coming out first, leading to a team up movie next year.

I really wasn’t thinking too much of this going in --- I could see it as an excuse to make a lame, cheesy ‘rah-rah-rah America’ movie, starring the smarmier-than-thou Chris Evans.  However, I got it wrong and director Joe Johnston got it oh so right.  None of the flag-waving is there at all, and Chris Evans stowed his trademark wisecracking smartassery for a more mature portrayal of the iconic hero.

This is the story of 90-pound weakling, Steve Rogers.  It’s the 1940s and Rogers wants very badly to get into the army like his friend Bucky, so he can help defend America against the Nazi threat --- not because he’s a patriot, so much as because he doesn’t like bullies.  And he knows them firsthand; he takes more back alley beatings than you can throw a fist at, yet, he never backs down.  When you back down, is when the bullies know they have you forever.  A scientist, played by the always great Stanley Tucci, invents a super soldier serum to create a weapon against the Nazis.  In Steve Rogers’ weakling, he sees a man who will respect the power given to him, unlike a bigger, stronger man who doesn’t know the true value of strength.  To make a long story short, Rogers becomes Captain America and the adventure begins. 

The first hour of this movie is incredibly captivating, and they have created a character that you really want to root for.  One of the ways to get sympathy for your main character is to show how downtrodden he is, and Steve Rogers is nothing if not stepped on.  But he retains his moral compass, even as Captain America, and makes for a really fun character.  As a side note, the CGI work in putting Evans’ head on a smaller body looks nothing short of spectacular.  I’ve never seen it look this good --- you believe that it IS Evans.  And props to Evans for bulking up so much for his post-serum body.  He was always cut, but now he’s a hulk.  I should mention that Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving feature prominently, with Weaving channeling his inner Christoph Waltz to play the vicious Captain America nemesis Red Skull.

(skinny Steve Rogers)

The adventure itself could be criticized as being slightly generic, but it still has some chills and spills along the way.  The movie is funny without being silly, and actually extremely well written.  There are moments where other movies would have used a terrible piece of dialogue to get their point across --- in Captain America, they get the same information on the screen with a look or a gesture.  There’s no flag waving and no cheesy speeches. 

The 1940s look works well for this movie, harkening back to Johnston’s movie The Rocketeer --- and see it in 2D, by the way.  The colours popped and it looked great.

Captain America was a wonderful surprise, perhaps not quite as good as Marvel properties Spider-man 2 or Iron Man, but it is one of the best comic movies I’ve seen in awhile, better than Thor or Iron Man 2. 

4 Dorks out of 5 on the Geek-o-Meter.  I thought this movie was going to suck, but it was surprisingly one of the best times I’ve had at the theatre all year.  It may even make my top 5 for 2011, depending on what the rest of the year has in store.  Oh, and don’t waste your time waiting for the hidden scene after the credits that they’ve been putting in each Avengers movie to tease the next one.  They cheaped out on the Avengers tease scene and give you a crappy, footage-deficient commercial for it instead.