Captain America: The First Avenger

Fun, full of exaggeration and featuring the excellent Tommy Lee Jones, but also straightforward and with disgusting Czech dubbing to boot. It also works mainly as a mere performance of the Captain, necessary for the Avengers, so the start in the first half is quite lengthy. The film feels a bit like a prologue. The excess of German weapons and equipment is immense. But it was worth waiting for The Avengers teaser. (2011-07-23)

This is much better than the entire Avengers films combined. It’s got a great WWII atmosphere, a great cast - especially Tommy Lee - and even though it's all as transparent as that Americana costume, I have absolutely no problem with it. WW2 was also the only time you could realistically believe in superheroes. Long live the golden age of comics on the silver screen after the year 2000. And the catchphrases: "Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait." or the one about the Viennese Sacher :D And it only gets better the more you watch it. I'm therefore shaking hands with Agent Carter. (2012-09-03)

He came last, but when things get worse, be sure that he will be standing at the front line. Steve Rogers stayed somewhat on the sidelines throughout the Avengers journey, but in the end, to my great surprise, it is precisely him who got under my skin the most. His loyalty, bravery, and naivety in the most positive sense, combined with his style of fighting, are simply unrivaled. When the dark Red Skull or the self-sufficient Agent Carter join, there is nothing left but to applaud. Marvel won this war, and I gained a hero who has been appearing on several t-shirts to me for almost a decade since the filmed origin. (2011-08-14)

I’ve been a big fan of this project from the very start, so you can always take one star off, if you like, but just I can’t help myself. The Cap’n is exactly how I wanted him to be. Maybe it’s a little short, on the other hand it doesn’t lose any tempo anywhere. The intro with the puny young Steve is just great. Watching his futile attempts at joining the army and the training is even more entertaining that the elimination of Schmidt’s bases (the fantastic Hugo Weaving) thanks to the balanced doses of humor and selfless courage. Chris Evans did an excellent job with his portrayal of Rogers. Thanks to him, Captain America shakes off the image of parroting clown and turns into a convincing hero. But Peggy Hayley Atwell is equally important. Thanks to her, the romantic storyline is the strongest element of the movie. Neither the action, nor inventions, nor the demonic psychopath with the red face, but the sad ending dialog is what will get to you. I had a date. The lead-up to the Avengers is very obvious in this movie and it basically touches on all of the other worlds we have seen so far. Fundamental to this is the microworld of Thor and Iron Man, the Hulk is a side-effect from development of the serum. This excellent lead-up is topped off by the post-credits scene/trailer. (2011-08-19)

It's exactly as stupid as the trailers seem to indicate, BUT the film knows it and is able to make fun of itself with good timing and not take itself deadly seriously (especially the propaganda passage in which the Captain sells bonds is yummy). The problem is, alongside the self-irony, Johnston's film doesn't offer much. Indeed, it is a hearty return to the 1990s, when the comic book hero was 100% form and no content. And unfortunately, there's a piece missing of the directing heart that Brannagh used to save his colleague Thor. Johnston is able to do a solid trick show, he artfully evokes a retro atmosphere (the semi-forgotten World of Tomorrow came to mind), the actors are apt, and Tommy Lee Jones has great catchphrases. It’s no wonder that time passes, the smile rarely grows into a scowl, and the Captain fulfills his mission to tap it into the timeline of the other Avengers. My impressions are stuck somewhere in the neutral zone - no disappointment, no bang, just a solidly treated product that just confirms my impression that The Avengers won’t be good, certainly not with such a crazy scattering of style and mood. P.S. the dubbing was terrible. I suspect that three high teenagers dubbed the whole thing. (2011-07-22)