Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) ***

Captain America The First AvengerIn the tradition of summer blockbusters, Captain America: The First Avenger delivers the goods. It has everything a traditional comic book based film should have – an underdog hero being granted superpowers to save humanity, a good looking dame as a love object, an evil enemy (and who serve better this purpose than the Nazis, especially when led by the Hugo Weaving, the terrifying Matrix agent reincarnated,) and an ending that already calls for a sequel.
The story has wit and plenty of fun moments, loads of action and special effects, and all in all it holds its ground very well throughout most if its 2 hours run. Director Joe Johnston and a cast led by Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving and Hayley Atwell manage to keep this fairly flat film anything but shallow. The characters are quite one-dimensional but give a sense they have more to say without going there; a certain thread of pain that adds another hidden dimension, and I am not referring to the third kind…
Admittedly, in its category, Captain America: The First Avenger deserves 4 star grade, but as a whole it is still fluff – well made, but fluff all the same. I will though, most likely, go to see the sequel, coming our way 2012.