Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

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After 'Thor' was ultimately successful, and 'The Avengers' project we were all champing at the bit for was approaching, one of the most famous faces of the squad still needed his movie. I speak, of course, of the Star-Spangled Man, Captain America, who, despite seemingly facing a lot of trash talk from people I meet, nevertheless provides us with someone who, unlike most of the rest of the characters in the MCU, doesn't need to learn what it is to be a hero, as his heart is already in it.

I believe that Cap gets a bad rap from a lot of people because he's a little too "pure." Let's face facts: we like the darker/or more human side of our superheroes, and "imperfect" feels a lot more relatable than what Mr. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) offers, so one's opinion will be what it will be. I, however, enjoy a hero who was written to be, in simpler terms, a "good guy." As someone who, in my youth, went through a fair share of troubles at school, characters like Steve Rogers were the ones I truly appreciated. Although I was more of a 'Spidey' guy, I still liked seeing the true meaning of "good" in my heroes.

'First Avenger' is, more than anything now, where the true beginning of the MCU starts. Taking us back to World War II, we meet Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his best friend, Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan). With a desire to do some good, Steve tries to enlist in the military but is rejected time and time again due to health problems, likely stemming from bad CG that, at this point, is a bit cringey to look at. However, I feel that dated CG doesn't ruin an otherwise great story, and I stick to my opinion that 'First Avenger' may be one of the best superhero origin stories ever made.

Taking notice of Steve's desire to take part in the war effort, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) invites him to enlist in a "Super Soldier" training program. There, Steve shows incredible honour, courage, heart, and bravery, saying he wants to fight in the war so badly because he "just doesn't like bullies." He wants to do what's right for the sake of doing what's right, and that's the sign of a true hero. Anyway, as we all know, he’s tested with the Super Soldier Serum, becoming Captain America and amplifying everything within him, granting him incredible abilities.

Meanwhile, an offshoot of the Nazi order known as "Hydra," led by Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), finds a powerful artifact known as the Tesseract, which we now know is the "Space Stone" within the six Infinity Stones. However, for a little while yet, the Tesseract represents the "MacGuffin" of ultimate power. We didn't realize it at the time, but 'First Avenger' is our true introduction to the Infinity Stones. Back to the plot, however, the energy within the Tesseract is to be used to power Dr. Arnim Zola's (Toby Jones) inventions and weaponry, allowing for a massive offensive that would aid the Nazis in victory.

From there, it's your basic good vs. evil story: Cap tries to put a stop to Schmidt's technological advances, only to find himself going toe-to-toe with Schmidt, who has become the Red Skull after injecting himself with an unstable Super Soldier Serum. Not to give too much away on the "how" and "why" of it all, but eventually, Cap finds himself frozen within ice and thawed out during present-day 2012. This is the film that leads up to his frozen state, and though bits and pieces of it are fairly par for the course (ie, using powerful objects to supercharge weaponry, etc.), it still works very well.

In some ways, I think the, for lack of a better term, "basics" within the film's plot sort of lend themselves to what the movie is as a whole. It does a good job of showing us a superhero movie for the era in which it takes place while still making the property its own thing. For example, the film explains why he wears his mask, since today it looks kinda corny. Some things, like the CG, haven't aged too well, but I still find the film thoroughly entertaining and the perfect lead-in to 'The Avengers.'

4/5

POST-CREDIT SCENE: Essentially a clip from 'The Avengers', Rogers is found in a gym, working out, and is  approached by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for the "upcoming mission." This is followed up with a quick 'Avengers' teaser trailer.

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