I won't lie, this was more of an answer to Wallymelon. He left a comment on my article on Thor asking me to explain why I think Captain America: The First Avenger is the best solo outing of Phase One. The Sentinel of Liberty didn't get a lot of love after his big screen debut. Well, I'm here to explain why it tops all the solo movies heading into Marvel's most financially successful film, The Avengers. I'm going to just list the big reasons for me.
Marvel with most emotional weight
Yes, I bring this one up a lot. But, oh well. Don't like it, stop reading. Thor and Captain America are the only Marvel Cinematic Universe movies with emotional weight to them. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is epic and they're definitely fun movies to watch but, I think The Incredible Hulk should've had more weight to it. Iron Man has so much humor and is such a fun movie to watch, you don't really care about the characters. There is no weight to them. The Avengers (despite my logic of it being the best comicbook movie yet) should've had at least a little bit of emotional weight to it. That's what I feel a lot of comicbook movies these days are missing. Emotional weight to the movies. Tonytony, I swear I will report you if you call my article anti-DC. But, both comicbook companies are at fault. Example, I love the Spider-Man trilogy but, It doesn't have as much emotional scenes or any weight to it like the reboot, Thor and Captain America. Not to mention Hayley Atwell as Peggy really does a damn good job at making sure of it. Her and Chris Evans really do a great job at selling these characters and everything in between. Don't believe me that Cap has emotional weight? Check out this scene and then tell me otherwise.
Action but no flash
People wanted a more action-y Captain America, people wanted to see him kick ass then they found themselves disappointed. It had more story than action. The train scene was down real well, the action montage was the best thing for the movie and the final battle? Okay, the final battle was lackluster. The only flash you saw in the fight scenes was either from the guns HYDRA had or when Cap did some acrobatic of sorts. The movie is two hours and four minutes. Everything the movie needed to show and tell, that was a great run time for the movie. He's not a god like Thor, a man in an metal suit like Iron Man or a green rage monster like, Hulk. He's just an ordinary man who went from being a little guy to the best a human can be, physically. There's not much he can do other than hand to hand combat and use his shield as a weapon. I think it's good cause it's different. The exception of the original Burton/Schumacher series and The Dark Knight Rises, I don't really remember seeing Batman in a fist fight with another person that doesn't have some sort of powers cause Batman doesn't have a super powered rogues gallery and neither does Cap really. It's nice for something different.
You root for the initial character
Too often do I find myself watching a superhero movie and root for the superhero. What about the person they were before they became extraordinary. Marvel and DC both, have failed to do that. Well, Marvel did until Captain America: The First Avenger came out. This time, I didn't find myself rooting for the superhero. I found myself rooting for Steve Rogers. He's a very admirable man before he gets um, taller. Even then, he doesn't change. He's still a man to be admired. Superman is for DC what Captain America is for Marvel. The ideal person we can be. Not physically but, a person as a whole. The ideal of what people should behave and just in general be like. Nobody's perfect. But, for me, Steve Rogers wants to serve his country. Even when he was skinny and didn't qualify, when he went to the training camp. He didn't give up, this is what he wanted. He wanted to serve his country because he doesn't like bullies, more-less. Captain America: The First Avengers makes you root for the ordinary before the extraordinary.
The Score
It's the tune I tend to get stuck in my head the most when it comes to superhero movies. Marvel hasn't found a piece of music for theme that sticks? I call bullshit on that, well, actually I guess I don't. It really has to stick to the masses. In this case, this really sticks with me. The scores for other movies are great but, even Hans Zimmer didn't stick with me and the sad part is I prefer him to Alan Silvestri. The score for this movie just, really clicks.
That's all I got for you. I really can't wait for, Captain America: The Winter Solider
It's going to be epic! What do you think of Captain America's first adventure and his not much known about second adventure? Comment below.