The Film Stage has posted a review for Marvel's new comic book adaptation Captain America: The First Avenger, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving and Hayley Atwell. While a lot of people who saw the film said it's the best Marvel Studios film since Iron Man, current sore on Rotten Tomatoes is 54%. But there are only 13 reviews in, so I'm guessing it will go up starting today and tomorrow. Below is a part of the review, for full thing, just follow the link at the bottom of the page.
"Even after moving on from his roots as a visual effects artist for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in the 1980s, Johnston has suffered a career full of what mostly feels like Spielberg-ian retreads (The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo). Here he shines, utilizing the never-ending resources provided by Marvel Studios to create something truly memorable.
Even the film’s villain is clearly enjoying himself. Played by Hugo Weaving with a ridiculous German cadence, General Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. Red Skull, is the perfect bad guy for this kind of movie. He’s wholly bad, concerned only in world domination. Why? Because he’s a God, of course! Even the Nazis are tired of him halfway through this thing. Weaving plays this superiority to its highest pitches as though he was born to do it. And after watching this and The Matrix films, perhaps he was.
Johnston and company are aware that introducing a hero means more than showing of his suit and gadgets or building up the universe he will eventually encapsulate. Before any of that, we must care about who he/she is. At the climax of this film, which takes a page out of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger‘s superb A Matter Of Life And Death opening, we care about what happens. Who wins, who loses. And though it’s never much of a question who’ll save the day, it’s nice to be able to feel like the good guy’s worth rooting for."
RATING: A-
UPDATE: Here is another one from
MSN.
"But "Captain America" is more than just pretty solid. It's great in spots, good in others, and hits exactly the right tone, combining real history and comic-book mythology in a way where both work together without making us feel burdened by the facts of the former or the trivia of the latter. I don't know if I'll wind up going back to "Captain America" on a regular basis the way I do "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Goldfinger," but I also know it's the most purely enjoyable and breezily brilliant superhero comic-book action-adventure film since 2004 gave us "Spider-Man 2" and "The Incredibles." For the first time in a long time, the promise of a comic-book character's return to the big screen sounds more like an anticipated good thing than a contractually obligated threat."
RATING: 4 STARS
Captain America: The First Avenger is set to hit US theatres this Friday!
Captain America: The First Avenger" will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving.)