Chris plays Steve Rogers, a patriotic young man who wants to serve his country by joining the army to fight the Nazis, but he’s rejected as he’s small and skinny (Chris’ head was digitally superimposed on another body.) A scientist, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), is testing a new drug for the Super Soldier program that will improve one’s physique. He experiments on Steve who’s then transformed to a muscled hunk whose main opponent is Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). A mad Nazi who split from Hitler, he formed his own army called Hydra after he discovered a mysterious cube that’s once part of the weapons of the Norwegian god Odin and can be used to decimate people.
Director Joe Johnston (“Rocketeer”, “Wolfman”) has come up with a look that’s reminiscent of old Life Magazine fotos and painter Norman Rockwell images. We see Chris developing from a weakling to an agile warrior and he does “Captain America” like he’s born to play the role. The first action sequence showing him chasing the assassin of Dr. Erskine is truly exciting. He later puts up his own team and the succeeding action set pieces showing their encounters with Red Skull and his soldiers are equally spectacular.
Providing comic relief is Tommy Lee Jones as Col.Chester Phillips, head of the Super Soldier program who doesn’t initially believe in Steve. Costumed as Captain America, he is made to join chorus girls in a show-stopping musical production number with a witty song by Alan Menken to sell war bonds, until he leads a thrilling rescue mission to save his best friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and also helps free 400 Allied soldiers from the enemy. Hayley Atwell also shines as Peggy Carter, a British soldier currently assigned with the U.S. army who becomes Captain America’s love interest. This is quite riveting as Peggy knows Captain America is actually an asthmatic kid from Brooklyn but with a pure heart.
This film is actually a prequel to the group of superheroes called “The Avengers” that Marvel will release next year, along with the likes of “Incredible Hulk” and “Ironman”, which is why we see the precursor of Ironman here, billionaire inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper.) After watching “Captain America”, we’re sure Marvel fans can’t wait to see what will happen next when he and other superheroes combine forces next year. And we’re glad it’s a blockbuster raking in $65.8 million on opening week, toppling “Harry Potter” on its second week that earned only $48 million. For a while, we taught it’d be weak at the tills as viewers have already seen “Thor”, “X Men First Class”, and the new “Transformers” and “Harry Potter” sequels.
