By: Hoang Tran

Captain America: The First Avenger, directed by Joe Johnston, delivers an old fashioned film that combines touching sincerity with neck breaking excitement.

Set appropriately during World War II, the movie centers on Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his journey from a 90 pound weakling to the world’s first super soldier. It is the character of Rogers upon which this film hinges. Rogers is a difficult role. He is not witty, dark, or flawed. He is an honest to God good person. Johnston chose wisely to keep the spirit of Rogers intact and Evans portrays him perfectly as the super soldier who is still a bumbling kid. The best moments of the film are when it focuses on Rogers and how he plays off characters like Peggy Carter ( Hayley Atwell) or moments where his character is revealed through his actions. One such scene happens when Rogers is asked if he wanted to kill Nazis. He replies “I don’t want to kill anyone. I just don’t like bullies.”

There are many other scenes of that nature in which the action slows down and Johnston lets actors do the acting. Atwell portrays the tough Peggy Carter with finesse and determination. There is a flirty chemistry between Carter and Rogers that is tragically never fulfilled. Tommy lee Jones is perfect as Colonel Phillips: stern, witty, and an overall hard ass. Some of the most humorous scenes involve him. Stanley Tucci brings a gravitas to his role of Dr. Erskine.

The Red Skull is portrayed perfectly evil by Hugo Weaving. His obsessive quest with the Tesseract leads him against odds with not only Captain America, but against his fellow Nazis. However, he is manically evil to an almost extreme. That is a minor problem with the film: it’s very black and white. There is very little ambiguity; very little shades of uncertainty. This could be due to the World War II setting of the movie, which calls for a simpler time of heroics and while it is not necessarily a bad thing, it leaves very little cerebrally.

However, the World War II setting is handled with respect and care. While the villains are simple and the heroes heroic, Johnston never disrespects the war. Johnston handles everything with restraint and steadiness. Even the action scenes are handled in the same manner. He pulls the camera back, letting the action follow itself. There is some great and exciting visuals because of this.

This is a very character driven narrative, as simple as it is. It also never gets too sentimental or corny, especially given the nature of Captain America. Johnston and his crew wisely restrain the movie from being overtly patriotic or jingoistic.

The film flies by very quickly, so much so that it feels short for a two hour movie. Being so fast paced, one might miss some Easter eggs littered through the film so keep an eye out for the original Human Torch at the Future Fair, the connections to Thor, or how Arnim Zola is first showed on the screen. This is also the last film before Marvel releases The Avengers and, if you are a fan, stay after the credits.

Captain America: The First Avenger is a simple movie that harkens back to the era of brave heroes facing impossible evil.  At a time when everything is so dark and gritty, it is refreshing to have such a film remind us that such selfless heroes exist.