Captain America: First Avenger

Captain America: First Avenger is like a fine wine, it gets better when I re-watch it and holds up remarkable well in the passing of time. To be honest it was a movie which held low expectations, and I did not want to see it in theatres.  Knowing there would be a sizeable amount of time being spent in the USO, and the reiterations of the shield that I had seen in previous art work and production designs,
I was wary of it dragging; and with having Captain America 1990 a movie I had come across late one night on cable television  a few years prior. It discouraged me on wanting to pay full price and see it in the theatres. Similarly to Matt Salinger an actor unproven in a big motion picture, This film's lead star Chris Evans was only known as Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four movies and Not Another Teen Movie. The trailer had to convince me otherwise; but during the time of its theatrical release momentum and anticipation for the superhero team came into light.
On one hand I knew it was going to be special, a newly formed Marvel Studios was planning something big, rolling out Iron man 1 & 2, Incredible Hulk and Thor in just a short space of each other and the impending Avengers Movie arriving soon after next. Disney had just purchased Marvel and flat out bought paramount pictures' distribution  rights, so  there was something unprecedented forming. With director Joe Johnston attached to the project and being aware of his filmography to capture inspiration and wonder, in a thrilling adventure, that has always been his trademark, as you view his complete body of work, he has not disappointed me, and this movie was no exception.

First Avenger kept that train of thought going from beginning to end, It set up the villain Arnim Zola perfectly and framed him in his very first shot in such a way that it foretells his future, Chris Evans transformation both physically and in the moments of his character, continues to hold up right through to the entire infinity saga. It introduces us to the first lady of the MCU Peggy Carter, a hero and a starlet who can hold her own with any other character in the movie. First Avenger managed to keep just the right amount of dramatic beats, with a pace that never made me check my watch or tune out of the story. It was compelling and not a single actor dialed in a performance. I tip my hat to Tommy Lee Jones an unspoken MVP.  Now of course on the flipside there is the story with actor  Hugo Weaving who did not enjoy his experience in the role, and opted not to return, but he was professional and delivered a solid performance as the red skull.  Emoting those right touches of disjointed uncomfortableness under the skin moments.

On his own the character of Steve Rogers would be boring or even goofy considering the outfit and design, but this iteration of Captain America keeps relevant by holding up a mirror to the status quo and keeps the checks and balances in place. Its an origin story, that in the lense of the infinity saga and beyond, it sets up characters and introduces us of the beginning of their story arcs like Zola, Bucky, Red Skull, and  Carter and we see how they start and get repositioned for future stories and evolve as characters.