An unexpectedly muscular and artistic origin movie, wonderfully evocative of the '40s, a sepia-toned, immersive 3D experience, "Captain America: The First Avenger" delivers on all levels. Chris Evans is perfectly cast, first morphed, Benjamin-Button like, into the spunky, skinny kid with heart who can't get into the WWII Army, transformed by an experiment into a paragon of physical prowess. Sent on the road as Captain America to sell war bonds rather than do any actual fighting, he gets his chance save a friend and his company while entertaining the troops in Italy. Evans' Steve Rogers is definitely qualified to stand alongside Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark and Chris Hemsworth's Thor in the upcoming Avenger movies.
Supporting players are all top notch: Stanley Tucci as the scientist, Dominic Cooper as a rich dare-devil government contractor, Tommy Lee Jones as the irascible commanding officer, the imposing Hugo Weaving as the megalomaniac du jour, the lovely Sebastian Stan as the best friend, and of course the cantilevered Hayley Atwell as the resourceful government agent, coach, and love interest. The music is rousingly patriotic, and the editing is sure-footed and clean.
But it is the look and feel of the movie that sets it apart. Much of this is doubtless due to the vision of director Joe Johnston, who has a background in special effects, but he has powerful collaborators in cinematographer Shelly Johnson and production designer Rick Heinrichs, who has created an award-caliber series of sets. Not since "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" have I seen such a complete vision of another time mixed with other-worldly technology, a steam punk tour de force.
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