Captain America: The First Avenger on DVD 2011

I actually saw Captain America: The First Avenger on DVD a couple months ago, but let's see...that was about the time I was learning to juggle life with a newborn and a two-year-old, so by the time I had time to review it, I couldn't remember exactly what I wanted to say anymore. But I saw it again a few days ago, so here's what I think on a second viewing.

There are things about this movie I love and others I dislike. I'm sorry to all the superhero and comic book fans out there, but I think Captain America's outfit is totally dorky. I'm not saying Superman's isn't, but when big-muscled, soft-hearted Steve wears his stage costume in his first military rescue, well...I had a hard time taking it seriously.

On the other hand, I love Steve as a character. He's everything this blog I write is about. He's morally right, and that's why he's chosen to get a body upgrade. By the time he has muscles, he's the perfect soldier: tough on the outside and compassionate on the inside. I love it! Because of his character, his desire not to kill but to see justice done, I'm excited to see him come back in The Avengers this spring. And I have to say, I liked the way his costume was upgraded by the end of the movie (it grew on me), and though I didn't think it possible, he made a shield look cool (the round one, that is). I saw a neat special feature on the DVD about his costume development and how he made the shield work. However, I was disappointed that the special features on the basic DVD did not include how he was transformed from skinny and short to tall and muscular. I know the feature exists somewhere since I saw something about it, but I guess it was too cool for the basic DVD package.

So, Steve as a character is what I love about this movie. If you could separate Steve and Captain America, I'd have to say (sorry to all those fans, again) that I like Captain America less. I realize it's not possible to separate them, really, so let me explain what I mean. I like Batman Begins because it tells about how Batman becomes a superhero, and I like the logical progression of his training. I think Captain America is a less well-done superhero origin story because once Steve has his muscles, it's like he can magically do all these stunts (with the exception of his first run, perhaps), and how does a round shield boomerang anyway? I have to suspend disbelief too much. I'm not against him being so super-cool. I just want to see how he got there with no military training whatsoever. I wasn't aware that the serum gave him any fighting skills, just better cells.

(SPOILER ALERT) I also thought the death of Steve's best friend was a little lame. It added nothing to the movie, so it didn't have to be there. It was too sad, and really, they could zip line off a mountain down onto a speeding train and not slip off, I might add, but Steve couldn't use some of those awesome, unlearned moves to rescue Bucky off the side of the train?

The end was really sad, too, and I hope it was there to give depth to Steve's character for the next movie, because why have it be like that, otherwise? On a related but more positive note, it was refreshing to have a romance not go further than a kiss.

Overall, Captain America was entertaining to watch, even two times, it was funny, and I have one more superhero tucked under my belt for trivia. Last year was the year for that, wasn't it?

Three stars.