One Minute Reviews by Kenneth Shinozuka

Captain America: The First Avenger

Released: Friday, July 22, 2011 (wide release). The film is available in 3D.

Starring: Chris Evans (as Steve Rogers/Captain America), Hayley Atwell (as Peggy Carter), Hugo Weaving (as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull), Tommy Lee Jones (as Col. Chester Phillips), Dominic Cooper (as Howard Stark), Sebastian Stan (as Bucky Barnes), Stanley Tucci (as Dr. Abraham Erskine)

Director: Joe Johnston

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 124 Minutes

See the Trailer: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/captain-america-the-first-avenger/trailers

Boom, Bang, Bland

Bereft of emotional resonance and convincing performances, Captain America: The First Avenger is a typical superhero film that excels in production design and technical brilliance, but never offers sweeping spectacle or multi-dimensional characterization. In an unexpectedly stale rendition, Chris Evans rarely depicts his triumphant hero with vivacity, painting him with the vapidity of an Everyman, rather than a character troubled by the inner turmoil of his life-saving duties. With a human touch that has vanished amidst the industrial machinery, the film is stiffened with dullness that extends to several ponderous action sequences, all of which provide little liveliness or electrifying touch. Constantly decelerating for predictability rather than development, the remarkably soporific story ignores its historical implications for corporate urgency, exchanging emotional blandness and consistently unnecessary dialogue for screen time in the 2012 Marvel film: "The Avengers." Lost amidst lavish set decorations and sleepy nostalgia, 'CA:TFA' soars most when it captures an untransformed and scrawny Captain America, before he metamorphoses to war against battle and brawl, but not the weariness that permeates throughout this film.

1.5 out of 4 stars