MCU Retrospective: Captain America: The First Avenger
It’s been years since I had seen the first Captain America movie. I remembered liking the movie but not being in love with it at the time. Upon rewatching it I was genuinely surprised with how good of a movie Captain America: The First Avenger really is. Even after all these years and all the fantastic movies that came after, the original Captain America still stands as one of the greats in the MCU.
One thing that really stood out to me upon rewatch that I don’t think I had really noticed or appreciated previously was that the entirety of the movie felt like a classic Bond movie. The maniacal villain, the hidden mountain base, the brainiac scientist providing the hero with all the gear they need. It was all there and it was all expertly done.
I was also very impressed with the prosthetic work done to bring the look of Red Skull to life. And if I’m wrong and the look was actually CGI and not prosthetic work, it was still very impressive. Sometimes pulling these kinds of looks off can go horribly wrong but in this case it was oh so right. Red Skull in general was such a solid villain. In my opinion I feel that he’s one of the strongest villains in the MCU and it’s a damn shame that aside from the brief appearances in Infinity War and Endgame this is the only movie we get to see him in.
Also let’s just take a minute to appreciate Peggy Carter. She was such an amazing character and it’s unfortunate that this was her one and only movie appearance. I have yet to watch Agent Carter but I have heard that it was excellent and tragically cut short. I’ll eventually get around to watching it and enjoying getting to be with this excellent character again.
Definitely not a perfect movie. The plot was a little meh at times and the VFX were a little iffy in some spots, but overall this was probably my favorite movie of the MCU rewatch so far.