Captain America: The First Avenger is a superhero action-adventure film produced by Marvel Studios. The film is the fifth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (after the first two parts of Iron Man (2008 and 2010), The Incredible Hulk (2008), and Thor (2011)) and is set in the timeline of World War II.
How to Stream or Download Captain America: The First Avenger
To start your download or stream click on the button at the end of this film review. Captain America can be streamed or it can be downloaded from iTunes Store where you will also find many other superhero movies, including other Captain America titles such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).
The Film Review
Released on 19th July 2011, the film is directed by Joe Johnston as it features a cast consisting of Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, and Dominic Cooper. The film starts off in March 1942 where a Nazi officer Johann Schmidt and his accomplices steal a mysterious object called the Tesseract.
Meanwhile, an individual named Steve Rogers becomes rejected from participating in World War II as a US military recruit. In a desperate attempt, Rogers, along with his friend James Barnes, attends the Strategic Scientific Reserve where he becomes selected for an experiment that can transform him into a super-soldier.
Once successful, Rogers gains intense physical strength but is informed by Dr. Erskine that a Nazi soldier -Schmidt- previously underwent a similar experiment which resulted in negative lasting side effects. Meanwhile, Schmidt hires an assassin that manages to kill Erskine and himself before Rogers can get to interrogate him. In 1943, it comes to Rogers’ knowledge that Barnes’ squad has gone missing.
Consequently, Roger goes out to search and encounters Schmidt who appears to have a red skull-like face as a result of the failed experiment. Initially, Schmidt manages to escape but Rogers chases him back to his aircraft where a battle takes place between the two. In the midst of all the action, the Tesseract container becomes damaged which opens a wormhole, sucking Schmidt inside of it.
At the same time, the plane carrying Rogers crashes into the Arctic as he is unable to be found. The film ends as it is revealed that Rogers wakes up at a hospital where he is told that he has been asleep for the past 70 years.
The First Avenger has many moments that left its viewers with their jaws wide open. However, the most iconic scene, arguably, is the one where Rogers transforms from a weakling into a superhuman and the reason behind it being the magic of visual effects. Lola Visual Effects, the company behind the magic, explains how that transformation was a combination of digital effect techniques.
According to Lola VFX supervisor Edson Williams, around 5% of the shots consisted of Evan’s head being placed on a body double but the majority of the shots were taken by digitally shrinking Evans’ body and face whilst capturing each shot 3 times. In addition, the company used control rigs which helped them speed up shooting and in-turn, save cost on production.
The main theme for this film was composed by Alan Silvestri. It also featured an original song as well called Star Spangled Man. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on 19th July 2011.
Overall, the film has proven out to become quite a success for Marvel by crossing over $370 million at the box office. It laid the foundation to further produce superhero films that would eventually lead to the formation of Avengers.
