Captain America Seen as Precursor to Next Summer's Superheroics

Reviews for Captain America: The First Avenger are just now coming in. It seems the reception will be fairly mixed, although they stand to be quite better than Green Lantern. But although Captain America is the last superhero epic of the summer, it probably needs better results to truly stand out and fire up Marvel fans for their heroes' ultimate showcase next year.

It has been a bit easy to forget about The First Avenger lately given all of the Harry Potter box office records and leaked trailers for next summer's biggest movies. What's more, the first review batch didn't start to come in for until Tuesday, which might have spelled trouble for his debut effort.

So far, Rotten Tomatoes has two fresh and rotten responses, while the Hollywood Reporter and Variety are mixed. Variety refers to it as "red, white and bland." The Hollywood Reporter predicts moviegoers will wonder "Is this all there is?" But the movie, like Steve Rogers himself, has faced some harsh odds and doubters right from the start.

Being the first big blockbuster released after the record-setting Harry Potter finale is basically a no-win scenario. Potter mania is bound to still dominate summer for some time, even to the point of overshadowing Captain America's big premiere. What's more, even comic book fans might be more focused on the first trailers for next summer's epics, like The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man and of course The Avengers.

Critics are bound to say The First Avenger is a full-length, two-hour trailer in itself for The Avengers. But that could be said of all of Marvel's movies, which have all led up to the big team-up that will finally happen in 12 months. The likes of Iron Man and Thor have thrived anyway, but they have a different tone than Captain America, as well as a more modern setting.

Making an ultra-patriotic WWII movie with an almost impossibly upright and earnest hero is a tougher sell these days than it was even a few decades ago. One otherwise positive review from Comic Book Resources cites "Cap" as the weak link, since "earnest optimism is hard to play for two hours." This will certainly make the character quite different from his Avenger counterparts next year for more than a few reasons -- but will they all be good?

For now, however, the worry is whether he will be different in a good way from this year's new and old superheroes. While Captain America is The First Avenger, he is the last of many heroes in 2011, and some reviews may reflect the ongoing superhero fatigue -- though it is small potatoes compared to what's coming.

Sources

Rotten Tomatoes- "Captain America: The First Avenger"

Hollywood Reporter- "Captain America: The First Avenger: Film Review"

Variety- "Captain America: The First Avenger"

Comic Book Resources- "Captain America: The First Avenger Is A Solid Summer Popcorn Movie"