The Irish summertime was designed for a movie like Captain America: The First Avenger, a genuine summer blockbuster that wards off the chills and unseasonal rain with shamelessly fun entertainment and way-to-go-little-guy glee. This is popcorn escapism and big budget action that is pitched perfectly as the superhero movie that brings a bit of colour back into the comic strip fold.
The film, directed by Joe Johnston of Jumanji fame, is the final piece in the assembly line leading up towards next year’s Avengers, the superhero team-up epic single-handedly keeping the spandex industry afloat by combining Marvel’s cavalcade of comic-book champions into a dream-team of box-office smashing proportions. But the focus here in on this all-American hero, played by two-time superpower alumnus Chris Evans, whose Captain America is stars and stripes success, and feels so fresh for one simple reason: he’s rather old fashioned.
