Captain America: The First Avenger
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: July 22, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
HitfixDrew McWeenyMay 8, 2016
Captain America: The First Avenger is one of the finest movies yet from Marvel Studios, and a big departure in tone and storytelling from most of the films they've made so far. It is a strong indicator that the more willing the studio is to experiment, the more exciting the payoffs can be. Read full review
91
The Film StageDan MeccaMay 8, 2016
Johnston and company are aware that introducing a hero means more than showing off his suit and gadgets or building up the universe he will eventually encapsulate. Before any of that, we must care about who he/she is. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJul 21, 2011
It gives you all that you could ask for when you buy a ticket to a thrill ride. Read full review
88
NPRGlen WeldonJul 22, 2011
The movie surges ahead, moving nimbly through a series of action set-pieces that owe more to films like "Where Eagles Dare" and "The Guns of Navarone" than they do to, say, "The Green Hornet." Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithJul 22, 2011
Adding goofy uncertainty to shoulders as wide as the East River makes for a disarming hero in one of the spiffiest WWII action yarns ever to march out of Hollywood. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 21, 2011
The best kind of comic-book movie. It's stylish and spectacular, yet it's rooted in history and human emotions. It's smart yet it's funny. It's wise yet it kicks ass when it has to. Just like the U.S. of A. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 21, 2011
The most stylish comics-derived entertainment of the year...It's paced and designed for people who won't shrivel up and die if two or three characters take 45 seconds between combat sequences to have a conversation about world domination, or a dame. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderBen SachsJul 21, 2011
Joe Johnston - returning to the vibe of his first directorial effort, "The Rocketeer" (1991) - creates a fun retro-futurist environment with a World War II setting, and he has the discernment not to let the effects overwhelm the story. Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensJul 21, 2011
Captain America isn't a masterpiece, but it's a solidly crafted, elegant adventure movie that held my attention from start to finish and sent me out into the street energized instead of enervated. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 21, 2011
This muscular, red-blooded adventure has a decent heart and the stuff of Saturday afternoon serials running through its veins. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 20, 2011
Captain America is exactly what the third week of July needed: a curiously fun, surprisingly imaginative and unashamedly old-fashioned yarn of skulduggery and adventure. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineTodd GilchristJul 20, 2011
What really distinguishes Captain from the other superhero movies of 2011 (and quite frankly, the majority of the others released in the last several years) is a romance that feels like an integral - not incidental - component of the plot. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJul 21, 2011
What distinguishes Cap is his humble backstory, which involves neither hairy gods nor hot-dogging test pilots but a kid from Brooklyn who just wants to fight for freedom. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigJul 21, 2011
While the story is preposterous and most of the cast standard-issue, it's hard not to like a comic-book movie that features both Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and high-tech vaporizing weaponry. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonJul 21, 2011
For the most part, it manages to balance laughs, genuinely rousing moments, and a fully packed agenda into something fleet enough to keep running under the weight of its rich ambitions. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 21, 2011
Captain America might hold the most promise, not just of saving the world, but of saving comic book movies from themselves. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 21, 2011
Succeeds where "Thor" didn't and the "Incredible Hulk" hasn't, twice. Unlike those drags, director Joe Johnston keeps things relatively simple and pleasantly stupid. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJul 20, 2011
It goes without saying it's preposterous. But it has the texture and takes the care to be a full-blown film. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJul 20, 2011
Stolidly corny, old-fashioned pulp fun. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreJul 20, 2011
The fourth comic book movie of the summer is the best comic book movie of the summer. Johnston has delivered a light, clever and deftly balanced adventure picture with real lump in the throat nostalgia. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMay 8, 2016
Until the computer-generated effects bog it down and mess up its rhythms, Captain America: The First Avenger, has a measured, classical pace and a lot of good, old-fashioned craftsmanship. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissJul 23, 2011
On its own, Captain America is a modestly engaging little-big movie in the median range: well below the first "Iron Man," somewhat above "X-Men: First Class." Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 21, 2011
Captain America is first and foremost an origins story. Almost half of the film's running time elapses before Rogers gets any kind of power at all, and though its elements are awfully familiar, it's the most involving part of the film because it takes advantage of Evans' performance. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 21, 2011
Has a winningly pulpy, jaunty, earnest spirit. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttJul 20, 2011
Sticking to its simplistic, patriotic origins, where a muscular red, white and blue GI slugging Adolf Hitler in the jaw is all that's required, Captain America trafficks in red-blooded heroes, dastardly villains, classy dames and war-weary military officers. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 23, 2011
Captain America falls into the prevalent pitfalls of origin stories. So much time and effort is expended explaining how the protagonist gains his super-powers (and exploring his initial usage of them) that there's not enough opportunity to develop a compelling storyline beyond his "baptism." Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyJul 21, 2011
From its antagonists to its art direction, everything about Johnston's movie has a been-there, seen-that familiarity. Yet Evans' clean-cut idealism and objectives make old-fashioned patriotism look fresh. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJul 21, 2011
This is what the ongoing onslaught of comic book movies lacks: stars. Real stars. Robert Downey Jr. is the exception when he should be the rule. It's possible we take these movies for granted because the marketing tells us we should. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 21, 2011
Here's the funny thing: Despite all the Captain America rah-rah in costume and indestructible shield, the movie is at its best when the story sticks with skinny Steve. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick SchagerJul 20, 2011
Tommy Lee Jones provides wisecracking levity as Rogers's commanding officer, Hayley Atwell supplies the aforementioned buxom chest and accompanying tough-girl grit as Rogers's British love interest, and Johnson directs with flair, his set pieces defined by both muscularity and clarity. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 7, 2016
The movie cleverly spins a meta-fictional "origin" myth for Captain America: explaining that he was in fact a propagandist comic-book superhero before becoming a real one. The final scene of the film, and Captain America's very last line, are rather brilliant – though admittedly less brilliant if their sole purpose is to set up sequels. Read full review
60
The TelegraphSukhdev SandhuMay 7, 2016
Captain America: The First Avenger is all utility. It has everything you might want from a movie of this kind — bangs, baddies, nonsensical backstories — except for the most important element of all: surprise. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonMay 7, 2016
Respect is due to Joe Johnston and his screenwriters for not only fashioning a nifty, highly entertaining slice of pulpy comic-book action, but for making this most divisive of costumed crusaders universally relatable. Read full review
60
EmpireColin KennedyJul 28, 2011
Charming, handsome and full of pep – all 70 year-old Cap lacks is a knockout blow. Still, Johnston should be saluted for old-fashioned heart in a cynical age, while Marvel should be confined to barracks for cynical marketing. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearJul 21, 2011
The old-fashioned vibe, in fact, does more than just distinguish the story of skinny runt turned supersoldier Steve Rogers (Evans) from every other comic-book movie out there, though its fetishization of retro-techno gizmos and getups-call it leatherbucklepunk-immensely adds to the fun. Read full review
60
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJul 21, 2011
In the end, the action sequences are just overblown and dollar-squandering, with no particular payoff in the entertainment department. The supporting actors - particularly Jones, Tucci and Luke - are the thing to watch here; they do all they can to keep the movie's gears running smoothly. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJul 28, 2011
The final conflict is so protracted as to comfortably accommodate a bathroom break. Don't worry. You won't miss anything you haven't seen before. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterJul 21, 2011
Is there any doubt Evans' Captain America will do exactly what the character created 70 years ago by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did in the comics – kick Nazi butt? The real surprise will come next year, when we get to see how the super-square Captain adapts to 21st-century life. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJul 20, 2011
Evans – always a reliably dynamic and vivacious screen presence – can't do much to bring the character to life. As far as superheroes go, Cap remains a bit of a stiff. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeJul 20, 2011
As Marvel heroes go, Captain America must be the most vanilla of the lot. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 21, 2011
Once Captain America goes off to war in his endearingly silly suit, however, the movie starts to lose its vibe. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKarina LongworthJul 19, 2011
(A) hokey, hacky, two-hour-plus exercise in franchise transition/price gouging, complete with utterly unnecessary post-converted 3-D. Read full review
20
CineVueJoe WalshMay 8, 2016
Captain America is simply awful. It is another hour and a half of prologue to the film people are apparently waiting for - The Avengers. Read full review
More From This Movie

66 Critic Reviews

6.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL