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
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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
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