Captain America: The First Avenger Movie Review
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Positive Messages
The movie celebrates the idea of the hero as someone who demonstrates courage, integrity, and perseverance, believes in something greater than him/herself, and stands up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Self-sacrifice, friendship, and loyalty are also key themes.
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Positive Role Models
Steve Rogers/Captain America is about as wholesome as superheroes come: He’s brave, compassionate, resourceful, loyal, and kind. He doesn’t have the personal demons or conflicts that mark darker heroes like Batman; he’s unquestionably a good guy. Although Captain America at one point professes a reluctance to kill people, he and his soldiers don’t have any qualms about offing tons of villains. Agent Carter is respected and good at what she does. The villains are clearly evil.
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Diverse Representations
Supporting characters span gender, race, and body size. Agent Carter is a powerful woman who doesn’t need to be rescued. Positive characters Nick Fury and Gabe Jones are Black. American soldier Jim Morita is of Japanese descent. They all help move the plot forward and are depicted as heroes as worthy as Captain America.
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Violence & Scariness
Frequent strong explosive action violence and weapons. Buildings, vehicles, and more are engulfed in fireballs; lots of gun use. A villain known as Red Skull has a skeletal face that could be very scary to younger kids. The villains are developing super weapons powered by a mysterious energy source; they’re extremely powerful, and some can completely vaporize people. Characters are killed, in mostly bloodless gun fights and big explosions, but a few characters die in more upsetting ways: a couple of them are shot point-blank, and one goes through a propeller (blood is spattered). Car and motorcycle chases, fist fights, and war imagery. A child is held hostage. A character dies by suicide.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
Flirting and a couple of kisses; romantic tension between the two main characters. Soldiers ogle a woman. Women’s underwear can be seen when they dance. One implied mooning by a soldier who removes his trousers; several scenes with a shirtless man.
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Language
Several uses of “hell,” plus very infrequent use of “ass,” “damn,” “son of a bitch,” “oh my God,” and British slang like “bloody.” Insults include calling soldiers “ladies” to demean them.
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Products & Purchases
Tie-in to vast quantities of related merchandise, as well as every other series and film connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
Dr. Erskine drinks some schnapps; he later implies that he had too much, but he’s not shown drunk. Soldiers drink beer (and harder liquor) in a pub/bar; one is a little tipsy. Captain America tries to get drunk but is unable to.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Captain America: The First Avenger is a 1940s-set superhero film that’s part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The first of many to feature Captain America, it’s full of explosive action and violence. Expect tons of gun battles, fireballs, and fist fights, as well as a potentially scary villain who has a skeletal face. In other respects though, it’s pretty tame. Captain America is wholesome, compassionate, and brave; he doesn’t have the dark side that many other superheroes do, and he respects women. There’s flirting and a couple of tame kisses. Characters drink (but don’t get drunk) and use words like “hell” and “ass” a few times. But what lingers after the last bomb has exploded and the last fight is over are the movie’s messages about standing up against bullying and doing the right thing. (That and a very strong sense of “U.S.A! U.S.A!” patriotism.)
