'Captain America' Success Proves Marvel's Still Got It

By Eryn Sun, Christian Post Reporter Monday, July 25, 2011

Off to a box office topping start, “Captain America: The First Avenger” debuted this weekend grossing over $65.8 million, beating out Harry Potter which fell by an estimated 72 percent.

The film, the fifth installment by Marvel Studios that will segue way into “The Avengers” next year, surpassed sales made by fellow Avenger “Thor,” which totaled $65.7 million its first weekend earlier this year.

It did not, however, break the opening record set by “Iron Man” or “Iron Man 2,” which both weighed in over $102 million at their debut.

Regardless, “Captain America” still exceeded expectations, with the sequel already underway by screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, according to MTV.

“We’re very early, still,” Markus previously told MTV. “We have a million great ideas and haven’t thrown any of them out yet.”

The duo is hoping to bring back some more elements of the World War II history that dawned on the first film and are confident that their sequel will not leave audiences in the dark, given “The Avengers” will premiere before the Captain America sequel.

Thus far, a majority of critics have enjoyed the film, though some were left without any surprises.

Kyle Smith of the New York Post stated, “‘Captain America’ smashingly layers superhero stuff such as magic serums atop a wry appreciation for campy WWII propaganda and ‘60s cinematic rousers that kept Richard Burton, Robert Shaw and Lee Marvin constantly employed.”

“Rather than fight against the character’s flag-waving, Nazi-busting roots, the movie embraces them, going back to the early ‘40s to remind us what made the ‘greatest generation’ so great,” Tom Charity, from CNN also praised.

And Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post stated that Chris Evans brought “just the right amount of confidence and aw-shucks modesty to Rogers, who surely counts as the most appealing Marvel hero.”

Wall Street Journal’s Joe Margenstern was not as fond of the film, commenting that “the movie’s metabolism burns out.”

Peter Debruge of Variety also thought it was, “Red, white and bland.”

Overall still the film has garnered a fresh rating of 74 percent from Rotten Tomatoes, most agreeing that Evans was the perfect superhero, and 85 percent of the audience enjoyed the latest Marvel adaptation.

And for those uninterested in the superhero craze, there were still plenty of movies to choose from. Like “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II,” which came in at a distant second, according to The Numbers, or Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis’ “Friends with Benefits,” which opened at $18.5 million.

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Horrible Bosses” were also among the top ten movies for the weekend.