Captain America: The First Avenger million in what was the second highest-grossing opening weekend for a superhero film in 2011, behind "Thor" ($65.7 million). "Captain America: The First Avenger" is the third highest-grossing motion picture set during the World War II era, after "Saving Private Ryan" and "Pearl Harbor". The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 79% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10 based on 258 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With plenty of pulpy action, a pleasantly retro vibe, and a handful of fine performances, "Captain America" is solidly old-fashioned blockbuster entertainment." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, rated the
Captain America: The First Avenger Times Square on April 23, 2011. The film features nearly 1,600 visual effects shots, which were split between thirteen different companies. To achieve the appearance of the skinny, pre-serum Steve Rogers, director Joe Johnston stated that he used two major techniques: Captain America's shield, which serves as both a defensive tool and a weapon, came in four types: metal, fiberglass, rubber, and computer graphics (CG). Prop master Barry Gibbs specified that "We had the 'hero shield,' which was made of aluminum, for our beauty shots [and] close-up work. We then created a lighter shield that was aluminum-faced with a fiberglass