“Captain America: The First Avenger”
Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, based on the comic book by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; Directed by Joe Johnston. Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell and Tommy Lee Jones. Story: After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.
Seen by Lars & Adam, July 25, 2011
Being European, I never had much use for the patriotism of a superhero whose mere name flies in the face of subtlety. I never read Captain America comics as a kid, as I don’t think they were translated into Danish the way that most other mainstream comic books were. Also, his outfit is silly (like none of the other superheroes have stupid threads, Lars…). In short, I have not been a fan, and from the trailers for the movie, I was led to expect the worst kind of propagandistic flag-stroking bullshit. So imagine my surprise, when “Captain America” The First Avenger” turned out to be not just a good superhero movie, but great entertainment as well.
“Captain America” plays like the pulp serials of the 30s and 40s and is more than a little inspired by the hi-jinx of “Indiana Jones”, which is about the highest praise I can give. It is a relentless action ride, and it took me back to the matinees of my 70s childhood, when our local movie theatre would play old adventure movies every Sunday at 2, and all the kids in town would show up to watch. I felt like that kid again with my big bag of candy and a smile on my face, as the Captain was fighting a preposterous and wonderfully cartoonish bad guy.
Even though half a village has screenwriting credits on the movie, they somehow manage to get the balance right. We spend the first half hour getting to know and like Steve Rogers as a human being, before he is transformed into Captain America. This anchors the movie somewhat in reality before it flies into pure comic book action. It’s not that the story is all that great. If you asked me to sum it up, it’s Captain America wins the 2nd World War by fighting the real enemy, which is another superhuman named Red Skull. But the film moves from set piece to set piece at such an unrelenting pace that you’re never given the pause to say ‘hang on…’. You’re along for the ride and you’re sitting there with a goofy grin on your face. It’s the first superhero movie to be set not in the present or the future, but mostly in the past. There’s a trick connecting the Captain to the present, so he can appear in next summer’s superhero extravaganza, “The Avengers”, but that’s really just a fun little aside. The majority of the movie takes place in the 1940s.
Many of the kudos for the success of this flick must go to the cast. Chris Evans, whom I couldn’t stand as the human torch in “The Fantastic Four”, gets another chance to make a superhero his own and this time he doesn’t blow it. From the ‘aw shucks’ mentality of Steve Rogers to the slow realization that he can make a difference, Evans never lets us lose sight of the character’s humanity and that’s why it works. Hugo Weaving has a field day hamming it up as Red Skull; a character decidedly not anchored in anything but pure cartoon villainy. Tommy Lee Jones predictably plays Tommy Lee Jones better than anyone. Relative newcomer Hayley Atwell, who is very delectable, if I may be so blunt, does a good job of being comedic foil and love interest for the Captain, even if he never really has much time to put down the shield.
One of my biggest reasons for concern before seeing the movie was director Joe Johnston. With a resume that includes “The Wolfman”, “Jurassic Park 3” and “Jumanji” there was absolutely no reason to think he’d get this right. He also has a few episodes of “The young Indiana Jones Chronicles” (a show that was much better than it’s credited for) on his CV and this seems to be where he found his inspiration for “Captain America”. The movie is tonally pitch-perfect, and it would have been so incredibly easy to get it wrong.
So now we have all the balls in the air, all the heroes have been introduced, and it’s time for “The Avengers” next summer. Personally, I’m doubtful that any film needs 5 superheroes working together, but people in the know say the screenplay by director Joss Wheadon is great, so we’ll see. In the meantime, go have fun seeing Captain America win the war. It’s like buying war bonds, except you’re paying Marvel to make more great superhero movies.
ADAM:
When watching a trailer, you always get a feeling. These days when the trailer ends, you turn to the person sitting next to you in the theater, and seemingly most often groan; the movie looks terrible, or you feel as if you’ve seen most of the comedy, action, or other devices of the film already. Occasionally, your opinion differs from the crowd; that was the case for me with Captain America. I think I found myself excited about “CA” for two main reasons: although I was never a big comic reader, I liked Captain America best amongst the superheroes, and the “Indiana Jones” 1940s setting of the film (possibly my favorite time period) got me pumped. It seemed few others agreed with me, arguing that the Captain didn’t really have any super powers, that it looked too much like “Hellboy,” that it wouldn’t be cool because it wasn’t set in modern day.
I actually admired that this was different from other superhero films for exactly those reasons; every other comic adaptation seemed to be pitched to movie execs as taking the hero and throwing him into today’s surroundings. Maybe that’s why every other superhero film (with the exception of Nolan’s Batman series) seems exactly the same as another. Maybe that’s why I’ve pretty much forgotten them all. Maybe that’s why a Spiderman film is being re-done 8 years after the last “first in the series” was made. Maybe it’s that and greed.
Captain America for me, is the best comic book hero movie made in recent memory. I’m so glad it not only delivered on what was promised in the trailer, but much more. Don’t get me wrong — this isn’t award-winning film making, and it never set out to be that; instead it takes what it is trying to do seriously. And that’s entertain in a pre-technicolor way, mixing the drab olives and khakis of the U.S. army with the red white and blue of U.S. war propaganda of the 40’s and does so in a genuine way, feeling reminiscent of serials from sixty years ago. What it ultimately conveys is a tough as nails attitude of a war involved America where everyone pithes in, war bonds are sold, and the battle is front page news everyday. This isn’t the “don’t trust your own government” of the 70s films rhetoric; it’s the “us versus them,” the “enemy are monsters trying to take over the planet”, one for all and all for one rhetoric. Funny; that sounds like the kind of rhetoric of most comic books. Good versus evil, etc. No wonder it works so well. And it’s not all 40’s nostalgia; what’s great is that the Nazi faction we’re battling has developed weapons so advanced, there’s a perfect crossover to Sci-Fi, another wise calculated choice. Add great action and a good amount of humor provided by Tommy Lee Jones, and it’s a fun ride from start to finish. And speaking of finish, but trying not to to be a spoiler, for those of you who have loved the clone-ish comic book adaptations we’ve been subjected to in the past ten years and must have your heroes ported into present day, there’s a solution to that too. See it. You’ll have some patriotic fun.
