We're in the home stretch now. The last major character left to introduce is also the oldest. Captain America is a character from a different age and thus requires a slightly different kind of film. As a result Captain America: The First Avenger is a nice change of pace from the other Marvel films.
A prequel of sorts, Captain America takes place during WWII, or rather the Marvel Universe's version of it. It's the story of Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), a sickly, skinny young man who want's nothing more than to serve his country. He tries again and again to enlist, even going so far as to falsify his enlistment form to get a better chance (a serious crime), each time he is stamped 4F. Eventually he's caught, but instead of jail he's given a chance. A government scientist named Erskine (Stanley Tucci) selects him for a secret program to make him America's first super-soldier. Why skinny ol' Steve Rogers? Because Dr. Erskine feels that a man without power will have a greater respect for it. Of course, history is full of people who are suddenly given power and abuse it, but Dr. Erskine never said he was a history buff, now did he?
Steve is injected with super-serum instantly giving him 100 pounds of pure, American beef muscle. A steroid soaked Audie Murphy, and before long he's waging a one man war on super-nazi Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Red Skull is an evil man, so evil that Hitler exiles him from the nazi party for being too evil! He's a fun villain, perhaps not as interesting as Hanz Landa from Inglorious Basterds, but when your head looks like a giant red Skull, you don't have to be. As if being Too Evil For Hitler weren't enough, he also has access to a mysterious artifact, the Cosmic Cube, powerful enough to power all sorts of fearsome retro-futuristic weapons he can use to - wait for it- take over the world!!!
Director Joe Johnson (Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III) knows his way around a set piece better than most of these directors but having a real villain helps. The best being the Captain's one-man raid on one of Red Skull's weapon's factories. That sequence actually feels like a real act of selfless heroism (something that Marvel's superhero movies are strangely short on).
The biggest problem with the film is the pacing. I would not be surprised to learn that a great deal of footage was left on the cutting room floor. For instance, no one ever sits down and tells Rogers about the super-serum or what it will do to him, making him look like a bit of a dolt. Large parts of Cap's campaign against Red Skull are told in extended montage, giving the second half of the film a frustratingly undefined feeling. For instance, we know that Skull plans on attacking Hitler as well as the rest of the world, but we don't know if he actually did that or if he's fighting the Allies as well as his former masters. Does that mean that the Allies are fighting the Nazi's, the Japanese AND Red Skull? Shut up brain! Captain America is punching people in slow motion!
Another issue the film doesn't satisfactorily answer is that of race. During his campaign Captain America assembles a surprisingly diverse fighting force. Which is all well and good, except that the U.S. Army was very much segregated during the 40's. Does racism just not exist in the Marvel Universe? As cool as that would be, there is a fine line between escapism and white-washing history. I'm not sure if the film crosses that line, but it's close enough to be having the conversation. There's nothing malicious in Marvel's attempt to be politically correct, but some may feel that it diminishes the struggles of the real heroes who fought to desegregate the armed services.
Regardless, the film a mostly fun piece of escapism. It does a good job of replicating all the element's that made the golden age of comics fun. Evil as sin villains, ray-guns, Flying wings and brave, one-dimensional heroes who fight selflessly for their country. No one laughs maniacally, but that's all that's missing. There are times when Captain America feels almost like an Indiana Jones or Hellboy film without ever being as good as those.
Surprisingly Captain America does not shine brightly with the magic of corporate synergy. Apart from a framing device that brings the film into the present day, there are relatively few shout-outs to the greater Marvel universe. We get Tony Stark's father Howard, and the government agency that makes Rogers into Captain America is the forerunner of S.H.I.E.L.D.. These details feel more like easter eggs for fans, than anything that interferes, even peripherally, with the plot. Unlike Thor and Iron Man 2, Captain America actually feels like its own film that gets to stand or fall on it's own merit. The only true shout-out to Avengers is the Cosmic Cube (briefly glimpsed in Thor) which will play a significant role in the big team-up movie.
Dedicated readers will recall that I reviewed Captain America once before upon it's theatrical release. Back then I gave it a B-, but after viewing it in context with the series let's bump it up to a regular ol' B and be done with it. It's better than most of the other entries, but still not as good as Iron Man.
Grade: B
Previous installments in this series:
Iron Man
The Hulk and The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Steve is injected with super-serum instantly giving him 100 pounds of pure, American beef muscle. A steroid soaked Audie Murphy, and before long he's waging a one man war on super-nazi Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Red Skull is an evil man, so evil that Hitler exiles him from the nazi party for being too evil! He's a fun villain, perhaps not as interesting as Hanz Landa from Inglorious Basterds, but when your head looks like a giant red Skull, you don't have to be. As if being Too Evil For Hitler weren't enough, he also has access to a mysterious artifact, the Cosmic Cube, powerful enough to power all sorts of fearsome retro-futuristic weapons he can use to - wait for it- take over the world!!!
 |
| Call it a hunch, but this guy might be evil |
The biggest problem with the film is the pacing. I would not be surprised to learn that a great deal of footage was left on the cutting room floor. For instance, no one ever sits down and tells Rogers about the super-serum or what it will do to him, making him look like a bit of a dolt. Large parts of Cap's campaign against Red Skull are told in extended montage, giving the second half of the film a frustratingly undefined feeling. For instance, we know that Skull plans on attacking Hitler as well as the rest of the world, but we don't know if he actually did that or if he's fighting the Allies as well as his former masters. Does that mean that the Allies are fighting the Nazi's, the Japanese AND Red Skull? Shut up brain! Captain America is punching people in slow motion!
Another issue the film doesn't satisfactorily answer is that of race. During his campaign Captain America assembles a surprisingly diverse fighting force. Which is all well and good, except that the U.S. Army was very much segregated during the 40's. Does racism just not exist in the Marvel Universe? As cool as that would be, there is a fine line between escapism and white-washing history. I'm not sure if the film crosses that line, but it's close enough to be having the conversation. There's nothing malicious in Marvel's attempt to be politically correct, but some may feel that it diminishes the struggles of the real heroes who fought to desegregate the armed services.
Regardless, the film a mostly fun piece of escapism. It does a good job of replicating all the element's that made the golden age of comics fun. Evil as sin villains, ray-guns, Flying wings and brave, one-dimensional heroes who fight selflessly for their country. No one laughs maniacally, but that's all that's missing. There are times when Captain America feels almost like an Indiana Jones or Hellboy film without ever being as good as those.
Surprisingly Captain America does not shine brightly with the magic of corporate synergy. Apart from a framing device that brings the film into the present day, there are relatively few shout-outs to the greater Marvel universe. We get Tony Stark's father Howard, and the government agency that makes Rogers into Captain America is the forerunner of S.H.I.E.L.D.. These details feel more like easter eggs for fans, than anything that interferes, even peripherally, with the plot. Unlike Thor and Iron Man 2, Captain America actually feels like its own film that gets to stand or fall on it's own merit. The only true shout-out to Avengers is the Cosmic Cube (briefly glimpsed in Thor) which will play a significant role in the big team-up movie.
Dedicated readers will recall that I reviewed Captain America once before upon it's theatrical release. Back then I gave it a B-, but after viewing it in context with the series let's bump it up to a regular ol' B and be done with it. It's better than most of the other entries, but still not as good as Iron Man.
Grade: B
Previous installments in this series:
Iron Man
The Hulk and The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Future installments:
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