It’s kinda shocking to realize that, up until the release of Captain America: The First Avenger hit theaters last week, the only kind of cinematic justice provided to the 1940’s-based superhero was a really awful film from the 80’s. You know, the kind where he threw his shield and you could see the stuff manipulating the shield’s direction, rather than its natural flight. Thankfully, we can now commit that turd to cinematic memory, and turn instead to Joe Johnston’s take – which isn’t too shabby, to say the least. The film focuses on Steve Rogers, a runt with the heart of a lion and the strength of a pygmy. He wants to enroll and battle the Nazis like no one’s business, but due to his lack of, well, any sort of strength, he’s turned away. However, he runs into a scientist, Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who’s willing to give him a chance in a forthcoming Super Soldier program, which is being powered by Stark Technology. (Any Iron Man fans in the house?) After chatting with the gruff Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, up to form), Rogers is transformed into a buff-looking dude who bears a striking resemblance to Chris Evans – mainly because he is.
And Captain America’s transformation couldn’t come any sooner. Terror strikes soon after, in the form of a legion of super Nazi types known as Hydra. Heading them up is Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving, always game for a villainous role), a man with a hideous secret – he’s really a red skulled fiend named, well, what else, Red Skull. He has his hands on some devastating weaponry that could turn the tide in battle, and it’s up to the Captain to stop him, along with help from his allies, James “Bucky” Barnes (a rather low-energy Sebastian Stan) and the lovely Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Now, of course, this movie has some strong tie-ins to the upcoming The Avengers, the 2012 superhero gathering coming our way courtesy of director Joss Whedon. (And, yes, the film’s ending, along with a teaser trailer, set the groundwork for that forthcoming tale.) But we didn’t think it would have such a big effect on the end of the film as it did. We won’t spoil it here, but we expected something a little more…showdown-ish, should we say?
In fact, the movie as a whole loses a slight bit of steam in the second half, after the Captain is put together and suddenly takes it upon himself to go the extra mile, without any hints that he’s still adjusting to his super-contorted body. But it still fares much better than most of the superhero movies out there, namely Green Lantern, which had so much flash in the pan we were surprised that anything in that movie ended up being real. Captain America maintains a great kinetic spark through its action scenes, directed with utmost heft by Johnston. He’s got a very stable hand, and manages to keep things going in the decade that the hero’s in, rather than stumbling too far into modern times. Case in point – Captain becomes surrounded by thugs with flame thrower weapons, rather than high powered pulsating lasers. Hey, works for us. But then again, Johnston’s covered this territory before. Back in the old days, he directed The Rocketeer for Disney, a fun little Saturday morning style of romp featuring an unlikely hero in an over-the-top situation, involving Nazis. The Rocketeer and Cap have a lot more in common than you might think, and Johnston handles them both like a pro. (Granted, the effects are better here, but Cap does hold a 20-year advantage over that previous film.)
This feature movie review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read the rest of our take on Captain America: The First Avenger.
