Title: Captain America: The First Avenger
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci
Captain America: The First Avenger represents a change of pace in the recent adapted comic-book blockbuster movie practice. The 125 minutes are delivered in a methodical, unplugged manner. Translation: director Joe Johnston is surprisingly attuned of the time period this Marvel Comic hero was conjured up in. That said, there is expensive CGI being wielded when necessary, but a good portion of this plays out like an old Batman and/or Incredible Hulk television show; with the exception of grander set-designs and a quasi-more realistic scenario (for a comic).
When scrawny Steve Rogers (Leander Deeny’s body with Chris Evans’ face) tries to join up with the army in 1942 to fight against the bullying Nazis, the puny guy gets rejected time after time. That is until army scientist Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees something in him and pushes his application through. Once at boot camp, the deadpan Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) wonders why the now good doctor – who used to be aligned with Hitler’s Nazis – chose such an unlikely subject for his super solider cocktail.
The “never say die” attitude of Rogers earns him a chance to become something more. Eagerly submitting to Dr. Erskine’s experiment, Rogers enters into a machine developed by Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) and the stick-figure turns into a strapping man with extraordinary strength. After thwarting a spy from the secret Nazi cult HYDRA, Captain America (Chris Evans) becomes a household name. And a gimmick. While trying to find his place in the army and figure out how to best use his abilities in the midst of all the propaganda (loyal to the comic), the entire world is about to be decimated by a rogue Nazi commander – who is the head of HYDRA – in Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Schmidt – a former candidate for Dr. Erskine’s formula – has found a way to harness the power of a great crystal from Odin and plans on conquering all who stand in his way; including the one man who may have the power to stop him in Captain America.
Although this is another origin story (masking as an old-school Bond film), it kind of feels like a marriage of what a G.I. JOE movie should physically be, combined with a Star Wars screenplay aesthetic. This is basically an army movie with two characters that have a little more strength and better reflexes. And one has a deformed red face. Captain America is a character that lands somewhere between Superman and Batman when analyzing attributes. His weapon of choice is a shield – which he flings around like a Frisbee – made from a rare metal (perfected by Stark Industries) that is virtually impenetrable; he can run and catch a car going about 40 mph; he can physically throw someone about ten feet high and twenty-five yards out; his body can eventually regenerate from injury (allegedly); and his metabolism is so fast, the poor guy can’t even get drunk. Differences are that his identity is known, his costume (at least in this installment) is ragged and boring (you’ll find better costumes on Halloween), and he interacts with a lot of his colleagues (very talkative movie in general).
What’s interesting is that the entire trait levels the titular lead projects are exactly how the movie mechanics are executed. There are a few sequences of flashy CGI (giant tanks, fortresses burning to rubble, climatic airplane battle, etc.) but mainly this journey stays to the old-fashion roots of a superhero telling. A decent amount of hand-to-hand combat moments eventually seep into this montage of action scenes, and story that gets progressively better once the dragging coming-of-age angle is completed. Like all comic properties though, we have to deal with a side love affair between our hero and Sergeant Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). It’s not that this subplot is annoying as it is uneventful. Atwell has a presence on screen, yet no one (director, writers) seems to care. Same with Dominic Cooper’s “Howard Stark.” His persona is underused as the focus is always on our main bland guy. The only two characters that really have any sort of charisma to them are Tommy Lee Jones – who provides the flick’s scant humor – and Hugo Weaving naturally rocking the villain mystique (apparently Mark Strong was busy).
The script tries to force the playfulness with a group of rescued P.O.W’s (Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi, and JJ Field) but their presence is negligible. Chris Evan’s patent sarcasm is water-downed here as the role calls for more sternness, which negates many of the actor‘s talents.
As we see Captain America electric wheel-chairing along (best way to describe the pacing), one of the themes in this story is slightly contradicted. The audience is led to believe that no matter what your stature, you can accomplish whatever you strive for. Keeping that in mind, the only way the character can achieve his goals is to take a more-or-less magical steroid. Of course the movie wants you to believe that it’s the mental capacity that gets the guy “over” so to speak. However, the “love interest” only starts to take a liking after he gets scientifically bulked up all while becoming audacious & confident after he is bestowed all these enhancements. Mixed messages much? In that case, as long as an athlete is an all-around nice guy, let them juice-up! Ironically, this entire production could have used a few anabolic injections in the ass.
Overall, Captain America: The First Avenger throws a wet-blanket on the over-the-top fun for the most part as it strives for a relatable connection with the audience. And when considering the cache of other comic superheroes that have graced the big-screen, Captain America presence is nothing more than an average, sturdy origin tale; which leads to an average, yet admirable, movie-going experience.
It’ all just a set-up for next year’s iconic Avengers flick, teased at the end of the credits by the way!
Technical: B+
Story: D
Acting: B
Overall: C+
Review by Joe Belcastro
