Captain America: The First Avenger

***1/2**
Three and a Half Stars Out of Five

I really wanted Captain America: The First Avenger to be great. I mean, I really really wanted it to be great. So, I was a bit disappointed when it turned out to just be comfortably in between "good" and "very good." It's a bit of a miracle that comic book movies have progressed to the point that an adaptation being "very good" is a disappointment, but that's really how far the genre has come in the last few years. While Captain America: The First Avenger doesn't compete with the modern classics like The Dark Knight and X-Men: First Class (the best damn movie of the summer, people!), it's better than other recent flicks like Iron Man 2, Green Lantern (this is much better than that), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and a slew of others. For clarification's sake, it's right around the same level of coolness as Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk. Surprisingly, I think that Thor is Marvel's best movie to date, which is amazing, because Thor, as a character, is not incredibly high on my list of favorites. He's grown on me over the last three years, but he's not on Spider-Man's level, nevermind even being able to compete with Cap.

It is important to note that Captain America: The First Avenger is the final Marvel movie before next summer's highly-anticipated, potentially-orgasm-inducing Avengers flick is released upon the masses. As such, the film is required to serve as a sort-of retroactive bookend to everything that has occurred thus far in Marvel's shared movie universe, and also as an origin story for Steve Rogers, the man who becomes Captain America. While the necessity to include foreshadowing and "look, we're tying into Avengers, here!" type of storytelling isn't nearly as jarring as it was in Iron Man 2 (that movie should, in hindsight, be renamed Avengers: 0.5 Starring Iron Man!), it is clear to see that the filmmakers' hands were tied to an extent. Overall, it does a great job of tying a nice bow on top of the present known as Avengers, but it hurts the standalone film here. It begs the question: Is it okay to hamper a present film's success in order to increase a future film's success? I can't answer that question, and neither can anybody else, but someone should certainly try to, if we're going to continue down this shared universe in film. It's a lot easier in the comic book medium to avoid or ignore plot points in other stories, because comic book fans are geeky enough to fill in the blanks themselves, and with the ridiculous amount of continuity to deal with in comics anyway, we kind of get to choose what we want to accept, and ignore what we dislike. In film, it's not that easy, as the films need to cater to a mainstream audience that can easily digest the stories being told to them in around two hours. I really like the risks Marvel is taking with all of this, but I wonder if, long-term, it's a great idea to purposely hamper their individual franchises for the sake of one uber-franchise. But, only time will tell, eh?

But seriously, my two fans didn't come here to read about my musings on a shared film universe. They came here to read about my opinions on the film. So, I owe it to my (two!) fans ("observers" is probably a better word to use to describe them, but I'm feeling confident today) to actually, y'know, attempt to review the damn movie. So, without further ado...


Everyone should know who Captain America is: he's Steve Rogers, the undersized, overly-sickly young man from Brooklyn who just wants to fight for the Stars and Stripes in WWII. He wants to sock old Adolph right in the kisser, but he can't pass any enlistment tests. He leads a pretty sad existence, as he's too puny to ever get with any ladies, and his best friend, Bucky, is set to ship off for some Nazi-killin'. As luck would have it, Dr. Erskine - a German scientist who has developed a super-serum that can transform people into super-soldiers - overhears Steve talking to Bucky about his obligation to serve his country, and takes Steve under his wing. Soon enough, Steve takes part in an experiment, and he transforms into a sexy, muscular, super-enhanced stud. Before the process can be replicated, Dr. Erskine is killed by a Nazi agent, and Steve is left as the only super-soldier in the world.

Meanwhile, Red Skull is over in Europe getting ready to take over the world, thanks to the Cosmic Cube. His story isn't anything spectacular, but it serves as a way to get Cap into action, and it also does a good job of building into the Marvel Universe as a whole, as the Cosmic Cube has ties to Thor, and all that Norse stuff that we just witnessed a few months back. I wanted more Red Skull evil, but the movie was kind of overstuffed as it was, so hopefully Red Skull is back in the future, and he gets more rounded out, and his villainy really gets a chance to shine.

So, there's the set up. It's a great origin story for any superhero, as Steve Rogers knows what it's like to be the bullied kid, but now he has the power to step up to bullies. In addition to his new powers, he also has to deal with being a one-of-a-kind badass, which allows him to hold onto his alienation. This alienation would, in a lesser man, prove all-encompassing, and eventually ruin that man. With Steve, he's just a super-duper optimist who is a really good person, and just wants to fight evil and wrong-doing any chance he gets. The heart of Steve Rogers is really what it's all about, and Captain America is a hard character for a lot of people to get into. He's a lot like Superman, in that he can be seen as "boring" because he's always the good guy, never makes questionable decisions, and is, in many eyes, "perfect." He's so much different than the Average Joe, and he doesn't have the character issues like Tony Stark (alcoholism, egotism, capitalism), Bruce Wayne (obsession, post-traumatic stress disorder), Peter Parker (life shits on this kid like he's a toilet), Bruce Banner (uncontrollable rage issues), or Thor (he's a god from another fucking dimension, shit gets weird for him all the time). Without any character defects, there isn't much of a character-trajectory for Steve, so I understand why cynics don't like him. But those people are wrong, because superheros should inspire us to be better, and Steve Rogers is the pinnacle of inspiration.


So, with such heavy shoes to fill, the filmmakers needed to be sure to cast the perfect guy for Steve Rogers: a man who is a physical Adonis, has immense confidence, but doesn't project any amount of douchiness. They hit a home run with Chris Evans. Evans perfectly embodies Cap's heart, soul, and physicality. He holds onto his past as a runt without it letting define him as a super-soldier, and he brings no smarm at all to the character, which allows him to be a natural leader for those looking up to him. The costume is brilliant, too, as it has enough of the iconic Cap uniform, while also including enough realism into it to make it all work. Evans is as perfect for Cap as Robert Downey is for Iron Man, and that's not faint praise at all. Marvel has absolutely killed it with their casting of the Big Three of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Cap, and Iron Man. Avengers could be a giant pile of shit, but it will at least have three great leads.


The rest of the cast is great, too. Hayley Atwell brings the perfect amount of sexiness and toughness to the role of Agent Peggy Carter, and her relationship with Steve is actually believable, as the seeds of attraction are wisely planted before Steve turns into a Sex-God. Hugo Weaving brings just the right amount of camp and flair to the Red Skull, although his character is slightly underutilized. I would have liked to see Red Skull be more ruthless and less mustache-twirlingly evil, but that is forgivable. Tommy Lee Jones actually steals the show as Col. Phillips. The majority of the laughs are thanks to his deadpan delivery, and dickhead-oozing confidence. Stanley Tucci is great as Dr. Erskine, an all-too-brief role that is crucial to the story. Sebastian Stan is perfect for the role of Bucky, although he's criminally underused, and his exit from the story left a lot to be desired. I hope they pick up on that story thread in the future, as Stan has the makings of a star, and there's a lot of dramatic tension there to use wisely. Even Dominic Cooper is pleasant as Howard Stark, Tony's dad who helps create the super-soldier Steve. Although it does make me wonder just how old Howard was when he sired Tony, but whatever. Like I said, the cast is great, but it would all be for naught if Chris Evans was the perfect man for the shield. Thankfully, he brings it all together and carries the show as Cap.


So, it's all a bit of praise, isn't it? Unfortunately, the movie does get bogged down a bit by the exposition, and some of the action scenes are more miss than hit. I wanted more fisticuffs and bad-assery, but I was left with some underwhelming set pieces. I get that hand-to-hand combat wasn't all that popular during the war, but I wanted a bit more Cap as a guy who beats the living shit out of everything in his path and less shooting from afar. I guess I was just disappointed a bit by the amount of action, although there is more action here than in Iron Man, and it's not horrible action. It's just not what I wanted.


The film does have a great look to it, and director Joe Johnston is the primary reason for that. He's a Spielberg disciple, and it shows, as the movie has more in common with Raiders of the Lost Ark than any war movie. It's got a great style that is reminiscent of old-school serials, and while I liked the tone and look, I can see others being disappointed, because most people probably won't recognize that that's what Johnston was aiming for. People don't want Indiana Jones, they want visceral violence. That's sad, but that's just where we're at in today's society.


Ultimately, the flick is just too beholden to the larger universe that it fits in. There's almost too much set up for Avengers, and it ends up hurting the film more than helping it. The ending of the film certainly sets up next summer's second-largest event (sorry, but The Dark Knight Rises is going to be a way bigger deal than Avengers), but what could have been a great character moment is instead just a cliffhanger for a different movie. I really did enjoy the hell out of Captain America: The First Avenger. I did. I thought it was good. I just wanted it to be great.


FYI: There is an Avengers trailer after the movie ends. It's relatively short, about a minute and a half long, and it doesn't show or tell us much of anything. It's a neat little intro, but that's all it is. There are a bunch of random clips of the characters, like the Big Three, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). It's just enough to whet my appetite for the movie next summer. While I don't have an image, or a link to the trailer, I do have something better than that: A gif of Samuel L. Jackson getting eaten by a shark in Deep Blue Sea. 'Til next time.