He's In The Nazi Punching Business And Business Is Good

And welcome, to the second in the trilogy of comic book film reviews. Once again, I look at a movie on DVD after seeing it on the initial cinema run and see if it's still as good (or better) the second time around or if I was wrong in my judgment. And today, we're looking at the star spangled man with a plan himself, in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Conceived in the 1940's, Captain America was one of the earliest Marvel heroes (beaten by the oddly-named-no-relation-to-Johnny-Storm-and-is-actually-an-android Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner) and was created to be as patriotic as could be. The first issue of Captain America Comics depicted him punching Hitler square in the jaw, a cover that is now among the most famous, like the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15, Fantastic Four #1 and Crisis On Infinite Earths #7. After being put on ice towards the end of the war, he re-emerges in the 60's to become part of the Avengers and has stayed a fan favourite ever since.

So, should we pledge allegiance to Captain America: The First Avenger or should we hold a court martial session?

Brief plot synopsis: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is eager to join the army and fight the Nazis but is constantly turned down, based on his physique and medical history. Given a chance to prove himself by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), Steve undergoes a procedure that makes him the first super-soldier and gives the Allies a new weapon in the war. Going by the moniker Captain America, Steve makes it his personal mission to stop HYDRA commander Johann Schmidt (aka the Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving)

Besides the usual thing about spoilers, blah blah blah, I have one thing I need to say upfront: I loved this movie.

Much like the other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Movieverse, by keeping the project in the family (so to speak) at Marvel Studios, the movie feels much truer to the character and the feel of their own series rather than take huge deviations (like turning Dr. Doom metal in the first Fantastic Four film. Or turning Bane into a complete idiot for Batman And Robin. Or silencing Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, if you want to call him that).

Chris Evans is sensational in the title role, and this is perhaps the best role in a comic book adaptation he's done (and he's done a few, too. The Fantastic Four duology, TMNT, The Losers and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World before this. It's almost like he's competing with Ryan Reynolds for most comic book movie roles). While he wasn't terrible as the Human Torch (the more well known one this time), it's an interesting contrast to see him go from a cocky, hotheaded lady killer to an earnest, humble, determined young man who wants to fight in a war because he doesn't like bullies. Hell, it might just be his best role yet. One factor that helps sell it is that Steve always has a straight face, even when he's delivering lines about war bonds like a shill. Or cracking jokes (“I've punched out Hitler 200 times”).
In fact, Col. Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, doing what Tommy Lee Jones does best: kicking ass and taking names) is similar, as he keeps the same disposition (largely) and is almost always deadpan with every line.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) almost always has a smile on his face and knows his way around a joke. One of my favourite scenes is when he's showing off a prototype of a flying car he's created, saying in a few years cars won't have wheels. And not too long after, the car comes crashing down. Without missing a beat, he smiles and says “I said a few years, didn't I?” Yeah, considering how much his son is like him, is it any wonder why this guy's so cool?
With regards to other roles, Hugo Weaving is tremendous in his portrayal of the Red Skull. He revels in his role, and his accent is flawless. Oh and whoever did the work on the Red Skull mask, that was some damn fine work.
Hayley Atwell played an excellent soldier/love interest in the form of Peggy Carter. Much like Pepper Potts from Iron Man, she takes no nonsense, can hold her own and rarely loses composure. She doesn't even get kidnapped, something I love seeing in comic book movies (that's one of my criticisms of the Raimi directed Spider-Man trilogy. While I love it, there are things that nag at me, MJ's constant kidnappings being one of them. I'm beginning to think her name is really Princess Toadstool. But that's for another blog). Hayley and Chris work well together and I hope they do more together in the future.

Speaking of Iron Man comparisons, besides the kick-ass love interests and featuring a member of the Stark family, the most glaring shared trait is the death of the mentor. Both Yinsen and Dr. Erskine are wonderful characters who give our heroes a new motivation or chance at life and both die right before the hero's big debut. If I had to pick, I'd say Dr. Erskine's death is sadder, since Yinsen was actively seeking it so that he could be reunited with his family in the afterlife. It doesn't make it any less sad, but at least he was expecting it and he died with happy thoughts. Dr. Erskine dies pointing to Steve's chest, a callback to an earlier scene in which he told Steve the most important thing in life is to be a good man. Steve takes it hard and so do we. I almost wish the movie would bend the rules and let Steve teleport right in front of the Nazi saboteur and beat the living snot out of him. The guy may die later, but Steve doesn't get the satisfaction of doing it or even letting the authorities handle him, as he kills himself with a suicide capsule.

While it is a comic book movie, it's also a war movie and it balances the two nicely. Besides the idea of a super soldier serum, a shield made out of a fictitious material and a cube of unimaginable power, there's nothing out of the ordinary that would prevent this from being a stand-alone war movie, even with Steve's costume. The action is invigorating, from all the gun play to the vehicular combat. But the best action scenes... well, anytime Cap throws his shield, that's where the awesomeness lies. In fact, my absolute favourite scene of the movie has Cap leaping into the air then coming right down on some goon, shield first.

If I had one complaint (and me being me, I have to find at least one thing I don't like in great movies. But the opposite is true too, I like to find the good in the truly awful. For example, the good thing about White Chicks is that the disc makes a handy target when you run out of clay pigeons), it's the scene where Cap gets kissed by that hussy of a secretary and Peggy sees it. Now, at this point in the movie, she would probably know Steve almost as well as he knows himself and they both know he's not a hotshot around girls. Yet she gets frustrated at him and doesn't berate the secretary. OK, the shots following are hilarious (involving actual shots, too!) but I felt like it was a misstep. Peggy is smarter and she shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion she did. But it's minor, anyway.

All in all, of the five Marvel Studios pictures, this falls slightly short of defeating Iron Man, but by no means is that a bad thing. I mean, Iron Man's an amazing film that would have been the best comic book movie (and probably best movie) of 2008 if not for a certain film featuring a man dressed as a bat taking on a clown.
Hell, none of them have been crap. And Captain America: The First Avenger is no exception. It's a dynamic, heartfelt, bold film with a great build-up to next year's Avengers movie. And believe you me, it's the biggest threat to The Dark Knight Rises.
In fact, for anyone who hasn't seen this movie yet, stick around after the credits for a teaser for the Avengers.
Oh and Stan Lee's cameo was hilarious. But there's one that outranks all of his cameos. Which is it? Next blog...

But before closing, how do I score Captain America: The First Avenger? 4/5, easily. A solid film and very easily a top 10 contender for when I rank the films I've seen this year.