Captain America: The First Avenger

I was excited for “Captain America: The First Avenger” but after the moderate Marvel film “Thor” which was released months earlier, I did not know what to expect. Also the director of this movie, Joe Johnston, has given us family adventure films such as “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Jumanji” but also delivered the flop "Jurassic Park III". I did not know how he would handle the cinematic adaptation of a Marvel superhero. The film turned out to be a lot of fun. The casting and story are the best qualities of the film. It has all the elements of a classic summer blockbuster and executes them sincerely. If the Nazis thought dealing with Indiana Jones was tough, there is another American hero who is visually clear on where his heart lies.

I like that Marvel decided to use the 1940’s version of Captain America as an influence instead of the version the appeared in comic books in the 60’s. This allows for a more genuine hero considering the time period of this movie. Also in 2011, D.C.’s film “Green Lantern” tried to replicate a Superman-type story but failed to do it with true heart. “Captain America” has that same kind of fun that “Superman” first presented back in 1978 but being a Marvel movie, “Captain America” ends up having the best of both worlds. WWII is depicted much like it was in the Indiana Jones movies: romantic and idealistic with good guys and bad guys. The Nazis in real life were after items of legendary nature and “Captain America” explores the fanciful possibilities, as did the Indiana Jones franchise. The opening minutes offer great exposition on the heart and desires of our protagonist. We root for Steve Rogers right from the beginning. He takes on a similar persona as Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter as the everyman who is actually special on the inside. The filmmakers are able to pull this off effectively because of the acting and scenes that radiate heroic values. Take for example the funny moment when Steve topples the flagpole to get the flag. Story-wise, it shows Steve’s intelligence and how this makes him a good leader after his transformation. His act of self-sacrifice with the dummy grenade is quite a powerful moment for his character also (it is funny how Colonel Phillip's plan backfired on him). I love the scene between Steve and Dr. Erskine the day before the experiment. We get a heart-filled reminder that absolute power corrupts absolutely and we are told the reason for why Steve is being chosen for the experiment. Other strong men will have their negative qualities amplified (that is what happened to Blonsky when he was given the serum decades later in "The Incredible Hulk") but because of Steve’s past, his goodness will be amplified instead. I like the plot point where Erskine is killed and the serum lost because of the assassin. I also like the touching last act of Erskine where without using words, he reminds Steve of the importance of his inner power and goodness. He must remember who he was before he became strong. The subsequent chase scene is great and classic for a superhero origin film. Steve is able to avenge the death of his friend.

Disney song-writing legend and Oscar winner Richard B. Sherman was asked to write the song “Make Way for Tomorrow Today” for “Iron Man 2” and you can hear the melody of that song in “Captain America” after Howard Stark demonstrates his floating car. For this movie, Alan Menken and David Zippel (the Oscar nominated song team from Disney’s “Hercules”, which is another Superman-type hero and story) were called upon to write the “Star Spangled Man” in “Captain America”. I love how Disney subtly injects its influence into the Marvel universe. Menken, who has more competitive Oscars than any other living person (eight) and has a total of 19 nominations, is able to create the perfect song that is both a tribute and a spoof of the bond drives of the 40’s. That song also makes Steve a hero in my eyes even though he hasn't done very many heroics yet. After seeing Steve’s transformation and what he can do, his bond tour is quite cheesy and not at all worthy of what he is capable of. Still, the montage shows us how he got the title of Captain America and the plausible origin of his outfit. During that montage, Steve gets some joy out of the bond drive but at the same time, he wants to be a real soldier. As he says, he got everything we wanted but he's wearing tights. Johnston does a similar thing that Clint Eastwood did for “Flags of Our Fathers” in that both show the contrast of the bond drives with the reality of the actual war. In “Captain America” of course, it is done in quite an innocent, idealistic way. Instead of horrific battle scenes, we get fun and heroic ones. I like the moment preceding the heroic war scenes where the soldiers on the Italian front mock Captain America. Even though Steve is inspiring the public, his service is a joke to those soldiers that he so longed to serve alongside. He then makes a dangerous decision to rescue Barns. The sequence is intense but also has some fun humor. His return with the prisoners he liberated and the enemy equipment they stole is very cool. Steve’s heroic nature is even more amplified as he has returned to surrender himself for disciplinary action. Not only does he earn the respect of Colonel Phillips but the soldiers who mocked him earlier now praise his valor. This portion of the film would be as if a Hollywood movie star replicated one of his war movies in real life. I love how Steve is reunited with his old buddy Barns and that they serve together. I like the humorous lines where Barns has to face the reality that Steve is the tough guy now. The montage of them and their fellow teammates destroying the various hydra bases is great. His teammates are all unique individuals and that makes their bond even more appealing. It makes sense that Barns would be "lost" because the hero needed a setback to overcome, leading up to the climax. He needed something else to avenge. The ending of the movie is bitter sweet as Steve wakes up in the present day and most everyone he knew is dead.

The casting is so well done in this movie. When I heard that Chris Evans was cast as Captain America, I was confused. Unlike some others, I like the first two “Fantastic Four” movies by Tim Story and Evans was very appealing as the Marvel superhero the Human Torch in those films. Evans was also the voice of comic book character Casey Jones previous to his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was afraid that we would not be able to differentiate Cap from his other personas but I was proven wrong. Evans is able to do the same thing for Captain America that Christopher Reeve did for Superman. Evans not only created a great leading man that is quite opposite from Johnny Storm but he gives even more appeal to "The Avengers". For a while, Iron Man was the character I was looking forward to in that film but the filmmakers of “Captain America” (including Evans) created a character just as entertaining as Tony Stark. Another great acting choice is Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones as Phillips. His persona was perfect as the cynical leader who has a change of mind. I love Jones’ acting when he comes to question Zola. The use of the food is perfect comedy. Because Jones portrayed Two Face previously, he has appeared in movies for DC Comics and Marvel. Hugo Weaving’s past work makes him a great decision for Red Skull and Dominic Cooper was fine as Howard Stark. Howard is much like his son in the other Marvel films except in this case; Howard is living in the same period as his real life influences. He can fly a plane just like Howard Hughes and he looks like him. At the same time, he also resembles Walt Disney so as to create continuity between “Iron Man 2” and this film. Stanley Tucci excels at any role, it was good to see Neal McDonough as Dugan and Stan Lee’s cameo was fun as usual.

“Captain America” had great special effects and 3D. Sure it wasn’t shot in 3D but the filmmakers knew that it would be in 3D from the start of filming. This allowed for the necessary attention and time that the conversion process needed. While watching the film, I wondered how they shrunk Chris Evans for the start of the film. Because they didn’t use the same method twice, a realistic effect is achieved and you believe the character of Steve Rogers as a skinny guy with a big heart. It is an amazing achievement because had they got it wrong, the feeling of the film would have been ruined. The score by one of my favourite composers, Alan Silvestri, was very powerful. I'm sure it got him the job of scoring the next MCU film. "Captain America" was my second favorite from 2011 after "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". It is one of my top ten favorite comic book movies and has plenty of references to other films in the shared universe. The Tesseract, which showed up after the credits of “Thor”, now has a plausible origin thanks to this movie and I am glad for that. Odin is even referenced. Because of its great, heartfelt story and the cast of characters/actors, “Captain America” was a lot of fun. I was looking forward to “The Avengers” but after this movie, I was very pumped. I was not disappointed in the least.

4.5 Stars out of 5