Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger (2001) by Joe Johnston

There is a part in Joe Johnston's Captain America where Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is performing onstage with a chorus line of star-spangled girls, dressed in the somewhat ridiculous red-white-and-blue garb of his soon-to-be trademark uniform, and I just started to chuckle. Not out of spite, not out of irony, not because the whole premise of a superhero singing and dancing punching out an actor portraying Hitler is utterly ridiculous, but simply out of the fact that it was so charming and fun that I'd almost forgotten how great it is to just have fun at a comic book film. This, and Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class (why haven't I written my review for that one yet?!), are two of the better comic-book based films to come out in the past few years due simply to the fact that they are both returns to the good old-fashioned "let's just have a good time and make a fine, polished film" era of comic book film-making. Again, these aren't the best in terms of long-term appeal, or in accomplished film making, but they never lose track of creating a spectacle for the audience.

The film in question is the origin story of the star-spangled man, Captain America, AKA Steve Rogers, who starts off as a determined, idealistic 90-lb. weakling constantly being shut out of the chance of fighting the Nazis overseas due to his small stature. Seeing potential in his determination and character, scientist Dr. Abraham Eskrine (Stanley Tucci) hand-picks Rogers to be the first of the proposed "Super Soldier" program, meant to inspire Allied troops in the face of Nazi propaganda (an interesting concept: a superhero created as a propaganda ploy). Due to sabotage (planned primarily by Johann Schmidtt, AKA the Red Skull, played with a German accent worthy of Werner Herzog by the ever-great Hugo Weaving), Rogers is the only Super Soldier to see fruition, and his work as a USO stage-player leads to his eventual rescue of a group of captured infantry that would, in the comics, be known as the Howling Commandos. Rogers eventually faces his doppelganger, Red Skull, himself the result of Eskrine's super-soldier program, and the latter's attempt to shift the course of the war with sapce-age weapons powered by the Cosmic Cube (which is alluded to in 2011's other Marvel Studios release, the rather inferior Thor). That the Cosmic Cube plays into Marvel's Phase 1 series of films is a given, provided by the heft of weight placed upon it. The film ends with a preview of The Avengers, the tie-in film that finds all of Marvel Studios' characters united in a single film.

As a stand-alone film, Captain America serves a dual purpose: tying together most of the loose threads leading up to The Avengers, and introducing one of Marvel's top tier characters in a worthy feature film. However, the inclusion of the Cosmic Cube and its importance in the larger scheme of things sometimes feels a bit rushed, as if the studio is more concerned with throwing as much continuity into the film as possible in the lead up to The Avengers, as opposed to just letting the film develop naturally. And while director Joe Johnston is certainly guilty of allowing the bloating to occur (in fact, he's beholden to do so, if he wants to get paid), he still manages to create a fun film.

Again, "FUN" is the key component here. There are very few instances or standalone story lines that feature Captain America entering into dark, gritty territory, and thankfully this film doesn't adhere to the modern trend of superhero films fitting into "real world" scenarios. Captain America embodies all that is great and best not only of this country (which, honestly, needs an image boost), but of humanity in general. We need to be reminded that sometimes a hero can save lives, punch bad guys, throw jokes, and be just an overall good guy. Too cynical is the world in which we live, and that's sad. There are sequences in this film that remind me that, yes, Joss Whedon is a great writer (almost every line that Tommy Lee Jones says is golden,), and that Joe Johnston (who cut his teeth with Steven Spielberg on the Indiana Jones films) is a competent action director, if lacking any visual flair. Is this movie a classic? Not at all, nowhere near a classic. But it's fun, and that's more than I can ask for in an action superhero comic film. I'd never ask my mom to watch The Dark Knight, but she and my dad and I had a blast with this film. That in and of itself is an achievement.

Look, we live in dark times that are confusing, and sometimes even I get angry about all the shit going on around me. But it's wonderful and refreshing to go to a movie where we see people working together to fight a common evil, who are just outright good people, no matter what, and are willing to risk their lives for a greater cause. Is Captain America my favorite superhero film? No, that will always, ALWAYS be relegated to Superman: The Movie, but for a Marvel Studios film that just has a great vibe, solid cast, and a lot of fun? Well, it kind of takes the cake in that regard.