Captain America: The First Avenger is a retelling of Captain Steven “Steve” Rogers starting out as a skinny kid from Brooklyn who gets turned down for military service during World War II due to his frailty and getting involved in the super soldier program that turned him into Captain America. This film takes place mostly in the 1940’s in Europe as Steve performs one selfless and brave feat after another before he goes missing, only to be found in suspended animation in the Alps in 2011. This is the first of a three film series directed by Joe Johnston and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFreely.
This film has a screenplay to be proud of. The story flows in an easy to understand, continuous fashion, leaving almost no plot holes in its wake. The romantic subplot (as a prerequisite for every superhero film) is well set up and—while a little cliché and corny—surprisingly not forced. The winks and nods to the comic book fans and the leading up of the Avengers film to be in theaters next May are well placed even if they aren’t exactly subtle. The appearance of Howard Stark—Tony Stark’s (Iron Man) grandfather—and Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D are among the Easter eggs is this enjoyable gem. The film has well choreographed action sequences and fighting scenes, remembering to nod towards Cap’s love of his shield and also his love of throwing it at enemies. The CGI effects are top-notch, the viewer hardly being able to tell that Chris Evans (Steve Rogers) was not the scrawny, bony kid from the beginning of the film or that the Red Skull’s magnanimous jet is not real. Even the Red Skull’s skinless bald face is very well pulled off. The costumes look great, except for Cap’s awkward looking mask/helmet duo. Hayley Atwell (Agent Peggy Carter, Steve’s love interest) has several beautiful period dresses and pin-up curls to go with her perfect red lipstick, reflecting on the time. The military uniforms look as real as they come, down to HYDRA’s patches on their uniforms. The musical score adds the necessary tension and emotion to scenes that would be a lot less without. While the film has some of its continuity wrong according to its comic book counterpart, it should not be judged based on that.
The conflict of the film arises when Steve finds out his best friend, James “Bucky” Barnes is being held captive thirty miles behind enemy lines. Until this point, Steve has been used as a propaganda tool for the American government much like Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter, even touring with his horde of red, white and blue clad dancing girls on the front lines of Europe. Steve convinces Agent Carter to help him “Be more than a lab rat or a dancing monkey” and save his friend. While at the HYDRA base, he frees the Allied prisoners and finds his friend alive. He also meets his enemy Johann Schmidt, otherwise known as the Red Skull and the head of HYDRA. Throughout the film Schmidt has been portrayed as fanatical bordering psychotic, harnessing the Cosmic Cube of Norse myth to create heavy weapons. He is also vastly intelligent which makes him fell even more dangerous. This fanatical and determined antagonist to the wholesome and selfless hero is a great balance and makes for an interesting dynamic. If the Red Skull were any less cruel, any less intelligent or any less fixed on the result he desires, the entire performance would have flopped.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is exactly what people think of when they think of a hero and more. He’s brave, selfless, humble, endearing, and determined, not to mention being kind to his comrades and sweet to Agent Carter. Early in the film while they were choosing the candidate to go through the procedure, the grumpy Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) throws a dummy grenade at the troops, telling them to take cover. Steve, not missing a beat, throws himself on top of it. Later in the film when Steve was off the grid rescuing the prisoners and the Army presumes him dead, there he is, leading four hundred freed prisoners into the base with captured weapons and vehicles. The first thing he says is, “Some of these men need medical attention.” The second is, “I surrender myself to disciplinary action, sir.” And at the climax of the film, Steve is forced to sacrifice himself by taking down the plane carrying Red Skull’s bombs—or so he thinks. Steve Rogers is not a good hero. He is a good man who got the chance to be a hero. Whether this interpretation of Steve Rogers is the work of the brilliant writing talents brought on for the film or Chris Evans’ flawless performance, the end result is a character and role model anyone can aspire to.
The rest of the cast is not to be underestimated, however. Hayley Atwell (Agent Peggy Carter) is no shrinking violet, but is also not too rough that she loses her grace and femininity. She can shoot pistols and machine guns and come up with not a hair out of place. She can walk coolly into a bar and not fear or worry about the soldiers gawking at her. She’s a strong love interest, unlike many others in superhero movies. The only other strong, well-built up love interest that comes to mind is Pepper Potts from Iron Man. Tommy Lee Jones does a great job at portraying the doubtful then supportive Colonel Chester Phillips. Sebastian Stan’s performance as Bucky Barnes actually makes us care about what happens to him and actually evokes some emotion when he is killed at the climax of the film. Hugo Weaving’s performance as the maniacal Red Skull is quite convincing. Even Howard Stark’s playboy attitude is reminiscent of Robert Downey Jr.’s performance of Tony Stark.
There are actually very few drawbacks in this film. The pacing is good, the conflict builds itself up alongside the hero’s story, the romance isn’t as “in your face” or as forced as in other films. The biggest drawback that this film has it that it can be bland, and that may be the only one it can’t come back from. The other characters that show up that aren’t Steve, Peggy, Johann Schmidt or Bucky don’t have any personality. None of Steve’s band of merry soldiers has any distinguishable traits other than their race. The German doctor who created the super soldier serum is boring as is Johann Schmidt’s doctor lackey. It is a shame that no one besides the forefront characters have any interesting traits. It’s also a shame that even our stars have boring and bland moments that last longer than just a few moments. Yes, the romance between Steve and Peggy is corny and clichéd, mostly based on a few flirty looks and a couple short conversations. So what if the actual end fight between Steve and Red Skull is a little underwhelming. The overall film is good.
Captain America: The First Avenger is a true superhero film. It has a strong, heroic protagonist fighting an intelligent, capable antagonist who is bordering on insane. It has one set of ideals fighting another. It’s well written, even if a little bland at moments. It has a strong cast and good effects. It has a good romantic subplot, emphasizing the sub. The film looks good, sounds good, and is a mesh of everything that makes films good. That being said, this film is just that: good. Not great or fantastic. It is worth seeing in theaters and worth buying on DVD to watch again. If anyone wants to know what a hero is, look no further than Captain America. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
