Captain America: The First Avenger
Stories like these usually start with a young everyman who has big dreams of being a hero, and this film is no different, as we're introduced to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). With World War II in full swing, Steve is taken in with a desire to fight for and defend his country, but he is asthmatic, scrawny, and rejected every time he takes the physical exam to join the military. The special effects used to turn Evans into a literal 90-pound weakling during these early scenes are truly impressive. They've shrunken the actor with CG effects, removing a lot of his body mass, and make him look so frail that you almost think a strong wind would snap the poor guy in half. Steve's determination to serve his country is eventually noticed by a military scientist named Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who is conducting a top secret experiment to create a super soldier to fight against the Nazis, and wants Rogers to be his test subject. The crusty old military colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) has his doubts about Steve, but Erskine sees the strength and courageous spirit locked within the young man.
As soon as Eskine's mind is made up, Steve is whisked off to a secret lab, where he meets some of the other people involved in the experiment, including inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), who Marvel Comic fans know is the father of Iron Man Tony Stark, and the lovely and no-nonsense Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who we automatically know will become Steve's love interest, because she's the only woman in the movie with a sizable role. Good thing she manages to have strong screen chemistry with Evans. At the lab, Steve is placed in a giant device, injected with a strange serum, and when he comes out, he's suddenly taller, buffed up, and possesses physical abilities far beyond normal men. He's given the name Captain America, dons a patriotic costume (complete with a shield bearing the colors of the American flag), and is initially used as a propaganda tool to drum up war bond sales. But when Steve's best friend and fellow soldier Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is captured by the enemy, Steve becomes a one-man army determined to free the American prisoners.
It's here that we meet our villain, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), who also goes by the name of the Red Skull, due to the fact that his face (when he's not wearing a human-like mask) resembles his sinister namesake, making him kind of look like the love child of Skeletor from the old He-Man show, and Darth Maul from Phantom Menace. The details on how his face became this way were a little sketchy to me, but it has to do with his lust for power. Johann/Red Skull ultimately wants to surpass Hitler in the Nazi party, has a lot of followers who worship him like a god, and plans global domination with the aid of a super laser weapon. All of this is good, pulpy fun, which is what I would expect from a movie like this. What disappointed me is how Red Skull, for all his powerful ambitions and legion of followers, never comes across as an interesting villain. Once his plan is revealed, the script kind of seems at a loss on what to do with him, other than to have him stand around, grinning menacingly. We're intrigued when we see Johann take his "human" face off for the first time, revealing his true form, but the movie lets us down.
That's not to say that Weaving doesn't try. He's been the go-to-guy for comic book villains for a while now, and could play the Red Skull in his sleep. At least he's not sleepwalking through his performance here, it's just that the movie gives him little to do. Fortunately, Chris Evans holds up better as the heroic Steve Rogers. He does a good job of balancing the super heroics as Captain America, while at the same time, coming across as an average guy who's been given a remarkable opportunity. He's a likable kid with fears and doubts. There's a good scene early in the film, when Steve is touring the city he grew up in with Peggy, and lists off all the places where he's been beaten up by bullies, or people bigger than him. It's this self-depreciating sense of humor, combined with his spirit and inner strength, that makes him a likable everyman hero. Despite his enhanced abilities, he knows he's just a regular person.
For all of its big action sequences, which are obviously heavy on the CG effects, there is a real heart at the center of Captain America that I appreciated. Director Joe Johnston shows a real nostalgic flair for the time period, and the movie is beautiful to look at as well, with some scenes having an almost faded quality to them, due to the muted colors he chooses to use. The lighting, the set design and costumes, and even the recruitment and propaganda posters in the background all look like they're right out of the era. While a lot of summer movies have been trying to tie themselves to historical events or moments in time, this movie does it best, recreating a nostalgic Hollywood view of the era.
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