Entertainment Weekly
| Jul 20, 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger is stolidly corny, old-fashioned pulp fun. Directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), the picture is nothing, really, that you haven't seen before, but it's the definition of a square, competent, deliver-the-goods blockbuster. It's set in 1942, and the World War II trappings — gimlet-eyed Nazis, patriotic newsreels, high-stepping USO shows, the whole earnest spirit of pitching in — are no mere backdrop. The movie is so wholesome it could almost have been made during World War II. Captain America (Chris Evans), the strapping, bionically enhanced U.S. Army soldier-turned-superhero (a character first introduced by Marvel Comics 70 years ago), runs like the Six Million Dollar Man and flies through the air on a motorcycle like Machete. Mostly, though, he doesn't do much that Bruce Willis didn't do in the Die Hard films. He leaps, darts, sneaks around, and socks bad guys in the jaw. He just does it fiercer, faster, with more lightning invincibility. In his winged helmet and leather-patch uniform, he's a one-man commando-squad fighting machine who wields his stars-and-stripes shield — made of the toughest metal on earth! — like a battering ram and a lethal boomerang.
Before any of that, though, the movie reaches back to the original seed of all superhero fantasy: the myth of the 98-pound weakling transformed. When we first meet Steve Rogers, who will go on to become Captain America, he's a sawed-off asthmatic runt from Brooklyn who's obsessed with enlisting in the military and serving his country. Through the miracle of digital technology, the face of Chris Evans has been melded onto what appears to be a skinny, flat-as-an-ironing-board-chested teenager who stands around 5 foot 4. Steve may not look like soldier material, but he's got ''heart,'' which is why he's first spotted by Abraham Erskine, a scraggly German-American scientist played by Stanley Tucci in aHogan's Heroes accent, who decides to give Steve his untested cell-enhancement serum. Evans, with serious eyebrows and a shock of blond hair, has the Olympian-jock look that appears to be in favor in superhero movies this season, but there's a melancholy cast to his features. He's like the young Richard Gere with a touch of Norman Mailer's super-aware, furrowed-brow poker face.
Injected with the blue serum, then pelted with a maximum dose of ''Vita-Ray,'' Steve emerges from this vaguely Frankensteinian experiment looking like Adonis and ready to serve. At first, Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), the growly officer in command of the top secret project, doesn't know what to do with his lone-wolf super-soldier. (He'd wanted an entire army of them, which didn't quite work out.) So Steve, dressed at first in the original, now rather froufrou-looking costume from the 1940s Captain America comics, is put to work as a performing mascot in kitschy stage shows designed to sell war bonds — a funny sequence that has the effect of emasculating Steve all over again. Which, of course, just intensifies our desire to see him break out and kick ass.
The Nazis, or at least their deep science division (known as HYDRA), have their own secret weapon, a series of nuclear-style bombs designed to be dropped on American cities. It's a project masterminded by a rogue officer named Red Skull, who looks like Hellboy crossed with Michael Jackson and is played by Hugo Weaving with the gusto of a James Bond villain. He keeps nattering on about having harnessed the powers of the gods, which is all very occult and Teutonic, though it's also supposed to be a dark mirror of Steve's own transformation into a godlike hero who more or less resembles the ideal of Aryan manhood. I wish the movie's script, which is pretty bare-bones, developed these ideas a bit further. More than that, I wish the dialogue had a higher dose of wit. Chris Evans, best known up until now as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films, is an appealing actor, but his Captain America could have used a bit of deadpan hipness. He's so straight he's like a Boy Scout on steroids. Then again, that's the appeal of a movie that takes you back to a time when America didn't have to be remotely ironic about believing in itself.
Rating: B
'Captain America': Absurdly Fun
James Rocchi, Special to MSN Movies
After a summer of lackluster action films ("Transformers 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean") and dull, dud superhero movies designed more with an eye toward the toy store and the quarterly balance sheet than enjoyable storytelling ("X-Men: First Class," "Green Lantern" ), "Captain America: The First Avenger" comes as a welcome relief. It's light and bright and brisk, but never glib: It's a layer cake made of one part Indiana Jones, one part James Bond and one part "Inglourious Basterds," with the bright colors, tone and style of a four-color comic book as the icing holding it all together. With director Joe Johnston hitting the same tones of retro-styled high adventure he did in 1991's "The Rocketeer," "Captain America" is not high art, but it is so unabashedly fun -- and such well-made fun -- that it is hard to not like and admire it for so steadfastly being what it is.
Created in March of 1941 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America's adventures were a cornerstone of the Marvel Comics empire before it even existed under that name, as a puny 4-F reject named Steve Rogers (played here by Chris Evans) was made mighty by the super-soldier formula of Dr. Abraham Erskine (played by Stanley Tucci). Better, stronger, faster and armed with a circular red, white and blue shield, Captain America fought the enemies of freedom. After his World War II adventures, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the Captain to the modern day via some accidental cryogenic suspension in 1964, just in time to enter the Marvel Comics canon.
And so, brought to the screen as part of the same Marvel corporate media strategy that recently brought us "Iron Man," "Thor" and "The Hulk," "Captain America" is a solid, snappy origin story that not only presents absurdity, but uses it even as it revels in it. Cap's first assignment isn't a drive toward enemy lines, but, rather, a drive to sell bonds on the home front, complete with goofy costume, rousing musical number and dancing girls. But for all of the film's knowing winks -- bad guy Johann Schmidt, with the nom de guerre The Red Skull, is played by Hugo Weaving with the wardrobe of an S&M fascist and Werner Herzog's voice -- there is also something appreciably hokey about it, something agreeably square. Rogers (initially shown as puny through a variation of "Benjamin Button"'s high-tech tricks) wants to enlist to fight like his dad did in WWI and best friend Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is about to. Erskine, recruiting him, asks, "Do you want to kill Nazis?" "I don't want to kill anybody," Rogers says. "I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from."
And not only is Evans' trick of playing a comic-book hero as an aw-shucks Jimmy Stewartcharacter -- fluid and instinctive in action, stammering and awkward in repose -- an effective and endearing part of a great starring performance, it's also part of a terrific ensemble. Stan gives good support while Tucci provides both heart and humor; Tommy Lee Jones is gruff and rough as Col. Phillips, the officer reluctantly in charge of Rogers; Hayley Atwell is British Intelligence officer Peggy Carter, whose stiff upper lip is also bearing a bright smear of lipstick.
Behind the scenes, screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, working alongside director Johnston, do remarkable -- or, at worst, competent, which is more than you can say for "Green Lantern" or "X-Men: First Class" -- work. Yes, the Skull's pursuit of the great cosmic whatsit that will give him power is off-the-shelf stuff, and the finale is a little heavy on the CGI, and the 3-D is, by and large, unnecessary.
But "Captain America" is more than just pretty solid. It's great in spots, good in others, and hits exactly the right tone, combining real history and comic-book mythology in a way where both work together without making us feel burdened by the facts of the former or the trivia of the latter. I don't know if I'll wind up going back to "Captain America" on a regular basis the way I do "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Goldfinger," but I also know it's the most purely enjoyable and breezily brilliant superhero comic-book action-adventure film since 2004 gave us "Spider-Man 2" and "The Incredibles." For the first time in a long time, the promise of a comic-book character's return to the big screen sounds more like an anticipated good thing than a contractually obligated threat.
If you take a World War II movie, dial up the action with contemporary visual effects and CGI, then give your hero a double dose of steroids and human growth hormones, you wind up in the movie/comic book world of Captain America: The First Avenger. The movie is, of course, Marvel Comics' and Paramount’s filmization of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Super Soldierseries that first appeared in comic books in March 1941, well before Pearl Harbor, so understandably this is one superhero movie that demands that the first movie at least be a period one. So you get an alternative WWII, say like Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds -- only without all that dialogue and enough oversized vehicles and outlandish sets to fit its beefcake hero.
Captain America delivers comic book action that should satisfy Captain America’s fans, old and new, while Chris Evans’ no-nonsense yet engaging portrayal of a man who doesn’t know how to back away from a fight may cause young women to swoon and young men to join a gym. Yet the film will leave others wondering -- especially following the film’s long gestation and marketing buildup -- “Is this all there is?”
For in terms of even recent films, Captain America lacks the deft touch, appealing character interaction and sophisticated storytelling skills of Marvel Comics’ X-Men: First Class. And let’s not even bother to compare this to Christopher Nolan’s Batman series.
Sticking to its simplistic, patriotic origins, where a muscular red, white and blue GI sluggingAdolf Hitler in the jaw is all that’s required, Captain America trafficks in red-blooded heroes, dastardly villains, classy dames and war-weary military officers. There is no ambiguity here. Nor does any superhero question his powers. No, sir, not in this war and not with these determined heroes.
While bracketed by a modern-day sequence, the movie otherwise takes place in a heightened rendering of the early days of the fight against Nazi Germany. Brooklyn’s Steve Rogers (Evans), son of a dead war hero, repeatedly tries to enlist in the military, but his physical condition is pure 4F.
In perhaps the movie’s best or at least weirdest visual effect, Evans’ face sits atop an unbelievably scrawny body that recruiting sergeants shoo away until German-American scientist Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci, with the phoniest of accents) sees something special in the young man. Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, having a fine time) dismisses Steve as a “90-pound asthmatic,” not without justification. But the minute Dr. Erskine performs a “procedure” on Steve — with equipment that looks like it was left over from Bride of Frankenstein -- suddenly Steve is buff and fast-healing, in fact, nearly impossible to injure. Moments after his rebirth, he faces his first test as he races barefoot through Manhattan streets circa 1942 to take down a Nazi spy. This feat more than catches the eye of British military liaison Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), not to mention the press.
An overnight media sensation, the military doesn't know what to do with Steve other than send him -- shades of Flags of Our Fathers -- on a bond-raising tour as the newly dubbed Captain America. When the tour takes him to Europe, he breaks out of the carnival show long enough to save the lives of nearly 400 GIs, including his Brooklyn buddy Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). This rescue cues a new assignment for Captain America.
Steve is now point man for Col. Phillips’ team in Strategic Scientific Research, along with the redoubtable Peggy Carter and inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), in taking on the Hydra organization, a Nazi science division that is even worse than the Nazis. In fact, it’s more like a worldwide criminal organization out of the James Bond era, intent on world conquest and more than willing to kill fellow Nazis. Everyone associated with this evil group shouts not “Heil Hitler” but “Heil Hydra.”
It’s run by the mad scientist Red Skull (go-to villain guy Hugo Weaving), whose red face may be the result of an experiment gone horribly wrong or just pain embarrassment at the Nazi clichés he is forced to play. He even listens to the soothing strains of Richard Wagner. Yes, he does.
Caught between contemporary tentpole moviemaking and a period piece, the movie keeps featuring very odd visual anachronisms. You might accept the battles that feature sci-fi weapons alongside vintage WWII arms, but what can you make of the Hydra soldiers’ Darth Vader costumes, those weird planes, cars and a submarine that maneuver within 1943’s Earth, sky and sea and, most alarming of all, that red dress Peggy wears in the battle zone? It’s a knock-‘em-dead outfit that may be a special weapon all its own.
Director Joe Johnston makes certain that amid all the retro-futuristic nonsense, his nucleus of actors playing SSR heroes fits well together. Evans nicely underplays the role, giving a Gary Cooper-ish air to the young hero who just wants to do the right thing. Atwell is a perfect throwback to that era: Darkly gorgeous yet tough as nails, she would look just at home painted on a bomber fuselage as she is slugging a solider who gives her lip.
Jones knows how to make every moment of screen time count with these grumpy and gruff characters he now plays, but Stan and Cooper aren’t so lucky: Their characters came out a little too thin in Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely‘s screenplay. Meanwhile, Weaving is very one-notish as the villain, which leaves it to Toby Jones, as his sidekick, to add a little nuance to Nazi villainy.
The tech team brilliantly supports the comic book action without any single department showing off or adding unnecessary flourishes. A special tip of the hat to Anna B. Sheppard’s costumes and Rick Heinrichs’ production design for maintaining enough period flavor so the production doesn’t go too overboard.
Oh yes, this film is yet another summer fantasy in 3D in certain theaters. For some sequences, the format works well enough, but it’s hardly worth the extra expenditure. This gimmick is truly running out of steam.
The Bottom Line
As the last Marvel prequel that includes two Iron Man and Incredible Hulk movies before next summer’s The Avengers, this one feels perhaps a little too simplistic and routine.
Back in 1990, Marvel learned a valuable lesson in protecting the brand when 21st Century Film Corp. threw together a shamefully low-budget version of the Captain America story. Two decades later, the now-Hollywood-savvy pulp pubbery attempts to do right by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's all-American hero, recruiting a genuine star (Chris Evans) and an established director ("The Rocketeer's" Johnston) to mount a megabudget retelling of how 90-pound weakling Steve Rogers was nuked into Charles Atlas shape by the U.S. military, then turned loose to hunt Nazis in star-spangled spandex.
Even as Marvel film honcho Kevin Feige has managed to attract a diverse mix of ace helmers to bring these future Avengers' adventures to the bigscreen, the films all seem to coexist within the same universe, aesthetically speaking. The same goes for Johnston's contribution, which sticks to the lustrous, tactile look of earlier chapters, despite the added challenge of "Captain America's" period setting.
Though the pic opens in the present day, as an arctic exploration crew uncovers Cap's shield frozen in ice, the action unfolds back in 1942, when both the Yanks and the Krauts were using a special serum to create super-soldiers for the war effort. On the Nazi side, an injection turns teeth-gnashing ex-general Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) into a force more power-hungry than Hitler. Rather than repeat the same mistake, German defector Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci, in heavily accented character mode) hand-picks Rogers to test his perfected formula for the U.S. Army.
For roughly the first reel, Rogers appears as a spindly but sure-hearted runt, digitally slenderized by a process weight-conscious stars may want to consider going forward. These early scenes are designed to establish the character's humanity, as the determined-to-enlist young man suffers humiliation from bullies and boot camp alike, only to prove his natural altruism in a field test from surly Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones).
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (veterans of the "Chronicles of Narnia" series) do a nice job of making Rogers a relatable Everyman, only to transform him into a one-dimensionally dull meathead -- one who looks alarmingly similar to Hitler's Aryan ideal as he emerges, bare-chested and gleaming, from a chamber designed by none other than Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, playing the father of future "Iron Man" character Tony Stark in a bit of cross-franchise plot synergy).
As Marvel heroes go, Captain America must be the most vanilla of the lot. He lacks the inner turmoil that DC Comics' Batman brought to the genre, and while not exactly invincible (a minor injury sustained during his first action scene suggests he bleeds like the next guy), he's quick to heal and a bit too handy with a shield. It's refreshing to see someone slug it out the way a '40s tough guy would, absent the Hong Kong-style choreography of most modern-day fight scenes, yet there's never the slightest concern that the Nazis might get the better of him.
Back when Captain America debuted in print, the character served as a baldly patriotic embodiment of the American spirit, socking Hitler in the kisser on the cover of his first issue. Pic pays homage to those origins in a cheeky montage, featuring Cap's original costume and his overtly propagandistic raison d'etre as he hawks war bonds.
On the war front, however, the character sticks to the tried-and-true Hollywood model of the enlightened loner who disobeys his superiors in order to save the day. Rogers is effectively a one-man army, with those who help him -- including love interest Hayley Atwell and best friend Sebastian Stan, plus an "Inglourious Basterds"-like coterie of implausibly integrated soldiers -- edged offscreen whenever things start to get hairy.
Since Quentin Tarantino already had his fun rewriting Hitler's defeat, "Captain America" concentrates on a more fantastical enemy, as the megalomaniacal Schmidt, who rips off his own face to become the Red Skull, uncovers a magical cube that will give him the power to wipe out entire cities. Creepy appearance aside, such a villain would feel like yet another stock Bad Nazi stereotype if not for Weaving's wickedly slick performance, colorful enough to upstage the pic's pretty-boy hero any day.
It's a shame, then, that the ultimate showdown between Captain America and the German general doesn't make more of their contradictory natures. Pic's actual finale is a strangely anticlimactic one, as Rogers must make the tragic personal decision that will put him out of commission for the 70 years until Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson, making yet another high-camp cameo) and his fellow Avengers need him again.
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