Review 46: Captain America: The First Avenger
Set during World War II, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a sickly man from Brooklyn who wants to join in the army and fight for his country but is rejected. His determination is seen by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who gives him a chance to join up if he participates in a world changing experiment but has trouble convinving Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) that hes the right person for the job, After undergoing the experiment and an sneak attack that has Erskine killed and the formula lost, Rogers is forced to tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds which he hates, but after rescuing his friend fellow soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) from Nazi officer Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) he gets the chance to serve and with the help of a team of soldiers and British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) Rogers must stop Schmidt from useing a device called a "tesseract" as an energy-source for world domination.
The plot is just brilliant and takes us back to the hard times of World War II when the allies were desperately searching for new and better ways to defeat the Axes. In those days, it was really rough, the Axis were hell bent on the world, the major participants of both the allies and the axis threw their entire economic, industrial and scientific capabilities behind the effort and the Super Soldier program is a great example of such a capability. In the wrong hands, this concept could have come across as unbelievablely corney and cheesy. But the way it's presented in this film it doesn't hit you over the head in an overly patriotic way, it's handled in a very ernest, believeable way and gives you the strong sense this could actually have happened.
It was also quite fun to see a superhero in the 1940's. It helps to disastance itself from the rest of the MCU and it helps it be its own unique thing, which refreshing and all around inspired and serves as a terrific throwback to old-fashioned adventure serials of that era.
But more than that I just think it's a really, really good, really well told story with a really strong message: Hero's are made, but Bravery is born: Steve Rogers is a man who really wants to serve his country and do what's right and Erskine gives him the opportunity as the Serum makes you more of what you are: He is a good person and never lets go of that once he becomes a super-solider, he stays who he is on the inside and that's more important than strength and all that and that's what I think makes it such as great story: Not only do I find it a very inspirational film packed with great character and action. It's that idea that it's not about America and how great it is so much as it is about doing the right thing and I think it appeals to a very wide audience.
Johann Schmidt/Red Skull, on the other hand, took an imperfect version of the serum and it made more of what he really was, powerhungry, mad, a fanatic and a megalomantic which puts him at a great contrast with Steve who wants to serve his country and help other whereas Schmidt wants power and the world for himself essentially.
Also, the film is full of underdog/inspiration film cliches such as the underdog hero facing impossible odds and ultimately overcoming them, our heroes on a winning streak and then getting down when they hit a road-bump but the film intelligently puts a fresh coat of paint on them and uses them to advance the story as opposed to using them in desperate attempt for us to like the hero.
Every scene in this film adds an essential piece to Steve's arc. The whole film has a great sense of escalation building to one spectacular moment after another all working together like the mechanics of a machine. Driving the film effectively towards a spectacular and heartbreaking climax.
Director Joe Johnston's directing is fun, the special effects are brilliant, the costumes are fabulous, the production design (recreating the 1940's) is excellent, the score by Alan Silvestri is spectacularly grand, the action scenes are exciting and a lot of fun to watch, the stunts are outstanding, the cinematography is beautiful and brilliantly captures the vibrant, colourful yet wartone era of the 1940's, the make up is rich and beautifully detailed, the sound effects are superb, the props are beautifully crafted (Captain America's shield looks amazing) as well loads of exciting buttons and switches you can't see or reach and the ending was great.
The acting was great, especially from Chris Evans who gives a kind-hearted, driven, determined performance as Steve Roger/Captain America.
He could have played him as a dull, one-dimentional, happy-go lucky, rogue who never listens, never cares about the responsibilities of being a Superhero and always ends up as the hero in the end, like he did as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films. But instead, he plays a character who against all odds is determined to serve his country and do the right thing despite his skinny, frail stature. Because of this, he has learned on his own that true strength is having the courage to fight against abuse no matter one's power and having compassion for the innocent and as a result is not afraid to what's right for the greater good or put his life on the line for others or make tough choices.
Steve Rogers is a man with a lot of shortcomings and yet still chooses to not become jaded or bitter about it. He's a good man, an honest man, a noble man and as a result of those virtues and morals he has is bestowed this gift and is able to balance this new life he has with his old set of morals.
He just comes alive as the wide-eyed, optimistic, patriotic Steve Rogers, a man who would blindly risk his life for others and Evan's pulls it off with magnificent sensitivity.
He's a man who for the majority of his life as a normal guy, struggling, fighting and getting the short end of the stick and then has greatness thrust upon him.
Even when he gets his powers he remains pretty much an underdog as the military don't really see any use for him so he used for War Propaganda, that sense of being pushed aside is proper underdog storytelling which makes the moment when he fully embraces the Captain America mantle all the more satisfying.
It goes without saying that Evan's plays the most humble and human of Marvel's superpowered protagonists. He's the kind of guy whom you would follow into battle, not because he's brave or courageous but because at heart, he's a good man. He's the guy who would make sure you made it back.
Overall, Evans disappeared into both the Human Torch & Captain America so completely that at troubles I had trouble believing it was the same guy. He's that good an actor. I mean talk about versatility.
Hayley Atwell is feisty as Peggy Carter, she's very much a woman in a mans world, she's has a fight inside of her, even though she looks fabulous, she's as much of a soldier as Steve become yet she's in a male dominated world at a time when women didn't have as many opportunities as guys did.
Both her and Steve Rogers relate to one another because both of them are at a disadvantage with Rogers due to his skinny stature and Peggy because she's a woman which makes them instantly connect with one another.
She's tough, she's relisliant, she stands tall and strong whenever she's mistreated, she'll do whatever it takes to get the job done, she's a loyal soldier, she's very sympathetic to the frail Steve Rogers and it's easy to see whey he'd be taken with her.
As Steve's best friend Bucky Barnes, Sebastian Stan gives a very likeable, cool sensitive performance. Bucky is kind of the polar opposite to Steve, where is Steve is awkward, humble & skinny, Bucky is tough, headstrong, laid-back, confident and really cool
He has stood by Steve side since they were children. They have known each other for a very long time. They're both orphans which makes them almost like brothers, they get up together and they look out for one another particularly Barnes being very protective of Steve due to his skinny stature. They've gone through many trials and tribulations together which makes them the perfect partnership when Steve becomes Captain America. This relationship is touching, poignant and immensely relatable.
As the young Howard Stark, Dominic Cooper is suave, quick-witted and relentlessly charismatic. Excellently conveying, his brilliance and genius as an engineer and an inventor as well as the womanising playboy that his son would becomes. Over the course of the film, his genius becomes invaluable to Cap, crafting neat gismos for him to battle Hydra with.
Hugo Weaving is astonishing as the Red Skull, he is a such a fanatical, tyrannical, megalomaniac, maniac who's fully convinced of his alleged superiority.
He's someone with delusions of grandeur who has been transformed into a lunatic who essentially thinks he's better than everyone else and hell bent on world domination.
An ambitious leader, he has a strong passion for occult power and teutonic myth, but he believes that these myths are real and as a result he is convinced that there is a great power is hidden in the Earth, just waiting to be seized by a superior man and he sees himself as that. Determined to become that "superior man" he took an untested version of Abraham Erskine's super soldier serum which turned him into the madman he is now.
As Col. Phillips best describes him "He thinks he's a God and he's willing to blow up half the world to prove it.
Also, the makeup looks amazing, every little wrinkle and facial expression that Weaving gives off is just chilling and intimidating.
Stanley Tucci gives a gentle, kind-hearted performance as Dr. Abraham Erskine, he's a brilliant scientist who has created this Super Soldier Serum and who was forced against his will to perfect it for the Red Skull, now that he's fled to the States he's looking for someone worthy to test a perfected version of the serum to create an army of Super Soldiers to fight the Nazis. That's where he meets Steve Rogers whom he chooses because of his perseverance and ingenuity. He recognises him as just a guy who wants to do the right thing and that cements his confidence that he's the right man the experiment.
As Col. Chester Phillips, Tommy Lee Jones essentially plays himself but to give him credit where credit is due, it works well for this type of film, he's very good at these roles and does get all the best lines in the film.
Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi round out the cast (the latter three as members of the Howling Comandos) all of whom deliver fine performances with McDonough, Luke & Choi in particular giving an appropriatly offbeat vibe and sense of comradery, you really do believe they'd follow Cap into battle.
Captain America: The First Avenger is great superhero film with a strong message and a great lead up to The Avengers, 4.5/5
The Anonymous Critic
Comments
Post a Comment