It’s been a great summer for superhero fans. No less than four major studio films were released chronicling the adventures of our four-color friends, and today was the icing on the cake for me. Now, despite the fact I committed the unpardonable sin of missing X-Men: First Class, today was the day I was really waiting for. I have no doubt X-Men is a superior effort, but Captain America will be my #1 for 2011.
Cap and I go way back. He’s one of my top three favorite heroes (along with Spider-Man and the Hulk). He was featured in one of the two first comics I ever purchased (for 25 cents each). He’s the leader of my favorite superhero team, the Avengers (2012 can’t come fast enough!), and today he finally got the screen treatment he deserved.
I was there when Reb Brown played him as a cross between Evil Knievel and a Venice Beach muscle head in two TV movies in 1978. I was there for his countless animated incarnations every time he threw his mighty shield. And I was there when he J.D Salinger’s kid fought an Italian Red Skull (for the latter, I purchased a bootleg at a comic con a full year before it saw the light of day on video). It’s been a long wait.
Since it took control of its own destiny and started producing its own films, Marvel has instilled a lot of confidence in me that they knew how to translate their heroes from the page to the stage. Despite their fantastic abilities they are grounded in a hyper reality that resembles our own just enough to make the proceedings relatable and believable. They focus on the human foibles of their heroes (carrying over a successful recipe that Stan Lee himself cooked up back in the 60s).
Cap is a strait-laced and vanilla as they come, and I love him for it. We have enough dark, broody heroes, don’t we? From the get go he’s been nothing more than a single-minded patriot, who loves his country above all else.
I was a little concerned with the casting of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. Don’t get me wrong, he was one of the few bright spots of the FF films, but his persona tends to be smart alecky and that is so not Cap. He really took the role to heart and say what you will – that his Cap is borderline humorless or naïve in the extreme – he played him right. This was the Cap I was reading for the last 35 years.
Hugo Weaving chewed the scenery nicely as Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, more mad scientist than Nazi here. Marvel have really shown themselves adept at casting – all the supporting players fill their roles nicely, especially Tommy Lee Jones as curmudgeonly Col. Phillips, and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, father of Tony, nicely foreshadowing Robert Downey’s performance as his offspring.
The film would’ve benefited from a tighter paced opening half, and I can readily admit that my superhero bias clouds my judgment somewhat. There were a number of ridiculously lucky coincidences as well. I’ve heard some complain about how the tech in the film is far more advanced than it should be for 1942. It’s based on a comic book guys.
I also enjoyed the way filmmakers wove aspects of the Cap myth into the film. It may not have been chapter and verse, but it was creatively done. I was somewhat cool about the way they adapted Cap and Bucky’s relationship for the film, but again I doubt the whole “kid sidekick” thing would’ve worked here.
Joe Johnston was a great choice for director. His career has been hit or miss, but his involvement in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Rocketeer (two of my faves) earned him the right to direct this period piece as far as I’m concerned. Some may say he’s a hack, but he really grasped the material. He gave it the reverence it deserved.
Bring on the Avengers!
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