Captain America: The First Avenger
Desperate to give the bullies of the world a stern ticking off, skinny Steve Rogers has us in the palm of his teeny, tiny hand from the get go.
A COMIC FAN'S REVIEW, THEREFORE SPOILERS AHEAD
At last, one of Marvel's oldest and best loved characters is brought to the screen in all his red, white and blue glory. Quite why it's taken so long for Cap to fling his shield in our collective direction I couldn't say (please to be ignoring the ropey as hell 1990 schlocky, cheapo version) but I am eternally grateful that our Marvel Overlords waited until they could get it just so right.
The good stuff:
Joe Johnston – Johnston was clearly the right man for the job from the outset; hardly a left-field choice after he aced the '30s setting and comic book vibe of the underrated The Rocketeer. He sets the tone just right between realism and pure comic fantasy - the laughs are there as well as the pathos. Johnston's Captain America is gorgeous to look at: this is World War II as seen through nerdy eyes. It feels like the '40s of your imagination, of silk stockings and black market steak. This isn't Saving Private Ryan this is Raiders of the Lost Ark. One of the difficulties with transferring the imaginative action sequences inked on a comic book page to the silver screen is making things believable, but Johnston manages just that. When Cap takes out Hydra henchmen hiding in trees with his shield you believe it. When Cap leaps about 30 plus feet you believe it. The fight choreography illustrates just how important Caps shield is, using it as a weapon as much as he does to deflect bullets, it's exactly how it appears in the panels of a comic book. Nerd Heaven.
Skinny Steve Rogers – Nothing says "geek manna" like the sight of a puny weakling turning the tables on the bullies and kicking bad guy bum. The ultimate in weedy boy done good is Steve Rogers. Quite how the technical bods created such a tiny, scrawny chap out of the strapping Chris Evans I shall never know. Probably the best special effect of the summer, skinny Steve is a revelation. Not least because of Evans' sympathetic portrayal of this true hero. Desperate to serve his country, desperate to give the bullies of the world a stern ticking off, skinny Steve has us in the palm of his teeny, tiny hand from the get go. Trying and failing to be accepted into the army thanks to his many medical problems and telling a loud mouth in the cinema to shut up – hurrah! – only to receive a pasting in the alley way secures our devotion to skinny Steve. His cry of "I can do this" when undergoing the painful procedure to turn him into a super soldier had me punching the air.
Chris Evans – Where do I begin? We're used to Chris Evans and his brand of arrogance and bravado on screen. A master of one-liners and pithy quips in the past, nothing could really prepare us for the sensitivity and damn heroic nature of his performance as Steve Rogers. Absolutely hitting the mark in capturing the honourable and noble Steve, he owns this role and makes it nigh on impossible to picture anyone else doing Cap the justice he does. Effortlessly believable as the determined skinny Steve and equally convincing, despite his frankly ridiculous good looks, when being useless with women as the Cap. In one scene the naïve Steve misunderstands the meaning of the word "fondue" to hilarious effect. Evans is frankly great casting.
Hayley Atwell – Those casting Gods were clearly on a roll as they gave us probably the most convincing and charming of all Marvel's heroine/love interests to date. Kicking as much arse as the men, Agent Peggy Carter is a true renaissance woman. Ahead of her time and not apt to being lumped in as a mere love interest, Peggy is every bit as interesting as the hero of the piece. She sees the qualities inside of skinny Steve before he's ridiculously hot Steve and stands head and shoulders above the shallow women who come his way after his transformation. During one scene as she and skinny Steve sit side by side in the back of a car (looking somewhat akin to Frodo and Gandalf so tiny is Evans here) you can visibly see her falling for him just by a subtle look in her eye. It's a hugely moving moment when the audience realises that their fledgling relationship is to take an early bow in what I have dubbed the "Matter of Life and Death moment". You'll know it when it comes, it's beautiful and convincing and you will 'get something in your eye'.
James "Bucky" Barnes – Yeah, yeah so they changed the origin of Steve and Bucky's relationship and this Bucky is a couple of years older than the teen that Steve Rogers encounters in the comic but get over it. The core friendship is exactly right and Sebastian Stan does the loyal Bucky justice. Without Bucky there's no Captain America. Simple.
Tommy Lee Jones – He's not doing anything we haven't seen him do before but as the gruff Colonel Phillips Tommy Lee Jones delivers a good chunk of the laughs and does so with a glint in his eye.
Dr Erskine – Stanley Tucci makes a lot of a brief appearance as the man whose serum will create an army of super soldiers. A schnapps-drinking, twinkly-eyed mentor to our skinny Steve, Tucci seems to be having a blast.
Red Skull – Hugo Weaving really gives it some delicious, teutonic mania. Even the Nazis aren't evil enough for Johan Schmidt/Red Skull. That's how evil he is. He is the full fat Coke of evil. A failed first proponent of the Dr Erskine's super soldier serum, he's the flipside of the Captain America coin. Praise too must go to the wonderful Toby Jones as his snivelling henchman Dr Zola.
Howard Stark – Iron Man's daddy makes a great impression here. Dominic Cooper channels Robert Downey Jr and delivers a somewhat less arrogant and smarmy version of RDJ's Tony Stark. Sure his accent slips a little on occasion but Cooper injects a real sense of warmth in Stark and makes one miss him when he's not on screen.
The not so good:
Cosmic Cube - Whilst the little nod to Odin and the extended Marvel Universe was welcome, the treatment of the film's maguffin is slightly fudged. The comics tell us that whoever wields the cube can reshape reality around them, so to see Red Skull rather unimaginatively use the cube to create some admittedly nifty weapons felt like something of a let down. Still, the Thor sting featuring Nick Fury, Erik Selvig and that naughty little sausage Loki would certainly suggest that the cube will make a comeback in The Avengers.
Howling Commandos - Don't get me wrong I love these guys, my complaint is that there's barely anything of them in the film. Poor Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth are sidelined to such a degree I'm not entirely sure that we even hear their names uttered. A shame, but then the title of the film is Captain America I suppose.
The downbeat ending - Our beloved Cap and Peggy saying a heartfelt goodbye over a radio as he plunges into the ice, his awakening in modern day New York, it's all good and completely expected thanks to the intro of the film and our knowledge of the forthcoming Avengers film, and yet... well there's a sense of theft about it. Like our proper ending was stolen to allow for The Avengers. Instead of the Star Wars triumphant ending, the audience, Steve and Peggy deserve we get an upsetting Han Solo in carbonite. Quite how a Captain America sequel will play out is anybody's guess. Can he time travel back to his beloved Peggy and continue kicking Nazi butt please?
Whatever the future holds for Captain America he's safe in Chris Evans' assured hands. Without his charming portrayal we'd be on shaky ground.
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