Captain America: The First Avenger is the final new Marvel property to be given the cinema treatment before The Avengers comes out next summer. The film was a crucial element to this franchise, as fans of Marvel will know that Cap is actually the leader of the Avengers in the comic, so naturally this film’s success was going to be very important for the setup of the Avengers film. Now I loved both of the Iron Man films, I greatly enjoyed Thor, and I even kind of dug the majority of The Incredible Hulk, but while I was watching these films I couldn’t help but remember that they were all equally important to the franchise. So how does Captain America stack up to these box office powerhouses? Not the worst, but far from the best.
Really quick though, I’d like to get something out in the open. A lot of people who know me know that I love Red Letter Media, to the point where I have been recommending them to all of my friends, but now I’m starting to get sick of watching their reviews. My frustration has nothing to do with the quality of their material, which is always ingenious, but as I watched their review of Captain America I was (once again) completely overwhelmed by how they brought up every single problem I planned on addressing with the movie, to the point where I almost don’t want to write this review because I’m afraid it will look like a rip-off of everything they said. But… I’m gonna do it anyways as I have been thinking of what to write for the better part of the weekend, and I’ll try my best to bring out some new stuff as well.
First of all, we’ll talk about what works with the film, and happily I actually have a lot of stuff to write about with this field. The first half to two-thirds of the film feels like a very cool, very original take on a period piece put together with a comic book origin story. The look and feel of the film shares the classic Joe Johnston period feeling that was in with The Rocketeer, and all the characters of the film are played well by the respective leads. Chris Evans plays two sides of the coin with perfection, and it’s easy to see why he’s quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s leading men because of the sad, downtrodden performance he turns in while he plays “original” skinny Steve Rogers, a patriot and true hero stuck in a weakling’s body. We feel the depression and sadness that Steve feels when he is rejected time and time again for service, and as we see the good guy and true patriot lurking beneath his unimpressive frame we can’t wait to see the transformation we know is coming.
The rest of the cast is rounded out well, as Tommy Lee Jones is classically grumpy and bitter, Hugo Weaving is fantastically sinister, and newcomer Hayley Atwell is charming and likeable in her performance of Peggy Carter. The real star of the show however, is the always outstanding Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine. Tucci’s subtle and brilliant application of a gentle kindness and soul turns what could have been a thankless role into a powerhouse of a father-like figure. I would honestly see a back story about his background in the Third Reich and his dealing with Red Skull. Dominic Cooper does a good job as well playing Tony Stark’s father Howard, but sadly Neal McDonough’s perfect portrayal of Dun-Dun Dugan is reduced to a “blink and you miss it” role, as is Sebastian Stan’s Bucky. The first half of the film does a great job setting the stage for Cap, and creates an amazing recreation of America in the throes of WWII. After Steve finally gets the procedure to turn him into Captain America a thrilling chase sequence creates a sense of our hero unaware of his own power that I have never seen done so well in any comic book movie before. As he chases an enemy agent he overshoots streets, crashing through windows due to legs that are much stronger and faster than he is used to. As much as I loved the original Spiderman the biggest complaint I had with it was how Peter magically knew how to swing through the city the first time he tries it. That’s not the case here, as most of the film revolves around Steve unsure of his new position, both in strength and in fame. We see that Erskine chose well, as even after receiving his new gifts we see that the only thing Steve wants is to go to the front lines and fight in the war.
Following his transformation Steve is stuck doing a series of War Bond propaganda performances, and we are treated to a classic WWII montage of his performances as he does his best to help his country in the only way he is allowed. It isn’t long however until he finally gets his moment to take his skills to war, and he finally sees an opportunity to go to battle when he realizes his best friend has been taken hostage. So we gear up, get ready, and finally make our way into action movie territory.
Sadly, this is where things begin to fall apart in the film, and at a surprisingly quick pace. As the action revs up and we see Cap go to war the pace of the film quickens to that of a rocket ship… with us holding on to the tail fins desperately trying to keep up with the story. Entire chunks of important information are disseminated in mere moments, nearly as bad as they were handled in Transformers 3. One moment Cap is at odds with his love interest over a momentary lapse of judgment, and then mere minutes later they are apparently in love while we weren’t shown any significant progression on how they arrived at that point. I feel like the quick pace of the second half of this film seriously tarnished what could have been a great entry into the comic book franchise and the upcoming Avengers film. Even worse is the fact that I honestly didn’t know that we were at the final showdown of the film until we see the Red Skull taking off in a plane we recognize from the beginning, the end of the film was just so rushed. If the film had been given an additional thirty minutes or so of expository dialogue I think this movie could have been one of the better superhero movie entries to come out in quite a while.
Now Captain America is not the first adaptation film to suffer from this problem, as it is normally something associated with all films involving the origin of a character. This problem is known as “Origin Story Syndrome”, and while many comic book films suffer from it this is probably one of the worst cases I have seen in a while of the “rushed second half” problem. Spiderman suffered from this problem, but they were able to more or less overcome it by packing the origin story into the first forty minutes or so of the film while creating a villain for us in the same timeframe. This timeframe allowed for both character developments to happen evenly and early on, and then left the us with another hour and twenty minutes left of film, plenty of time to set-up the conflict between Spidey and Goblin as opposed to Captain America’s roughly forty-five minutes.
Another example of a movie that was able to overcome “Origin Story Syndrome” was Batman Begins, and they solved this problem in a very unique way, they turned the entire film into an origin story. Sure, you can argue that Bruce Wayne only trained for the first half of the film, but throughout all of the second half we see the character of the Batman himself still evolving throughout the film. The first time Bruce Wayne pays a visit to Gordon he’s only wearing his body armor and a ski mask, and his inexperience and lack of equipment nearly gets his retarded ass killed when he almost plummets to his doom. Later on he nearly gets gassed to death and set on fire because he hadn’t learned to mind his surroundings. After that he finally begins to master the art of fear, and at roughly the four-fifths mark we finally see him humbled once he sees how not yet overcoming his arrogant impulsiveness costs him his family’s mansion. The final step in Batman’s training at the end of the film mirrors the final act he was supposed to commit during his training with the League of Shadows where he refused to execute a murderer, and while he still refuses to kill the evil Rhas-al Ghul himself he makes the decision to let him die at his own hands, creating a linchpin choice in the creation of Batman. These films show how with a little creative thinking and good film making a well-made superhero movie can overcome Origin Story Syndrome.
Something else that bugged me was the ham-fisted use of CG during the war scenes. Early use of CG to show Chris Evans as a weakling was done so perfectly and seamlessly that I couldn’t stop raving about how amazing it looked. I wish I had the same life problems that Chris Evans apparently has in the beginning of the film, where they need to use state of the art CG to make him look like I normally do. Once the war begins though the direction and cinematography seems to forget that practical, real effects can be super effective in a WWII period piece like in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. If they had stuck with using practical effects like this augmented slightly with a touch of CG here and there the movie would have been much more impressive looking. Instead we get entire backgrounds that are reminiscent of the lazy CG background paintings of the Star Wars prequels, almost cartoonish looking scenes mapped against crazy action sequences that actually jolt the audience out of the period.
Now you may be thinking that a suspension of belief is always required with these films, but I’m talking about lazy film making and a lack of detail that creates a scene that makes no sense. A good example is an action scene where Cap and friends zip-line onto a superfast bullet train that is carrying a key scientist for HYDRA. Right off the bat the background looks silly and painted, but it’s acceptable as a CG scene because obviously they couldn’t do this trick onto a real speeding train going this fast. Where the film fails to create a proper illusion though is that once the guys are on the top of the train they seem to forget that this thing looks like it’s going about 140 mph because Cap and his soldiers are walking on top of it without any wind, cold, or any elements of the scene directly opposing them. It wouldn’t have been hard to have them struggling against the whipping wind, walking slowly, leaning into it while maybe a stage hand has a super strong wind machine blowing in their face, but in the movie I don’t even think I saw their clothes fluttering. In fact I could be mistaken, but I think the black soldier was wearing a cap that never got blown off the whole time they were on this speeding locomotive.
CG scenes like this detract from the atmosphere that this film could have had going for it as one of its greatest strengths, and it’s a shame to see it this way because movies have had great train action scenes since the beginning of film. In fact the train robbery in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was made with a fraction of this film’s budget and came out looking a thousand times better due to the realistic camerawork and stunt work involved. It wasn’t just one scene either, as there were a number of potentially outstanding action pieces that seemed to be ruined by sloppy camerawork and rushed storylines. It just feels like a real shame that the second half of the film was such a letdown compared to the first half.
This apparent shortfall is just one small part of the problem I had with the film, as one of my more major concerns was the symbolism of the period, or rather, the lack of any. This film could have been an amazing look at an alternate timeline in life when a superhero fought the Nazis in WWII, classic symbolism like an American Flag vs. the Swastika could have created an emotional powerhouse and connected with the audience in a great way. Instead, the legion of oh-so-wise producers overseeing the film decided to do away with almost every piece of WWII symbolism in a pathetic effort to make this film appeal to audiences worldwide. The only semblance of an American flag is Cap’s shield, I don’t even think I saw a swastika, and the producers even tried their best to have “America” taken out of the film’s title and simply have it called The First Avenger.
How pathetic and cowardly has Hollywood become to go so far out of their way to not want to offend the overseas market? One of the biggest things I hear about this film is that Joe Johnston was picked to direct it because of his prior film The Rocketeer, but did the producers forget that a majority of this film revolved around American patriotism? I am seriously getting sick and tired of this PC bulls**t trying to neuter every single possible implication that someone in a film might actually be proud of the country they were born and raised in, such as the did in the new Superman film when he said he fought for “Truth, justice, and peace” as opposed to his original ideals of “Truth, justice, and the American way”, and if you listen very closely to the dialogue of Captain America you never really hear a lot of people talking about how they are fighting “for their country” like they should be saying. Genuine, great, real scenes involving anything even resembling pride in their country have become a thing of the past, even in a film about the greatest patriot in the history of comics, and this continuing fad of fading out any sort of national pride is flat out insulting to filmgoers.
Say what you will about The Rocketeer, but I would rather watch that film any day over the drivel that is being produced by Hollywood these days, and anyone who has seen the film can attest to the feel-good patriotism that is apparent in most of the film. In fact, one of my favorite scenes revolved around mob boss Eddie Valentine (a thinly veiled copy of Al Capone) telling his employer, the villainous Sinclair, to go screw himself once he realized that Sinclair was a Nazi secret agent. How cool is the idea that a self proclaimed monster such as Valentine finds the idea of betraying his country utterly loathsome? It just makes you feel kinda giddy that even a truly despicable person draws the line at treason.
But even though this is the same director making a film that should have promoted MORE patriotism, I have a mental picture of a snooty Hollywood producer shaking his head every time Johnston snuck in an American flag. Look, I don’t blame Johnston for this decision, and I know Hollywood is full of liberal, bed-wetting pussies, but you seriously have to draw the line at rewriting history and renaming a freaking FRANCHISE for the sake of your ticket sales. And by the way, despite the fact that Johnston refused to change the name to The First Avenger the film performed outstanding outside the US, so once again the producers are made to look like idiots for trying to change the name.
The last major issue I had with the film can be partially blamed for the rushed second half, but I bring it up anyways because I see it happening more and more in summer action films. This story has pretty much NO resolution, and even though it has a brief attempt to transition into a commercial for the upcoming Avengers film it ends almost immediately after the climax. I’ve noticed this incredibly frustrating trend in more and more Hollywood blockbusters such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Star Wars prequels, any Resident Evil movie, and (you guessed it) every Transformers film. In fact almost all of the Transformer films end immediately after the final confrontation, although I’m guessing this is because Michael Bay probably panicked and sped through the end as fast as he could when he realized that it’s pretty much impossible to create a resolution without explosions.
The point is that this crap shouldn’t be happening in Hollywood films AT ALL, let alone happening at an increasingly more common pace. This is basic storytelling 101 people, and how these high profile directors can’t nail a simple concept like this is baffling to me. There are many different ways to structure a basic three act story, but in a nutshell it can all be broken down into five parts of a story arc that looks something like this.
This is often referred to as “The Dramatic Structure” or a “Story Arc”. I guarantee that this basic rule can be found in any of your favorite films (as long as they are good), and I’ll even apply it to one of my favorite top five films, The Empire Strikes Back, even though it can be found in all five:
Part 1: Exposition/Introduction-The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the problem in the beginning of the story.
Example-Luke, Han, Leia, and friends are introduced, and we learn they are establishing a new secret base. Vader is introduced as he attempts to hunt down Luke for purposes not yet known.
Part 2: Rising Action-During Rising Action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, obstacles, and possibly secondary adversaries that may work with the main antagonist or separately for themselves or actions unknown.
Example-The rebellion loses control of the Hoth base and is forced to evacuate. Hand and Leia go on the run while Luke searches out Yoda to train him as a Jedi. Boba Fett and the bounty hunters are introduced to hunt down the heroes. Han and Leia are eventually betrayed and captured and Luke decides to rescue them against the wishes of Yoda and Obi-Wan
Part 3: Climax-Also known as the “Turning Point” marks a change, for better or worse, in the protagonist’s struggle. If the story is a comedy, things that have gone badly for the character will begin to go well. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite will occur. In a nutshell, this is the most dramatic and important part of the story.
Example-Han is frozen in carbonite and taken by Boba Fett. Leia, Chewie and Lando shoot their way out of Bespin and are pursued by the Empire’s TIE fighters. Luke is defeated in battle with Vader, learns that Vader is his father, and sacrifices himself rather than join the dark side.
Part 4: Falling Action-During the falling action which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt as we head into the conclusion.
Example-Luke is rescued by Leia and Lando, who are still being pursued by the Imperial Fleet in a frantic pursuit as Vader unsuccessfully continues to try to convert Luke. The Millenium Falcon goes into hyperspace moments before being captured.
Part 5: Denouement/Resolution-All conflicts are resolved. A release of tension and anxiety is achieved for the characters and the audience.
Example-Luke and Leia are shown safe with the Rebellion Fleet. Lando and Chewie leave to rescue Han. George Lucas strokes his beard in sadistic envy at how Irvin Kirshner was able to utterly outdo him in every way.
When you look at this example you can see how a film with great pacing and storytelling like Empire and pretty much any other great film follows this basic simple structure, so it’s confusing to me how these writers and directors who land the biggest jobs in Hollywood could screw something like a resolution up so badly. When you can’t handle something as simple as a resolution then it’s time to move on from movies, and don’t tell me there wasn’t time for a proper resolution because you can do one quite well with a limited time window if you’re creative. The Prestige had a brilliant final dialogue that wrapped up all the loose ends, relaxed the tension of the film, and answered the question that compelled the entire conflict of the story, all in the span of less than five minutes. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly dealt with Falling Action and Resolution brilliantly as well by following the climactic Mexican standoff with less than ten minutes of screen time. In that ten minutes we had falling action with digging up the gold and hanging Tuco, resolution with Blondie shooting him down, and even a final iconic shot of Blondie riding off into the sunset.
New directors and big budget films seem to be happily skipping all of these massive bookmarks in storytelling. Mr and Mrs Smith had the climactic final gun battle in a department store, skips over Falling Action all together, and then gives a half assed thirty second final therapy session with the two characters where NOTHING is resolved or tied up. Captain America has the climactic showdown on the airplane, barely addresses Falling Action as he crash lands the plane, and then includes a few minutes of Peggy looking over Cap’s files and Cap waking up in modern day New York as a hardly satisfactory resolution. And of course… Transformers 3 ends with the obligatory “Optimus fighting Big Bad Guy” climax, a few clips of the main characters standing around aimlessly that resolves nothing, and Optimus spouting useless words of wisdom before a sudden and jarring edit to “DIRECTED BY MICHAEL BAY”. Yup, ol’ Mike skips over Falling action and Resolution altogether.
All in all though at the end of the day I can overlook these problems and recommend Captain America as an enjoyable mindless action romp. My biggest regret about it however is just seeing such a promising first half followed by so many easily correctable mistakes peppering the second half.
7 out of 10
