Reviews

The First Avenger rates high on Tufnel scale

By Kevin Martinez

It’s finally here! The Marvel Comic that is the last of the big name characters to be made into a proper feature film. This is one that has been long overdue.

Yeah, there were attempts at making Cap before. Most recently, there was the Albert Pyun directed straight to VHS dud back in 1990. That one starred Matt Salinger, son of J.D. himself. The less said about that the better.

Then there were the two TV movies from the late 1970s starring Reb Brown. A favorite of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crowd, Brown was best known as Yor, The Hunter from the Future. Clips from those Captain America movies have been popping up lately on Conan, as a worthy successor to the Walker, Texas Ranger clips from O’Brien’s old NBC show. Those movies disappointed me for the simple reason that, even in the 1970s, they looked like cheese.

And don’t get me started on the 1940s movie serial in which Cap wasn’t Steve Rogers and didn’t carry his trademark shield.

This time out, we get a big budget summer blockbuster. Captain America deserves this, he’s Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s super soldier, the third Marvel superhero (Submariner and the original Human Torch were the first two), and the most successful of them all during the 1940s.

I’ve been a fan since I was a kid, when I read an issue of Marvel Two In One where the Thing, Cap, and Sharon Carter (agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) traveled to the future and teamed up with the Guardians Of The Galaxy to fight the Badoon Empire. This inspired me to get a Mego action figure of Cap soon after. He just looks cool, and he’s the symbol of American idealism.

Cap’s the most enduring character from Jack Kirby’s partnership with Joe Simon and he’s never had a great movie. Well, I’m happy to say that has changed. This movie is just what this summer needed.

Hugo Weaving (of Lord Of The Rings, Matrix, and V For Vendetta) makes one nasty villain playing Johann Schmidt / Red Skull. The action sequences are top notch, with moments that made me feel like a kid watching Raiders Of The Lost Ark all over again. This is what a summer blockbuster should be: fun and exciting. Sure, the plot may be simple at times. But it’s a movie to be enjoyed. It reminded me of all the things I enjoyed when I watched the original Star Wars films.

Director Joe Johnston (Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Jurassic Park 3) has made a sincere effort to keep the film true to the roots of the character’s 1940s beginnings. Johnston directed a previous comic book movie set in this era (1990’s The Rocketeer) which was fun, but this tops that easily. A former visual effects director for Lucasfilm, Johnston knows how to make an effects driven, big budget movie. But, unlike his mentor George Lucas, he hasn’t forgotten how to make the characters accessible to the audience.

A friend of mine complained on the way out of the theater that this movie was campy and seemed dated. But then he told me how much he enjoyed Green Lantern so, as much as I like the guy, I gotta discount his critique. Green Lantern was a big disappointment, for a number of reasons, mostly bad acting and an even worse script. But more importantly, because you don’t have any reason to care about the lead character or anyone around him.

Captain America is the opposite of that. It has a very simple good versus evil plot, but you care about Steve Rogers and what he has to go through to win the war. The dichotomy between Cap and Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull is purely a study of good versus evil.

Chris Evans makes the most of his character by playing it straight. His performance is similar in tone to Clayton Moore’s Lone Ranger. This movie reflects a less cynical time period in which the good guys wore white hats (or the American Flag) and the bad guys wear black. As much of a punk rock cynic as I can be, I have a great love of this type of movie. Cap isn’t some hard case like Wolverine or Batman, and he’s not an angst ridden teen like Spiderman. He’s a man who wants to do the right thing and strives to improve himself for the betterment of all mankind. Without getting into politics, the basic idea of this character is that he’s the ideal of what America should be.

This movie needs to be seen in 3-D, it simply is the best looking 3-D I’ve experienced. I thought the underwhelming Transformers 3 was the best 3-D, but this was so much better. The scene inside Hydra’s headquarters is amazing, it looks as though it goes on for miles and miles.  And during the end credits it looks as though Uncle Sam is really pointing at you.

There are plenty of inside jokes and easter eggs with this movie. I particularly enjoyed the World’s Fair scene, where you see the world’s first synthetic man in a glass tube. That’s also the first Marvel superhero, Jim Hammond a.k.a the Original Human Torch. If only Prince Namor had shown up and fought him. But I can dream, can’t I?

Stan Lee does make a cameo, even though he is not the creator of Captain America. This breaks his rule of only appearing in the movies of the characters he created, but Cap was Stan’s very first writing assignment so I guess it’s understandable that he wanted in on this action.

Also, as with all the movies leading up to next summer’s Avengers, you must stay for the teaser at the end of the credits. It made me jump for joy. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give this away. But it really doesn’t reveal any plot points. You simply get the Avengers trailer after a scene with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. To be honest, the sight of Thor, Cap, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, and a host of other characters together made me wish it was next summer already! I hope Joss Whedon delivers his usual story and directing ability for this one, because this has been a four year set up and I’m already wanting my Avengers Slurpee cups from whatever 7-11 I visit next summer.

Ordinarily, I would be telling you to spend your money on R.O.C.K.’s next roller derby bout on Sept 3rd, but you have plenty of time to save for that. Instead, spend all your money on going to see Captain America.

Me, I’m relieved to finally have the bad taste of the previous Captain America films outta my mouth. I give this one an 11 on the Nigel Tufnel scale, because I got what I wanted, and I’m one selfish kid at heart.

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