“Captain America: The First Avenger” Review
Captain America (Chris Evans) fights the soldiers of Hydra for his country in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the film that introduced this character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Out of all the Phase 1 films leading towards “The Avengers,” most people tend to cite “Iron Man” as their favorite. But, for me, my favorite is easily “Captain America: The First Avenger.” With a fun sense of adventure and a setting that invites the corniness of the original, Golden-Age comics, this film was a fantastic introduction to the Star-Spangled Man.
Set in WWII, every young man is wanting to enlist in the Army to fight the Axis Powers, including Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) who’s denied because of how skinny he is, how short he is and how many health problems he has. But he wants to serve nevertheless. His good heart is noticed by a scientist (Stanley Tucci) who is working with the Army to create a new breed of super soldier and chooses Rogers to be the first one tested.
The procedure is a massive success and makes Rogers inhumanly strong, but the scientist is murdered by a Nazi spy before any more super soldiers can be created. Unsure of what to do with him, the Army makes him a War Bonds mascot called Captain America until Rogers decides he wants to actually fight the Nazis and their deep science division called Hydra. With a team of friends, Rogers takes on Hydra and their leader Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), who’s using a powerful device called The Tesseract to make advanced weapons, to save the world and become the first superhero of the MCU.
What I love about the Captain America films is how they constantly update the ideas of patriotism and America that correspond to the time period they’re set in. While the latter two films would address more modern ideas such as invasion of privacy, freedom versus fear and when individual liberties should or shouldn’t take precedence over collective freedom. But in this film, the ideas are kept more simple since it’s set in WWII.
Peggy Carter’s (Hayley Atwell) tenacity as a secret agent who works with Steve Rogers to take down Hydra is a refreshing turn from the typical damsel in distress of the 1940s.
The setting not only fits the backstory of Captain America from the comics, but it also results in a creative environment. The film feels like a cross between the Indiana Jones films and “The Rocketeer” (directed by this film’s director Joe Johnston) with all kinds of technology that feels innovative and old fashioned at the same time. The score in particular, by Alan Silvestri, brings out the environment perfectly and began a long collaboration between him and the MCU.
The film openly embraces the corny nature of the original comics, including having Steve Rogers wear a comic accurate Captain America suit complete with those dopy wings. However, the suit is meant for Steve when he’s a performer for war bonds and he eventually gets a suit that is more tactical and protective. The film’s writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) have a talent for taking tired cliches and either updating them or pushing them aside which works greatly for “Captain America: The First Avenger.”
Like most Marvel films, the biggest strength is the protagonist. Chris Evans is not only incredibly likable, but he also takes lines that could come off as corny and makes them feel real. When he dons that suit, I see Captain America.
The supporting cast is very colorful and leaves a big impact. My favorite is easily Steve’s love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who was so popular that she reappeared in multiple Marvel films and even got her own television show. But, despite being an adventure set in WWII, she’s no damsel in distress and is a badass in her own right. The romance that blossoms between Peggy and Steve is not only heartwarming but it’s also founded very early on. Steve and Peggy begin to hit it off before the transformation and grow closer throughout the film. It’s nice to know that both parties are much more interested in what’s underneath than exterior looks.
Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull was a lot of fun but left much to be desired as Captain America’s greatest villain in the comics.
Other fun characters include a young version of Tony Stark’s father Howard (Dominic Cooper) who is like a comic book version of Howard Hughes, the gruff Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Steve’s best friend James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who is more like a brother to Steve. Alongside a bunch of memorable Howling Commandos, who aid Captain America on his missions, the film makes these characters fairly simple but also memorable.
The villains are also a lot of fun with Hugo Weaving giving a very over-the-top performance as Red Skull. But his appearance feels a bit generic given his comic history as the biggest enemy of Captain America. While he is a lot of fun, I was hoping for a more diabolical mastermind.
But beneath this film are themes of sacrifice which would go on to define not only Captain America but the MCU as a whole. While Captain America does defeat Hydra, he loses some people along the way, including his best friend Bucky. And, when Red Skull makes an aircraft to bomb the East Coast of the United States, Captain America grounds the plane in the Arctic which freezes him leading to all of his friends assuming he’s been Killed in Action. When he’s found nearly 70 years later, he’s awakened as a man out of time who is now living in a completely different world. And with that, all the pieces for “The Avengers” have now fallen into place.
With a corny epicness that I fell in love with, “Captain America: The First Avenger” is a very fun superhero film that managed to adapt the goofy Golden and Silver Age Captain America comics into a serious film. But while Marvel had handled the solo films fairly well, there was still the big crossover event which would have to win over both critics and fans.
