Captain America: The First Avenger

Currently being unemployed, I find myself confronted with a lot of questions to which I don't necessarily have the answers: what do you want to do with your life?  What are your career goals?  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?  If I were Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), the eventual titular character in Captain America: The First Avenger, I wouldn't have that problem.  Sure, I'd be comically undersized, a frequent target of physical bullying and the furthest thing on the mind of any female I'd meet, but I'd have a goal: serving my country by fighting the Nazis.  More importantly, I'd have the will, determination, and eventually, the means by which to do so.

You see, as a muscularly-challenged kid from Brooklyn whose parents have both died in the struggle against Adolph Hitler, Rogers has a bit of a chip on his bony shoulders.  By the time we get a peak into his life, he's already falsified his enlistment papers four times – the subsequent number of times he's also been declared 4F (that's "unfit for service" for you non-military types).  That doesn't stop him, however, from giving it the old college try on number five.  In fact, hearing that his best friend, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), is shipping out only further strengthens his resolve.  "Why do you want to kill?" he's later asked by British officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).  "I don't want to kill anyone," he answers.  "I don't like bullies."

Five seems to be Rogers' lucky number as his most recent and last attempt at lying to the American government attracts the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a scientist who thinks that his super soldier serum will bring a complimentary physical excelling to the "good man" inside Rogers.  The gruff Colonel Chester Philiips (Tommy Lee Jones) is unconvinced until he sees Rogers emerge from Erskine's scientifically art deco sarcophagus a foot taller and built like the Statue of David.  Likewise for Carter's doubts on meeting "the right dance partner."

It's inevitable, of course, that Rogers will end up dancing in a different way with Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), the Nazi head of Hydra, a division of the army focusing specifically on the occult.  On top of enunciating like a young Werner Herzog, Schmidt's other defining characteristics are side effects from an initial super solider serum that has blessed him with Rogers' strength while simultaneously cursing him with a deformity worthy of the name "Red Skull."  Schmidt, armed with dreams and allegiances surpassing those of and to the Führer, hopes to harness the "power of the gods" found in the mythic Cosmic Cube to overtake the earth.  Never has a regular kid from Brooklyn ever seemed so outmatched. 

And while these two ideological opposites will inevitably clash, the path that Captain America: The First Avenger takes to get there is an unexpected and inspired one.  Many, myself included, grumbled over the hiring of Joe Johnston (The Wolfman, Sahara) to direct this comic book adaptation, but what he brings to the table with his history of period dramas (The Rocketeer, October Sky) is the perfect fit for the tale of World War II superhero.  Johnston, along with cinematographer, Shelly Johnson, and production designer, Rick Heinrichs, cast a nostalgic feel over the entire film with the sepia tints and the quasi-futuristic technology that hearken back to and lovingly homage the halcyon days of the 1940s when the American Dream wasn't suffering from insomnia. 

Anchoring this nostalgia is Evans, whose humble yet steadfast performance stands in sharp contrast to the arrogant, somewhat flamboyant performances of his comic book past (Fantastic Four, The Losers, Scott Pilgrim).  Evans maintains the wide-eyed wonder and chivalry long after his transformation into America's super man while Johnston's decision to not overplay Cap's physical superiority helps to keep Steve Rogers grounded in our mind's as a man first and a superhero second.  What writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely have captured in Captain America is a film celebrating the ideals valued within the American spirit – humility, willpower, and ultimately, the strength to overcome – without having to script scenes where Cap stands in front of a waving American flag as crowds chant "USA!  USA!" 

And yet, it's these strengths of the character and film that also represent its weaknesses.  The downside to Captain America – a downside, I might add, which was inherent to the comics even before the film – is that he has no flaws.  Handsome, loyal, hardworking and physically superior, there is never a scene post-transformation that demonstrates any weakness in the man, nor one that ever casts any doubt on his ability to succeed at his mission.  In relation to Cap's cinematic superhero constituents, Tony Stark is a drunk, Bruce Wayne has caused escalation and the almighty Thor has trouble relating to people on account of being a god.  But Cap?  The ideal man.  Forgive me for yawning.

Because of the serum effecting him at a cellular level, Rogers isn't even able to drink himself into a stupor after a character death that should hold more emotional resonance than it does.  This problem would likely be helped if the villain of Red Skull seemed as capable of taking over the world as he was at vaporizing menial GIs, but seeing as his plot for world domination involves more talking than doing, Hydra's threat of, "cut off one head and more will spring up in its place" comes off as about as threatening, "cut off one head and we'll ask you to stop doing that."

Still, these problems are relatively minor in a film that overall flows smoothly, looks absolutely stunning, features a star-crossed love story and largely incorporates CGI into the visuals in a way that is complimentary as opposed to distracting.  While I for one will always think the look of mini-Chris Evans is slightly goofy, I do have to admit that I can think of no better solution.  Being the last solo installment in what will ultimately become the larger, grandiose The Avengers, Captain America also gets points for incorporating the tie-ins in a much more organic way that its predecessors.  Really the only lingering question I had after walking out was, why didn't this film come out around July 4th?