Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

There is one great obstacle that Captain America: The First Avenger will have to face on the road to success: despite what the title tells you, this film did not come first. At this point, the movie-going public may be suffering from an understandable case of superhero fatigue. , and I’m right there with them. There’s only so many times we can watch a regular man don an iconic costume and start kicking bad guy butt, and in that respect Captain America is being released at the worst possible time. That’s too bad, because this might be the best of the Avengers films since the original Iron Man. It’s a fantastic blockbuster film that—unlike most—is completely devoid of any cynicism or pretension. Captain America: The First Avenger is two hours full of engaging characters, an interesting story and exciting action. It doesn’t transcend the superhero genre. It just does everything better.

This is no small feat, especially since the eponymous hero is such a snooze on paper. Like most of the people who will likely see this movie, I went in wholly unfamiliar with the Captain America mythology. From the outside, he just seems like a bland piece of red, white and blue meat. Yet the film—directed by Joe Johnston—takes the simplicity of the character and turns it into an asset. Steve Rogers (played well by Chris Evans) is less tormented and snarky than most of the other Marvel heroes. He’s just a regular guy who would do anything to fight for his country. When the film begins, the nation is entrenched in World War II. Steve is unusually small in stature, and whenever he tries to enlist the Army they will never take him. This changes when Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees the true heart that Steve has, and selects him to become a new breed of super soldier. After getting pumped full of serum, he is transformed into one of the most powerful men on Earth. The military brands him Captain America, and he becomes a symbol of patriotism for the homeland.

Meanwhile, the villain of Captain America is one of the more awesomely evil characters of this year’s superhero films. There’s not much depth to him, but there ultimately doesn’t need to be. Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) is not just a Nazi, he’s a superhuman Nazi who leads the terrorist organization HYDRA. He is the only other person besides Captain America who has been subjected to this ultra-powerful serum, and thus he is the only real match as far as sheer strength is concerned. Red Skull is just another example of how this film’s minimalism actually helps it succeed. It’s great because it’s a straightforward action/adventure film, so there’s nothing to distract us from the task at hand. At its best, Captain America recaptures a feeling of guilt-free fun that evokes classic films like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

As I write this, the news sounds as if Captain America is well on its way to becoming a box office success. This makes me glad, as it truly is the best example of what a great comic book movie should be. However, I suspect that if this same exact film was released in late 2001 or 2002—before the superhero genre became so ubiquitous—this movie could have been an unparalleled sensation. In the wake of 9/11, or around the start of the war in the Middle East, a movie like this would have been exactly what the doctor ordered. Instead, the 2011 release will simply mean it gets bunched in with a million other superhero movies, no matter how financially successful it is. This is a movie that should be huge.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. Some of the CGI effects are less than convincing, and at times I wish a few characters’ motivations were explained, but that doesn’t detract much when just about everything else is done perfectly. Most importantly, it works completely as its own film even without all of this Avengers nonsense. As exciting as the prospect of that film is, it doesn’t mean we should be paying full price just to see a half-baked prequel like Thor. With the exception of the final scenes—and the teaser which comes after the credits—Captain America is a film more concerned with itself than what is to come next summer.

It’s no secret that such an America-centric film is a risky proposition, considering the anti-red, white and blue sentiments that no doubt exist around the world (and even here at home). The film itself has an undoubtedly patriotic mentality, but it doesn’t beat the audience over the head with it. It is the best kind of celebration of America: it recognizes that there are people fighting for this country who aren’t beautiful white men. This is a film set during World War II, yet it prominently features characters of both German and Asian origin that are very much on the American side. Since the film is so entertaining otherwise, it likely could have gotten away with a whole lot more on the racial side. That it acknowledges this is just a bonus.

There is never an actor onscreen in Captain America: The First Avenger that doesn’t look like they’re having fun, and that attitude proves infectious. In particular, I was surprised just how great Tommy Lee Jones was in this film as Col. Chester Phillips. This was a role he could have sleepwalked through and no one would have bat an eye, but he brings such a fun attitude to every line that he ultimately elevates the film around him. This is a blockbuster film of relatively low ambition, but performances like this—and Hayley Atwell as the hero’s love interest—add a significant amount of humanity to the proceedings. No one here is simply looking to cash a paycheck; they want to make Captain America the best film it can possibly be. Not only do they ultimately succeed, they make you realize just how weak other recent films in this genre have been.

GRADE: A-