Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jumanji)

Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (The Chronicles of Narnia [all 3])

I’m going to start this review off by saying something that eight years ago would have sent my head spinning: this movie is better than Iron Man. I find it hard to believe I’m saying it even now. But I’ve watched them both this week and it’s true. All of the earnest sincerity that bothered me when I was an edgy cynical twenty-five year old I now appreciate. It just goes to show that a movie is largely defined by what you bring to it, and at this point in my life the genuine goodness of this film is wonderfully welcome. The movie is Marvel’s first period piece, set (of course) during World War 2. It finds Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as a weakling, quintuple reject from the armed forces as his best friend Bucky (Sebastian Stan) heads off to Europe. Rogers lucks out, however, when he meets super scientist Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who gives him a quasi-magical serum that turns him into the world’s greatest soldier. He is then introduced to a secret branch of the American government, where he teams up with Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) to defeat the plans of the evil Nazi super-science program known as Hydra, which is led by a terrifying super-Nazi known as the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).

Perhaps the most important thing to realize about this movie (and that I didn’t get at all upon first viewing) is that it’s a pulp brought to life. The tone is so starkly different from any other Marvel movie before (or since, really) that it’s almost jarring to watch after the others. Every single moment of the entire film is achingly sincere, and it never once winks at the camera or acknowledges that it’s in on the joke. There is no joke. It’s taking absolutely everything that it does at face value. It’s no accident that they got the man who directed the criminally underrated The Rocketeer to make this movie, it’s actually the closest film to this one in terms of tone that I can think of. It’s a legitimate, earnest pulp action romp through the semi-mythical land of the past. It’s two-fisted, joyous action and honest, heartfelt emotionality. And it pretty much all works. Unbelievably, for me at least, it just works. Steve Rogers is immediately endearing as the eventual soul of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Evans sells honesty and decency in a way that few actors even attempt, let alone pull off. From frame one he is the best person that you can think of, the kindest and bravest man you could hope to know. I almost find it emotionally hard to watch what a wonderful human being he is, like a fictional version of last year’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor documentary about Fred Rogers. Captain America is the ideal that we all dream of being. He is what America wishes it were, and what it can be at the best of times.

That’s not to say that the movie is without fault, however. It still has a draggy middle section that takes a little bit of the wind out of the proceedings. Everything from the liberation of the POWs to the final showdown is a little drawn out, a little too long. There are still important things happening, for sure, but you could easily cut 10 to 15 minutes from the movie, mostly from that section, and have a leaner, better film. Bucky’s death is pretty underwhelming as well. Despite how overlong that segment of movie is, his death seems a little too quick. The motorcycle isn’t as cool as the director seems to think it is, either. There’s an almost fetishistic focus on it for a few scenes in that long, lackluster stretch of film, and I just don’t get it. I mean, it’s fine, and there are a couple of OK vehicle action scenes, but it caps out at simply OK for me. There are also a few lackluster fight scenes (although, thank God, no CGI slugfests to snore through). Those, though, are pretty much my only complaints about the movie. And honestly, they can be summed up as: it gets a little slow before the finale. That’s it.

Hayley Atwell deserves special mention as Agent Carter, the only MCU movie character so great that she was spun off into an actually good TV show (so far). She is every inch a match for Evans in terms of her performance. She is strong, resourceful, daring, and incredibly fun to watch. She is the first love interest to actually have an impact on the action and the plot of the movie, putting bullets in Nazis from the opening onward. She gets some of the best one liners in the movie, ensuring that she doesn’t become a bored stereotype of a tough lady. Everything about the character and the performance works. She’s the plucky damsel who is never in distress, always able to handle whatever the movie throws at her. No one in the movie is bad, but she is on a whole other level. If you haven’t seen her spin off TV show, you absolutely should check it out (at least the first season).

There are so many more things that I could say about this movie. It’s an origin story that isn’t boring like origin stories so often are. Hugo Weaving vamps about in every one of his scenes. His character introduction basically includes him saying that Hitler is less Nazi than he is. “I could do this all day,” is immediately an iconic line even before it became one of the most emotional moments in the MCU years later. Stanley Tucci imbues his brief role with an incredible amount of tenderness and humanity. The Howling Commandos are wonderful, the Platonic ideal of WW2 camaraderie and fortitude. I could go on. More important than all of the individual pieces, though, I think the overall tone of goodness and decency which pervades this movie are what make it such a triumphant entry in the Marvel canon. This movie actually makes me feel things (other than amused or excited). It is an antidote to the contemporary atmosphere of hatred and animosity that animates our current discourse in America. It is a panacea to the cynicism and skepticism with which we view all things. Its sadness breaks my heart, and its kindness moves me more today than it did eight years ago. Strongly recommended.

Overall:

Stray Thoughts:

• Is there anyone in the world better at simpering than Toby Jones? I submit that there is not. He is an inspired henchman.
• Sebastian Stan looks better all nice and clean cut than in his eventual shaggy, stringy-haired look.
• I really didn’t like some of the over-the-top stuff on my first outing with this, especially the gigantic plane, but I guess tastes change. I thought it was all good pulpy fun this time. Didn’t even wince.
• There’s maybe one too many shield jokes before he gets the actual shield.
• This movie has one of the only good car chase scenes in the entirety of the MCU, largely because it is barefoot man vs. car.
• The last line of this movie devastates me emotionally.
• Post-credits scene: Acceptable. It’s really just a tease for The Avengers at this point, so there’s not too much to say. I remember being very excited by it at the time, but it’s just OK.
• Stan Lee cameo: Excellent. Probably the first one to rival the original, mostly because the one liner he is given is a great gag.