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Captain
America- The First Avenger (2011)
Set in the 1940s this is an old
fashioned style of movie where the hero Steve Rogers/ Captain America (Chris
Evans) runs on heart, integrity and American values. He is one puny man who is
determined to join up for the US military forces during the Second World War
but keeps being rejected due to his weak physical condition. Along comes Dr
Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who together with Tony Stark’s Dad genetically modifies
Steve Rogers into a muscled and superhuman man, much like the East German
athletes of the 1980s or ironically the Ben Johnson/ Marion Jones from the
Western side of athletics.
With his super strength and
undoubtable courage Steve Rogers can now face Schmidt/ Red Skull (Hugo Weaving)
in German territory to stop the forces of the evil Hydra. Steve Rogers is a
character the viewer can get behind as he is the classic underdog. Bullied,
underestimated and mocked even in hero form. He also has a love interest Peggy
(Hayley Atwell), depicted in true 1940’s style where the most raunchy romantic
activity is kissing.
Captain America as the first avenger uses a
knight’s shield, which he throws like a rare metal Frisbee/boomerang that
somehow knocks out his foes and bounces back to his hand. The characters are transported in time from 1940s America and
Germany to present day New York. What struck me most about this movie is the
emphasis on tragedy and loss with best friends and girlfriends lost to wartime
battles and the passage of time. While this was not overly deep or mentally challenging
it definitely moved me with its innocent sensibilities. I believed in the
relationship between Steve and Peggy, perhaps because they appeared more as
respectful friends than sex crazed lovers. Peggy loved the character of the man
within and Steve Rogers had the qualities of the gentle skinny nerdy man
within.
Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving were excellent. Tommy Lee provided
good humour with his brash one-liners delivered with great comedic timing and
Hugo Weaving had a wonderful German accent. He was disturbingly believable as a
psychotic megalomaniac rivalled only by Hitler perhaps reprising his Mr Smith
character from The Matrix (1999) or V from V for Vendetta (2005).
The special effects were injected
well into the storyline supporting the scene being presented. The CGI depiction
of the action scenes, in particular the tragic train scene look seamless. The
transformation scene from nerd to hero is exciting and the sound is crisp and
energetic. The Zeppelin aerial fight scene was also well imagined from a
technical perspective reminding me of the Star Wars scene on the Millennium
Falcon where the tie fighters are shot at like a video game. When combined with
the 1940s full orchestral arrangements of Alan Silvestri this creates a
stirring atmosphere, particularly the theatrical piece ‘The Star Spangled Man’.
(Baadassss 2011)
Joe Johnston has directed a superhero movie
that romantically matches Richard Donner’s Superman
(1977) but unlike its predecessor is not a classic movie. It is a
solid movies with as much heart as its hero preaching messages about old
fashioned values of loyalty, truth and justice that hark back to an America I’m
not sure exists anymore.
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