Captain America: The First Avenger

2011

Director Joe Johnston

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  It’s 1940. Steve Rodgers is a short, skinny, patriotic loser. Given the chance to serve his country by the enigmatic Dr. Erskine, Rodgers is pumped with a special serum, transforming the runt into a genetically fuelled Übermensch to throw against the rampaging armies of Hitler, and, in particular, HYDRA.

Captain America: The First Avenger starts well. Everything is ticking along nicely. From the Raiders of the Lost Ark inspired opening, to the streets of Manhattan. But half an hour in, someone presses fast forward. Events rocket along. The already flimsy plot becomes irrelevant. The narrative descends into an incendiary montage. The emotional climax whimpers, and the previously well-teased collision between hero and villain is a bigger disappointment than Kill Bill Volume 2. It is as though director Joe Johnston simply ran out of time, an affliction similarly felt by another summer superhero sucker, X-Men: First Class. With some patience, we would have some decent flicks on our hands.

Because Captain America does show signs of class. Like 2004’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the retro sheen of World War Two is a refreshing setting for the barrage of spandex, as the fantasy world of Asgard was in Thor or the 1960s proved in First Class. And wartime Manhattan looks the business. Sadly, though, barely thirty minutes is dedicated to Rodgers’ homeland, and we are soon thrust into the generically combustible landscapes of Europe, which is where things start to unravel.

As the titular hero, Chris Evans has a thankless task. Steve Rodgers is a humourless bore, but Evans handles him with suitable class. Hugo Weaving doesn’t get anywhere near as much screen time as the devilish Red Skull. Who didn’t want to see a big red-masked Weaving chew the shit out of some scenery?

Is Captain America just an extended, extremely expensive trailer for The Avengers? No. Unlike in Thor, it’s barely referenced. But Johnston’s flick does feel rushed. Marvel has striven to ensure it has time to settle before Joss Whedon’s costumed ensemble crashes onto our screens. That’s not the way to introduce Cap to the party.

*** / *****