Synopsis
When a terrifying force threatens everyone across the globe, Captain America, the world’s greatest soldier, wages war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull.
The story isn’t complicated, which can be a great thing. You’ve got a young man wanting to be a part of his country so bad that he’s willing to be experimented on, and even give his life. Once he’s up and going as Captain America, director Joe Johnston plays with that a bit, as he puts Evans’ Steve Rogers through the goofy task of being a Senator’s puppet. Once things stop being playful is when the movie starts to pick up a large amount of momentum, and Johnston’s superhero attitude he injects in so many of his works (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for example) starts to come to life. You get Captain America going head-to-head with the evil organization known as Hydra, which prompts a cool montage of comic book action, including the use of Cap’s famous shield on various occasions (a worry for me, as this past renditions looked goofy, but thankfully this one pulled off well). From that point on a tragedy occurs and the reality of the situation hits Captain America hard, as the final push of the movie really ends on a great fight, and a good bang.
Truly classic Joe Johnston material and methods.
Joe Johnston did one great job with creating the world that Captain America lives within. He kept focus on making sure the audience knew this was World War II America. Using his Rocketeer like methods, he brought a very simple look to the world. You get a lot of clean environments, vintage film stock (a nice yellow tint to make the film feel old) and a simple story of good versus evil. Johnston has always been a fan of the underdog winning, again see Rocketeer for details, so the approach of focusing on the underdog (Steve Rogers/Captain America) worked well for Captain America. This type of theme was simple and subtle, which is what Johnston excels at doing, and matches nearly all the other Paramount / Marvel films to date. There’s nothing over-the-top about Captain America, it’s just clearly focused on the job at hand, much like the main character. Having that subtle, simplistic feeling to the film makes it fun to watch. You go into it with little to no expectations and come out of it having had a fun ride (that you’re willing to take again). I’ve watched this film four times and for me it rates up there with how I feel about The Goonies. Years from now, if it came on television during a Saturday afternoon matinee on TBS then I would sit down and watch it without feeling like I’ve wasted time. It’s that type of film, and that’s also what makes it great.
Again, simple and fun.
Having said that, let’s get this out in the open right now — I wasn’t a fan of Chris Evans cast as the lead character. Having seen him in previous films like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The Fantastic Four, he came off as someone who couldn’t break the mold of goofy. He hasn’t had a major film up to this point that said, ‘Wow, he can play serious’. That worried me a lot. Having seen such passionate performances by Chris Hensworth as the arrogant Thor, and the loose billionaire hero of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark (Iron Man), I just couldn’t see that type of performance with Evans. Captain America was a soldier, a hero and a character that understood heroic fortitude like no other Avenger. On paper this just doesn’t fit Evans’ motif.
But then I saw the film. God was I wrong about Evans.
As Hollywood typically goes, Evans was caught in typecasting hell. Captain America was his breakout role from the others. He brought a lot of passion to the good captain, and most of all he brought strong believability into Captain America’s fight to stop Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull. At the end of the film you will forget that Evans had any role other than Captain America. He’s fun to watch on film, tough as nails and a hero that fans can cheer for. Most of all, he isn’t in the least bit goofy looking. Unlike the previous incarnations of the character, Evans treats Captain America like a raw, hungry, gritty soldier that is truly willing to do anything to stop evil, including sacrificing himself. That’s what Captain America was in the comic and that is what Captain America is in this film mostly thanks to Chris Evans’ performance.
Equally as interesting, and always fun to watch in whatever role he is in, is Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt (Red Skull). Weaving brought the comic book villain to life, as he made him methodical, vicious and just fun to watch. The Red Skull was the ultimate villain, as he possessed a high amount of intelligence, as well as Captain America’s strength. He was Captain America’s ultimate rival, and Weaving played him as such. The opening scene where Weaving’s Schmidt finds the cosmic cube in the small village was played with such evil passion. Seeing him impolitely break into an old building, find what he wants and proceed to destroy the entire village (for nothing) really defined his character as the power-mongering antagonist. I hope Weaving is back for future Captain America films, as I suspect he will be.
Other people worth mentioning, and folks you will enjoy, are Tommy Lee Jones as the very funny, yet mean, Colonel Chester Phillips. Jones looked like he had a lot of fun in this role, as he plays a cross between Agent K (Men in Black) and Chief Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard (U.S. Marshals). His dialogue is venomous and hilarious at the same time. He was fun to watch. Along side him was the very talented man of many faces, Stanley Tucci. Tucci plays Dr. Abraham Erskine, creator of the super soldier syrum, and he always brings the fun, and emotional moments to the screen. His onscreen presence was short-lived (no pun intended), but it is memorable. You’ll love him.
So, are there any faults to this film? Well, I wasn’t too thrilled with what they did with Captain America’s sidekick, Bucky. Sebastian Stan plays him, but in this rendition of the story Bucky is older than Steve Rogers, which is not accurate to the comic. While I didn’t expect Bucky to come out in tights and help Captain America as his sidekick superhero, I did wish they had made a better story for him. Because of the age differences, the relationship between Captain America and Bucky Barnes and the emotional connection that comes with it wasn’t as solid as it should have been. Also, I wish we had seen a bit more of ‘The Howling Commandos’. They were an interesting bunch of soldiers that deserved just a bit more screen time.
Other than this, the film was fun. It was a subtle, simple entertainment that I will be proud to have on my Blu-ray shelf.
Speaking of Blu-ray, the film looked gorgeous in HD. The added vintage yellow color helped to bring out a lot of details in the movie. When you see Rogers and Barnes going to the world expo at the beginning, you’re going love how clean and crisp it all looks. As the film rolls on and starts going from a yellow to blue tint, you’ll find the same amount of details, and crisp picture quality, waiting for you. There are no artifacts, color banding or signs of graininess. The film simply looks gorgeous. For example, when Captain America and crew hop a ride on one of the Red Skull’s trains, you’ll love how the snowy environment looks in HD. It’s a simply stunning Blu-ray. The audio is just as good, as it’s mastered in 7.1 DTS-HD.
(3D portion of the review by Brandon Parker)
3D has made some steps forward since the first implantation just a couple of years ago. Today there are a lot more 3D releases as a means to provide the next level of the big screen experience. Its use in Captain America is a perfect example of this. Even though it’s a 3D conversion, the use of it adds an extra layer of entertainment. However, this is one of those films that could have been a 2D-only release, and been just as successful. Nevertheless, the 3D effects are properly utilized in this film.
Having seen the 3D version in the theaters, comparing it to the Blu-ray release was beneficial. This is one of those 3D films that wonít send a ton of objects flying out at the audience. However, there are select scenes that do. The most obvious scenes are the ones where Captain America’s shield is flying by at high speeds. One of which is a 3D gimmick saying, “Look at me, I’m in 3D!” Another 3D shield shot was one that actually made me jump in the theater. Watching it on Blu-ray, the shot was not as surprising since I knew it was coming. Nor was it as effective as it was on the big screen. The difference is the distance viewers will be from their 3D TVs. At the theaters, the screen takes up your entire field of view. Having all the lights out helps to. When sitting in a living room with the frame of your TV in plain sight, the 3D animation is not as prominent.
Overall, the 3D does create a sense of depth within the film. The separation of the fore-to-middle-to-background is quite impressive. The use of a shallow depth-of-field is nicely down as well. Since this is 2D to 3D conversion, others may agree it was not necessary. However, for those of you with 3D TVs, Captain America in 3D will surely be a treat to watch.
As for the features, here’s what you’re looking at:
· Feature film with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford
· Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
· Featurettes:
o Outfitting a Hero
o Howling Commandos
o Heightened Technology
o The Transformation
o Behind the Skull
o Captain America Origins
o The Assembly Begins
· Deleted Scenes with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford
· Trailers
The featurettes are outstanding. Much like Thor, you get a full rundown on the production and what went into it. There’s a lot of rich details here, as well as good commentary on deleted scenes. The short with Agent Coulson is amusing at best. The feature film commentary is damn good. The features are pretty good overall.
