Primer

Millions of Yanks were glued to the telly to watch the Superbowl over the weekend at the same time, well at the second quarter of the game, movie buffs tuned in just to catch short trailers of the summer blockbusters that are coming out in a few months time.

One of them is the highly anticipated Captain America: The First Avenger which stars Chris Evans as Captain America. It’s been closely kept under wraps by Marvel Studios which is unlike the other big Marvel movie Thor which features Antipodean Chris Hemsworth as the Viking god of thunder.

The character made his first appearance in 1941 when a frail Steve Rogers enlists for an experimental serum that leads him into becoming America’s living weapon in World War two. The character’s popularity began to wane after the war but Stan Lee and Cap co creator Jack Kirby revived him and reintroduced him to the swinging sixties when the superhero team, the Avengers discover him frozen in a state of “suspended animation.” Since then he’s become one of the top characters at Marvel not even an recent assassination attempt could stop him.

The film is directed by Joe Johnston, a favourite director of mine. He’s best suited to this film he directed a film adaptation of the Rocketeer which is an underrated gem. If you like films like period action flicks stuff like Indiana Jones or the Mummy then check it out. I first saw the Rocketeer back in 1991.

At the time comic based films weren’t a genre in their own right like they are now. Films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dick Tracy and many others were all trying to follow the success of the 1989 Batman film. During that period the first film adaptation of Captain America was released without fanfare at all. To date, the star spangled Avenger’s no stranger to TV or the silver screen a 1940s serial, two seventies TV films which was my first exposure to the character and countless cartoon appearances, the most recent being in Avengers Earth Mightiest Heroes which is a favourite of mine.

When I first read about a movie about Captain America I was quite enthusiastic about it after reading an article in a magazine, but when I saw the film it left me feeling quite bemused. The film was made for $10 million dollars and it was directed by Albert Pyun, best known for action flicks Kickboxer and Cyborg. Feeling quite nostalgic, I decided to watch it again.

This came out way before fan boys found a voice with “teh internet.” Compared to the films Marvel are behind now at the time the company was seriously mismanaged with bankruptcy looming around the corner, Marvel were giving rights to their characters to anyone who was interested.

In regards to the film no doubt about it they got the look right, the costume looks exactly like what it should be. Cap’s arch nemesis the Red Skull (Scott Paulin) looks like the Red Skull only he’s an Italian Mafioso as opposed to a Nazi general. The film plays fast and loose with Cap’s origin after Rogers gets powered up, he’s off to stop the Red Skull without any training at all. Skull soon get’s the upper hand after tying him to an experimental rocket aimed for the Whitehouse. Cap manages to deflect the rocket which ends up in the Arctic; this puts him on ice for fifty years. After being de-frosted, the Skull’s after him again sending his daughter and her Armani clad friends to finish the job off.

In the meantime, Rogers struggles to accept to then 20^th century life. Rogers once again dons the costume after his former girlfriend is killed and the president is abducted by the Skull so Cap sets of to rescue him.

Despite all this badness there’s some great action set pieces Cap taking on Nazi’s, now that’s more like it. But it can’t really save the film. The end product is a rushed affair with a disappointing performance from the lead. Salinger looks so bland an uninterested in the role In an interview, Pyun claims to own an original cut of the film which is “more emotional” this probably explains why most scenes feels ill at ease with all the action going on.

It’s definitely an odd curiosity to watch but I don’t think many people will be comparing it the new version that will be coming out in the next few months...

Posted: 11/2/2011
Categories: Comics / Movies

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