This posed a dilemma as I had no idea what order to watch them in… If I’m watching them all, then I want to do it properly! A Google search led me to comic book fan forums, with people debating, quite heatedly, the correct order. The debate was generally either the order in which the films were made versus chronologically within the Marvel universe. Cue massive confusion! Wading through the comic book jargon wasn’t a walk in the park for a non-comic book nerd, and even a “helpful” epic Marvel timeline took me round and round in circles.
I’ve settled on (after giving up with the Googling and forums and passionate fan opinions) Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and then Thor. I’ve no idea what to expect, but thought it was worth a try. And yesterday I started on my Avengers Journey with Captain America.
Oh wow. It’s an unapologetic explosion of Americana: so much that you’re left in no doubt that America has always swooped in to save the world and always will. Without America, we’d all be lost.
Which, although it makes sense due to the hero – Captain America – it was a bit of an overkill. I’m all in favour of the traditional superhero genre that’s ostentatious, pretentious and a little arrogant (but gets away with it because there’s a superhero), but this was hard to swallow as it was just SO over-the-top. As a result, I was massively disappointed.
The trouble was, it technically ticked all the boxes: it had a decent cast, good script and excellent special effects, but the combination of them all was rather average. Sorry, but Captain America didn’t win me over at all!
For those who – like me – have been living under a rock for the last few years and missed the Avengers hype, here’s a brief spoiler-free(ish) synopsis (with a little help from IMDb). Captain America: The First Avenger is set in 1942, after America has finally entered World War II; an extremely sickly and tiny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is frustrated at being rejected over and over again for military service. However, everything changes when Dr Erskine (Stanley Tucci with a German accent) notices his determination to fight and recruits him for a short-list for the secret “Project Rebirth”. Rogers (obviously) proves his extraordinary courage, wits and conscience during training under the watchful eyes of love-interest Peggy Carter (the British Hayley Atwell) and Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) resulting in his selection to undergo the experiment where his weak body is enhanced to the maximum human potential via a painful stint in a scary looking machine. From this point on, everything goes a bit pear-shaped as Dr Erskine is assassinated by an agent of Nazi Germany’s secret HYDRA research department (headed by Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. the Red Skull – Hugo Weaving), and without Erskine’s guidance and protection, Rogers is left as a unique man initially misused as a propaganda mascot to sell military bonds. However, in true superhero fashion, when his comrades need him, Rogers embarks on a successful adventure that truly makes him Captain America, and his war against Schmidt begins.
Wow. Without a shadow of a doubt this is a textbook superhero movie at its finest.
And in that respect, the film does not disappoint. It succeeds in adhering to all superhero stereotypes: Rogers is weak but oh-so-determined at the start, and in order to drive the point home almost half of the film covers Rogers pre-transformation into the Cap. You’re supposed to feel for him – the perpetual victim of beefier men’s bullying, beaten up all the time, no good with girls and a medical disaster he’s that ill. His best friend gets all the luck (which is – SHOCK HORROR – all reversed once he’s the Cap) and the audience is rather transparently given a look at the underdog, the character normally the best friend and not the hero: the everyman – the normal guy who triumphs against all odds due to a lot of hard work, self-sacrifice and who has the good fortune to become a superhero. Essentially, it could happen to anyone, particularly those who normally wouldn’t get a look in.
Despite how much I didn’t like the film, I LOVED how they made Chris Evans look so tiny for the first half of the film. Shooting each scene 4 times from different angles in order to shrink him down post-production gave an astonishing effect, making Rogers look incredible. Without this, the start would have been even less believable. Also, I wish Toby Jones was given bigger parts! Yes his German accent was a little dodgy, but he was still convincing as Schmidt’s scientist. And the best line of the film: undoubtedly “mind the gap” said by the posh English soldier when effectively zip-wiring onto a moving train. Pure genius.
The aim is unabashedly to relate to Rogers so you’ll route for him as the Cap. And I would have done, had it not been so utterly ridiculous. Which – I know – sounds silly for someone who could write about a man who dresses up as a bat to fight crime all day long, but still… Not convinced.
There was just SO. MUCH. CHEESE.
It was predictable – a Disney film – and I can normally cope with guessing (correctly) what’s going to happen before it has, but I just couldn’t deal with it. I found it hard to take even the start seriously – the part devoid of any superhero nonsense, let alone the beefed up Cap running round in a star-spangled suit and super fancy shield.
If you want to just be reminded of the overt awesomeness of America and see the commercial side of Hollywood do exactly what it does best – pop out yet another big budget adaptation full of special effects and a predictable plot, with a few major stars thrown in to make give it weight with the critics – then this is the perfect film for you. But for those of us hoping for something a little better, and something a little different (just a little – I’m not asking for a miracle!) that pushes these types of films past the obvious, adding some complexity, better acting and getting rid of the cheese; then Captain America is a completely disheartening film.
I suppose the cheesiness is part of its charm: even I can admit that it’s a heart-warming tale of the totally selfless little guy finally getting an equal opportunity to serve his country, and in the process becoming a superhero that inspires nearly a century’s worth of young boys. Don’t get me wrong, that’s all well and good: mostly because the film makes no attempt to hide it. Also, from an audience perspective you have to remember not to approach this type of film in the same way you’d treat a serious drama – it’s completely different and they can hardly be compared. But even taking into account that I was perhaps expecting too much, that still doesn’t mean that I liked it.
It’s a typically American film, celebrating all that is great about America and the American monopoly on being the nation to continually save the world. In this sense, I can’t complain as it does exactly what it says on the tin.
But I’m sorry, Cap, you just didn’t have me sold.
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