We can relax - Roger Ebert likes Captain America!

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20110720/REVIEW=
S/110729997


  Captain America

 * BY ROGER EBERT / * July 20, 2011

 Cast & Credits
Capt America/Steve Rogers Chris
Evans<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DChris%20Evans&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&ToD=
ate=3D20111231>
Peggy Hayley Atwell
Bucky Sebastian Stan
Col Phillips Tommy Lee
Jones<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DTommy%20Lee%20Jones&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D191501=
01&ToDate=3D20111231>
Schmidt/Red Skull Hugo
Weaving<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=
=3Dsearch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DHugo%20Weaving&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D1915010=
1&ToDate=3D20111231>
Howard Dominic Cooper
Dr Erskine
<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Dsearch=
1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DStanley%20Tucci&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&ToDate=
=3D20111231>Stanley
Tucci<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DStanley%20Tucci&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&T=
oDate=3D20111231>
Nick Fury Samuel L Jackson
Dr Zola Toby Jones

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by Joe
Johnston<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=
=3Dsearch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DJoe%20Johnston&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D1915010=
1&ToDate=3D20111231>.
Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, inspired by the Marvel
comic books. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences
of sci-fi violence and action).

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 It was a pleasure to realize, once "Captain America: The First Avenger" got
under way, that hey, here is a real movie, not a noisy assembly of
incomprehensible special effects. Of course it's loaded with CGI. It goes
without saying it's preposterous. But it has the texture and takes the care
to be a full-blown film. You know, like with a hero we care about and who
has some dimension. And with weight to the story. As we plunge ahead into a
limitless future of comic-book movies, let this be an inspiration rather
than "Thor" or "Green
Lantern<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=
=3DREVIEWS01&TITLESearch=3DGreen%20Lantern&ToDate=3D20111231>
."

The words "The First Avenger" are fraught with significance for Marvel fans.
We have already had films inspired by Iron Man, the Hulk and Thor. Still to
come, without doubt, are Ant-Man and Wasp. This film opens with the
discovery of an enormous flying wing embedded in polar ice, and when a
gloved hand reaches out to brush away the ice on a window, why, there's
Captain America's shield! This film's plot involves his origin story and
adventures during World War II, and I'm sure we'll discover in sequels that
he was revived after the cryogenic nap to crusade again in the new day.

We open with an archetypal 90-pound weakling; comic books of that period
featured ads showing muscle men kicking sand into the face of such
specimens, who were advised to mail-order Charles Atlas for body-building
help. Young Steve Rogers (Chris
Evans<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DChris%20Evans&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&ToD=
ate=3D20111231>)
is a puny Brooklyn kid who is routinely beat upon by bullies; he dreams of
joining the Army and defending America against the Nazis. Turned down as
4-F, he tries again and again to enlist, and eventually makes it into basic
training, where he's always falling off the rope and bringing up the rear.

But the kid has courage. This attracts the attention of the hard-boiled Col.
Phillips (Tommy Lee
Jones<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DTommy%20Lee%20Jones&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D191501=
01&ToDate=3D20111231>)
and a scientist named Erskine
(<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Dsearc=
h1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DStanley%20Tucci&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&ToDat=
e=3D20111231>Stanley
Tucci<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DStanley%20Tucci&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&T=
oDate=3D20111231>),
who supervises a secret government program. In no time at all, and without
really receiving any explanation, he's being strapped into an ominous
sarcophagus in Erskine's laboratory, which emits sparks and smoke, and
eventually the new Steve Rogers, now a foot taller and built like Mr.
Universe. He adopts a costume and a stars-and-stripes shield, which serve
primarily to make him highly visible, although the shield has special powers
(but apparently only when it's positioned correctly).

Young Steve's Army confidante both before and after his transformation is
the sultry Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), whose full red lips make her
resemble a classic military pin-up of the period. He narrates their tour of
the Brooklyn neighborhoods where he was picked on, and they grow close, but
only PG-13 close, because Marvel has apparently determined that fanboys find
sex to be icky.

<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20110720/REVIE=
WS/110729997>

 (Enlarge Image<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D=
/20110720/REVIEWS/110729997>
)
 Now the full-bodied story comes into play, involving, as all good
comic-book movies must, a really first-rate villain. This is a Nazi
commandant named Johann Schmidt (Hugo
Weaving<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=
=3Dsearch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DHugo%20Weaving&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D1915010=
1&ToDate=3D20111231>),
who essentially controls his own private army and has schemes of surpassing
Hitler. His minions salute him, not Der Fuhrer, and he has dreams of
creating super weapons. Eventually, as the rules of comic-book drama
require, Captain America will pair off against Schmidt, who is revealed to
be the hideous Red Skull, whose skin tone makes him resemble those ducks
marinated in red sauce you sometimes see hanging in Chinatown restaurant
windows. Schmidt demonstrates once again that, when it comes to movie
villains, you can't do better than Nazis.

The film pays full dues to Marvel mythology, providing Captain America with
his sidekick Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), not such a kid as he was in the
comics. We also meet Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), who supports Erskine's
research and will eventually, as we know, father Iron Man. And there is Nick
Fury (Samuel L.
Jackson<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=
=3Dsearch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DSamuel%20L.%20Jackson&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D=
19150101&ToDate=3D20111231>),
another World War II hero destined to graduate to his own comic book and, no
doubt, movie. Jackson has the chops to play a first-rate superhero.

The adventures of Captain America are fabricated with first-rate CGI and are
slightly more reality-oriented than in most superhero movies =97 which is to
say, they're still wildly absurd, but set up and delivered with more
control. CGI makes another invaluable contribution to the movie, by
shrinking the 6-foot Chris
Evans<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3Ds=
earch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DChris%20Evans&Class=3D%25&FromDate=3D19150101&ToD=
ate=3D20111231>into
a vertically challenged 90-pound weakling, and then expanding him
dramatically into the muscular Captain America. This is done seamlessly and
he's convincing at both sizes; I doubt there's a single shot in the movie
that shows Evans as he really is.

I enjoyed the movie. I appreciated the 1940s period settings and costumes,
which were a break with the usual generic cityscapes. I admired the way that
director Joe Johnston<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifi=
eds?category=3Dsearch1&SearchType=3D1&q=3DJoe%20Johnston&Class=3D%25&FromDa=
te=3D19150101&ToDate=3D20111231>("October
Sky<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3DREV=
IEWS01&TITLESearch=3DOctober%20Sky&ToDate=3D20111231>"
and "Jumanji<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?categ=
ory=3DREVIEWS01&TITLESearch=3DJumanji&ToDate=3D20111231>")
propelled the narrative. I got a sense of a broad story, rather than the
impression of a series of sensational set pieces. If Marvel is wise, it will
take this and "Iron
Man<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=3DREV=
IEWS01&TITLESearch=3DIron%20Man&ToDate=3D20111231>"
as its templates. See it in 2-D if you can.


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
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