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So what's wrong with Captain America anyway?
January 27, 2012 at 11:41pm
So I put "Captain America: The First Avenger" on my Blockbuster cue way down at the bottom, but since all the other movies were out, I received it yesterday in the mail. I battled with the idea of actually watching this movie. I had a bad experience with so many other comic book and remade super heroes recently. The recent utter disappointment with The Green Hornet, and the relatively cool reception it got last year nearly made me send this movie back without watching it. But I figured what the hell. I popped the DVD in as background noise as I continued to surf on the net, but that lasted only a few short minutes before I lost interest in my other diversions. Now that I have finished watching the movie I am wondering how come Captain America didn't make a bigger splash last year when it came out? This is EXACTLY what a comic book movie should be!

While watching the movie I kept seeing comic book panels popping up in my mind brought to life exactly as they were drawn in my old comic books. I could almost see the dialog balloons on frame as fantastic feats of super-human strength and agility just on the edge of credibility were drawn on film for me. Each scene a new panel on the page as though a child's mind was mined to mate the panel made come alive as he saw it while reading the comic book. The director of this movie reached into my brain to recreate what I saw when I read early Marvel comic books. It is the ONLY comic book movie to date I can say this about. Even Dick Tracy, where they tried so hard to make it look like a comic failed miserably. Why? Because they forgot the story.

This is where Captain America raises above all other movies based on comic books and becomes a comic book brought to film. Big difference! The ever-present simplistic plot is not to be trifled with, updated or spiced up. Comic books are so simple that Hollywood can't resist but to "update them". This only succeeds in ruining the whole idea of what a comic book of the era was! Comic books in the 40s, 50s and 60s had one simple idea until the cynicism of the public forced the "graphic novels of the 80s to present to have "flawed" heroes. Now please do not confuse "flaws" with emotion. I am talking about the need to make the current and updated comic-book heroes have endless doubts and succumb to myriad temptations of the flesh and power. Flaws that heroes of the 40s-60s would never even consider. Hero can show emotion and remain resolute. Several scenes in Captain America showed just how this can happen.

In a real comic book good triumphs over evil in the end. No ambiguity save for the thread for a possible continuing story where good wallops evil again. All great comic book heroes we hold most dear (DC and Action Comics alike) have the same simple unbending rule: The hero is the good guy. He is ALWAYS the good guy. There are no gray lines or dark mysteries haunting him (Yes, even Batman). He does what is right an moral every time (Yes, even Batman). The bad guy is ALWAYS evil, mean and nasty. No blurred lines. No seductive facade. Just evil that needs correction. This movie succeeded in bringing this to life on the screen without becoming overly corny or wallowing in camp.

The plot to this movie was straight out of a 1940s era comic book. It told us the origin story of Captain America. Many forget just how old this character is. The movie took us on his first adventure in an early 1940s World War II campaign after Hydra; the evil organization formed by the Nazis to rain fire on America! Again, each frame of the movie literally fleshed out the panels of comic books from the era using fantastic effects and cinematography. The setting was not just World War II, but a vision of a person from that era imagining fantastic and futuristic technology.

The movie also neatly brought Captain America to "present day" to set up an "Justice League" movie.

Is this a great cinematic masterpiece? No. It has its flaws. But the flaws are those of keeping too close to 1940s sensibilities and then at the same time having anachronisms to satisfy current sensibilities that stick out like a sore thumb. Only one scene should be removed from the movie. The scene where a secretary literally accosts Capt. America for a kiss and subsequent love interest issue was utterly unnecessary and if removed nothing would be lost save one laugh-line/stunt minutes later. Still...an eye-roller/groaner on my part . Also The scenes with the war bond drive were dragged out way too long. Once again a vision of a page in a comic book but as a kid, one would have just skimmed the page to move on to the "real" story.

And as a surprise to me, Tommy Lee Jones was "The Man in Green". He essentially played "Agent K" again (or should I say Colonel K) to great effect and a load of fun!

Captain America was Fun, funny at times, action-packed and thrilling! What else do you want from a comic book brought to film?