So ‘Captain America: Civil War’ is fast approaching, in fact
for some people it has already arrived making this post slightly pointless, for
them at least. This film has been set up as a lot of things, another ‘Avengers’
instalment, the reintroduction of Spider-Man, a versus movie between Marvel’s
main heroes but most of all it should be viewed as a third Captain America
movie because after all the film is called ‘Captain America’. But what of the
other entries that have portrayed the adventures of Steve Rogers on the silver
screen? Well I’m going through them now, and oh boy were there some oddities in
this collection.
The original outing for Captain America was actually the first
adaptation of a Marvel property ever, in fact it was so old that Marvel weren’t
even called Marvel at this stage, with the character belonging to a division
called Timely Comics. Released in 1944 this film serial was the most expensive
of its kind at the time and starred Dick Purcell as Captain America a.k.a…..Grant
Gardner. You heard me correctly, no more Steve Rogers, soldier turned superhero,
instead we have U.S District Attorney Grant Gardner. This is just one of many
baffling changes as the serial also neglects to include any super serum, Bucky
does not make an appearance (as far as I can tell, none of the supporting
characters are lifted from the comics), despite having fought Nazis in the
comics until this point there are no Nazis within the film which is even more
remarkable considering that it was made during World War 2 and you’d think what
would be the perfect propaganda opportunity to have a dashing hero (that
literally has America as part of his name) vanquishing them. Additionally, Cap’s
famous shield also fails to make an appearance, with the hero’s weapon of
choice being a standard revolver.
You may be thinking that this doesn’t sound remotely like a
Captain America film apart from its title, and you would be right. Originally
the script was titles ‘The Mysterious Doctor Satan’ but with the growing
popularity of the character the studio were able to procure the Captain America
name and shoehorned him into the existing script, making as few changes as
possible. So this is a Captain America movie in name only and I’m sure that for
the average movie goer at the time, who knew literally nothing about any comic
book of any kind, it was still fairly terrible. In fact I feel as if rattling
off the film’s production history says enough about its quality so I won’t go
into it much further. I will say however that Dick Purcell was described at the
time of filming as having an “average to overweight physique’. That
description was probably justified when the process of filming proved to be too
strenuous for his heart and he died weeks later in a locker room. Which is
slightly sad, but then again the film itself is rather sad, in every possible
way.
Amazingly though, things could only get worse. Captain
America fans were treated to two straight to video releases that….well look I cannot
find the strength to actually talk about that movie so I’ll just put a picture
of Cap himself from the movie up at the side and you can judge for yourself.
Then there was another theatre release, in 1990…for the U.K
at least (wow, aren’t we lucky). Over in America they had to wait two more
years for it to be released on home video. So putting aside what may be the
worst marketing campaign in history to not release a Captain America film in
American theatres (maybe the makers were doing a service to America by not
showing it) the film itself is even worse. From the makers of ‘Masters of the
Universe’ and ‘Superman: The Quest for Peace’ comes ‘Captain America’. You
heard me.
It stars Matt Salinger (best known as the son of J.D Salinger)
as Captain America/Steve Rogers (well at least this version got that part right).
When he partakes in an experiment involving super serum he goes from weakling
to super soldier, despite undergoing no actual physical change at all. He ends
up being frozen after preventing a missile from hitting the White House by
kicking it with his foot and being dragged with it to the arctic. This does
sound somewhat accurate to the story that is familiar to comic book readers and
fans of the latest film incarnation, but imagine if every element of the recent
Marvel films were executed so terrible and horrifically that it stifles any
form of enjoyment whatsoever, and then you have this film. The characters are
all shallow charisma vacuums and the production budget is laughable, as is the
acting, and the plot and everything really, especially when you remember that
in the summer of 1989 audiences were treated to Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’. So there
is no excuse for this mess of a film.
But finally, finally, we arrive at Chris Evans’ portrayal of
the character, who made his debut as Captain America in 2011’s ‘Captain
America: The First Avenger’. Now I’ve never been overly fond of this instalment,
viewing it as one of the more forgettable films of the MCU, but there is still
a lot of fun to be had with it. It tells its origin story with good conviction
and depth to make it engaging and interesting, I enjoy the way it approaches the
character as a form of propaganda that morphed into a real soldier (it even
throws out a quick reference to the 1944 serial) and there is a fun retro style
to it, feeling more like an adventure serial from the era rather than an
average blockbuster. Evans gives the character a broader emotional range and
vulnerability just as well as he establishes his superb abilities and heroism.
Nevertheless I still stand by my original complaints with the film, that
ultimately it feels too simplistic and by the numbers to leave a lasting
impression and ultimately just acts as a fancy set up for ‘The Avengers’. That
is not to say it doesn’t have a unique flair to it, but not enough to be
anything more than average.
Due to my opinion of ‘The First Avenger’ I didn’t go into ‘The
Winter Soldier’ with high expectations and you can imagine what followed. I was
blown away by it. It is a rare superhero film that can act as both a
continuation and an entry point. It works to satisfy fans of the original comic
while also working as a standalone film. Hiring the Russo Brothers to direct
this may still stand as the best decision Marvel has ever made with their
movies, they are directors who understand the source material and know what
aspects of it work cinematically but they also craft a film that on an aesthetic
level more closely resembles a political thriller from the 1970s. Movies like ‘Three
Days of the Condor’ and ‘All the President’s Men’ spring to mind, and having
Robert Redford in the cast only helps to emphasise those similarities.
That in itself is wonderfully subversive, as Alexander
Pierce Redford is playing the antagonist he would usually be running from back
in the 1970s. But in switching roles he shows the same amount of commitment as
he always does and this is reflected by the entire cast, with Evans once again
adding an unforeseen level of depth the character but at the same time loses
none of the heroic charm. Scarlett Johansson is a great inclusion as she turns
Black Widow into more than just the obligatory female companion, she becomes a
mysterious femme fatale. Then you have Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie and
Sebastian Stan who are also mightily impressive.
The plot brilliantly and at just the right pace, never
leaving the heroes a moment to breathe but somehow finding the time to include
some emotionally heavy moments within it. As well as that the action scenes
themselves are fantastic, once again it is down to the Russo Brother’s
direction as they draw suspense from each action sequence, giving it a sense of
weight and purpose but also injecting it with a visceral energy. It strikes the
perfect balance between finding the right amount of realism so that you care
for the characters, but not too much that it no longer feels entertaining. It
is a rare blockbuster that is as entertaining as it is well made.
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