Two moments from my viewing of “Captain America: The First Avenger” stand out in my mind as I begin to write this review of the movie: one was near the beginning, when I realized “Captain America” was shaping up to be not just a good comic book adaptation, but a good movie; the second was when I realized the good movie I’d been watching for more than an hour was over, even though the end credits were still a long way off.
The problem is simple: the people who made “Captain America” spent so much time on the origin of their hero that by the time they sent the First Avenger on his primary mission, there was only enough time for a silly action montage and a hasty final battle. I could hear the hiss of air leaving the movie. But, as I mentioned, the first 90 minutes of “Captain America” are the stuff of good movies. Set, for the most part, during the Second World War, the story chronicles the journey of Steve Rogers from bullied runt to muscle-bound champion. Along the way, it offers sumptuous production values, a healthy dose of good, clean humor, and enough lump-in-the-throat movie nostalgia to give “Raiders of the Lost Ark” a run for the money.
As “Captain America” opens, Rogers desperately wants to join the war effort, but his scrawny form earns him only rejection slips. When a friend takes him to a Marvels of Tomorrow exhibition, he tries again, and attracts the attention of a scientist who’s working on a serum he believes can produce a super soldier capable of incredible feats of strength. Although Rogers gains about 100 pounds of perfectly sculpted muscle, his personality remains the same. In a key scene before the change takes place, the skeptical Col. Chester Phillips tosses a grenade into a group of super soldier candidates, and everyone dives for cover except Rogers, who falls on the explosive to save the others. When the device fails to explode, he looks at Phillips and asks, “Is this a test?” Perhaps more than any other superhero, Captain America suggests heroism begins in the heart, and that the world is full of good people who merely lack the means to do great things.
Captain America’s nemesis in the movie is Johann Schmidt. While serving as Adolph Hitler’s head of advanced weaponry, Schmidt took an early version of the serum, which merely disfigured him and enhanced the malevolent aspects of his character. Now known as Red Skull, he has plans for world domination that make Hitler look like a schoolyard bully. Having acquired a glowing energy cube that once belonged to the gods (the Tesseract from “Thor”), the only thing standing between him and millions of dead people is Captain America.
Although Red Skull has the cube, the real magic in “Captain America” was in the hands of the people who made the movie, starting with the script. The first half is packed with well written dialog, and the characters come alive in a way that’s rare in a modern action movie. Although actor Chris Evans does good work as the title character, Tommy Lee Jones all but steals the show as Phillips. When Rogers asks Phillips if he tossed the dead grenade as a test, Phillips looks at the scientist and says, “He’s still skinny.” Speaking of which, “Captain America” is one of the first movies in a long time during which I heard people whispering, “How did they do that?” The befuddled viewers were talking about the way the filmmakers reduced Evans to a 90-pound weakling without making him look like a special effect. I guess there’s something to the argument that the best effects are the ones you don’t notice.
Unfortunately, “Captain America” runs out of steam as it rushes awkwardly through what should have been a spectacular climax. I guess the thinking in Hollywood is that super hero movies have to clock in at around two hours or theaters won’t be able to sell enough tickets. Red Skull could take evildoing lessons from those guys.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action. Two-and-a-half stars out of four. Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.