Once again, we must consider the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how it was much harder than it looked. The public had embraced Iron Man but, as the studio marched towards “The Avengers,” there was no guarantee they would similarly embrace Marvel's other superheroes. Captain America, in particular, would have been an easy character to screw up. Some were fearful about whether the film would be a work of jingostic American propaganda. Marvel was clearly nervous about selling a movie with “America” in the title abroad, giving the movie the unwieldy subtitle of “The First Avenger.” (Internationally, that was the main title, with the character's name as the subtitle.) In order to guide the most patriotic of Marvel's hero, the House of Ideas would recruit Joe Johnston, clearly realizing that the retro setting and gee shucks heroism of “The Rocketeer” was a good fit for the Star-Spangled Avenger.
The year is 1942 and World War II rages in Europe. Nazi Germany's deep science unit, Hydra, is led by Johann Schmit, a madman who has used an experimental serum to turn himself into a superhuman. Schmit has recently recovered an ancient artifact of massive power and intends on using it to destroy all sides of the war. In the streets of Brooklyn, Steve Rogers doesn't know about any of that. He's a sickly, skinny orphan who desperately wants to enlist because he hates bullies and wants to fight against tyranny. Seeing his worthy qualities, the inventor of Schmit's serum chooses Rogers as the next test subject. The scrawny kid is soon transformed into peak human condition, becoming Captain America.
“The First Avenger” understands something very important about Captain America. Despite his name, despite the colors he wears on his uniform, Steve Rogers does not represent America as it is. Instead, he represents the ideas the country is founded on and aspires too. Steve Rogers hates bullies. He rightfully sees the wave of tyranny marching through Europe, all fascism, as a similar thought process. He stands up to assholes when he weighs 90 pounds. Those same principals direct him after his transformation. Captain America is wholesome, even cheesy at times, a hero who does what's right because it's the right thing. This deeply uncynical style of heroism would've been hard to screw up but the film commits to it fully.
While an ideally cast leading man and a certain understanding of its hero are important, “Captain America: The First Avenger” also works because it's a tightly plotted adventure. Like the best film of Marvel's early phases, the film has an extremely clean plot construction. The perfectly balanced first act, showing Steve working through basic training and being chosen to to become Captain America, leads to an action pack middle chapter. After proving his heroism with the prison camp rescue, the film graduates towards a series of action-packed montages. It's all leading towards the final showdown between Cap and the Red Skull. It flows, beautifully, drawing the audience in and not letting go until its given us as much entertainment as possible. This is how popcorn cinema is suppose to work.
As an action movie, “Captain America” is also pretty damn good. Johnston's skill for organizing nostalgia-flavored action sequences have only grown since “The Rocketeer.” The foot chase through New York, which helpfully demonstrates Rogers' newly granted abilities, gets things off on a high note. That middle-of-the-film montage, showing Captain and the Howling Commandos' various adventures from the war, is a joyful blast of comic book action. The rescue of the prisoners is another highlight, concluding with a rocket that flies via spinning turbines. In fact, “The First Avenger” has a delightful love of old-time-y gadgetry. Aside from Cap's boomerang shield, there's a zipline onto a Hydra bullet train, a jet-powered motorcycle with a number of built-in extra weapons, and laser guns that shoot incinerating plasma blasts.
An underrated element of “The First Avenger” that I don't hear people praising nearly enough is Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull. If Chris Evans is perfect as Cap, Weaving is nearly as good as his diametric opposite. Weaving adopts a fantastically sleazy German accent, supposedly based on Werner Herzog. While the character certainly gets his share of delightfully villainous moments, such as executing unworthy henchmen or making grand speeches to his loyal followers, Weaving doesn't really play Schmit like a grand supervillain. Instead, he's a power-hungry tactician perfectly confident in his own superiority. (Weaving's continued disinterest in returning to the part suggests he wasn't a fan himself or, perhaps, he just disliked the make-up.)
The love interests in Marvel films can sometimes feel perfunctory, an element included because it's expected, not because it's needed. However, “The First Avenger” definitely has one of Marvel's better love stories. Because Steve is such a wholesome guy, his pursuit of Peggy Carter is different than your usual romance B-story. Peggy is immediately attracted to him – how could she not be? – but a mixture of Steve's social awkwardness and his personal honor mostly keeps their love unrequited. Yet the feelings that come pouring out before he crashes the Hydra flying wing into the Arctic could not be more earned. Hayley Atwell pairs old Hollywood beauty with a steely toughness, always maintaining an incredible sense of class no matter what she's doing.
Because I really care about these things, as “Captain America's” release date drew closer, I hoped Marvel got a pretty decent score together for this one. As soon as I saw Alan Silvestri was composing the score, I knew we'd be just fine. Yes, Silvestri's score is fantastic. He composed an ideal main theme for Cap, a series of brassy and slowly rising notes that read as heroic, patriotic, inspiring, and just the tiniest bit forlorn. All the emotions you'd want associate with this character. Most delightfully, and totally unexpected, was the musical number included in the film. Marvel even got experienced Disney song writer Alan Menken to composed a Cole Porter-esque showtune about the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. Insanely catchy, with lyrics and melody that perfectly evoke the period, the song-and-dance montage is another fantastic scene in the film.
Though the films were not quite as interconnected as they are now, by this point Marvel already knew each individual movie also functioned as a stepping stone towards an even bigger event film. “Captain America” came out the summer before “The Avengers.” It's such a prequel to the crossover film that, aside from “Avenger” being in its subtitle, the movie actually ends with a trailer for the next part. While this feels somewhat awkward, the film's period setting allow its hint at a larger universe to feel fairly natural. We do not know that the Cosmic Cube the Red Skull powers Hydra with is an Infinity Stone at this point and we don't need to know that. On paper, the concluding scene that brings Steve into the modern age might read like a gimmicky sequel hook. And it almost is, if it wasn't for Evans' pitch perfect delivery of the last line, which adds an element of grace and melancholy to the film's final scene.
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