Captain America: First Avenger - Double Barrel Movie Review

This double barrel film review represents Rick and Ben's separate opinions after viewing the Captain America film. Neither knows what the other will write. It contains plenty of spoilers so don't read these reviews if you haven't yet seen the film or unless knowing details of the film won't bother you. Please enjoy and leave your own comments or reviews for us!

First Avenger: First Impressions.

Review by RICK

You Need To Go See It!
Captain America: First Avenger is a fun movie which I highly recommend. Joe Johnston needs to be credited here for succeeding in making the era and the characters come alive. I recommend it for Cap fans, comic fans, families and just about everyone - as it is designed and executed with a great deal of care toward making the story accessible. When I spoke to non-comic people who had seen the film, opinion was very high and almost universally all were surprised with just how good it was to watch. This is the sort of film that hasn't been made in a while, a thoughtful character heavy summer action blockbuster. And it also has a very sweet love story woven through it. Hats off!!

Like many movies, ambitious or not, all the cylinders did not fire properly. This is not meant to denigrate the total achievement but when they go to make another Cap film some fine tuning is in order. As evidenced by the entirety of the blog Ben and I have amassed, we might have done things a lot differently. I would like to keep my focus just on what the filmmakers themselves present, it's own logic, execution and how elements work in the whole film. I will try to keep away from blog comparisons for now.

Transformations
I was really quite impressed with the visual effect of Steve Rogers being scrawny. As the director has rightly pointed out, watching the character as played by Chris Evens as skinny and then puffed out as superhuman lends a lot of credibility to the transformation of the character. Unfortunately, later, the same trick can not be applied to show Cap changing from U.S. war bond shill to leader on the battlefield. While I feel that Chris Evans pulled off what he was asked to do, the story itself did not convincingly portray him changing to fill that role or commanding with any kind of authority later. This is too bad. One of the important parts of the character is his presence and this was not successful.

ReCap! BEN

Though I've reached a signpost,
It's really not the end,
Like Old Sol behind the mountain,
I'll be coming up again...
(Rush - Caress of Steel, "The Fountain of Lamneth")

Life is interesting in its endings and beginnings—especially these days how quickly they come and go. Even if you don't know where you're going, all roads lead somewhere so it's best to pay attention! And what a trip it's been. As both Rick and I have said a number of times, neither of us expected to write all these notes and emails on myths and shields and Cap, let alone a blog. There was just something that felt very right about asking these questions. Cap is a character largely viewed out of step with modern characters and we dared disagree—to the extent of saying Cap is exactly the character we need right now. There is nothing wrong with real patriotism or being proud of freedom and democracy. It just takes... tact. You can't force someone to believe in freedom. There's a wonderful line in the venerable western film High Noon which says it pretty dern well...

"People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it."
-Lon Chaney, Jr. as "Martin Howe"

ReCap! RICK

Thoughts and Thanks by Rick.

Before we get too far along, there are two BIG posts left in the series after this one. Friend, collaborator and filmmaker Ben Alpi will have some space of his own to say thank you and then we will have a double trouble film review of Captain America: First Avenger. Do not miss these upcoming posts!

I would like first of all to thank God for his many blessings. Without His love and guidance none of this would have been possible. Ben Alpi deserves a huge round of applause here as well. For more than four years, he worked tirelessly, patiently and helped provide an environment where my constant questioning and tinkering were acceptable. My brother, Doug Arthur, also an artist, filmmaker and musician constantly supported my efforts with his own wild brand of enthusiasm which has been of tremendous help to me through the years. My parents, who have watched me go through a lot of different phases, have always told me to get a real job but supported my decisions when I didn't. Simon and Kirby who created Cap at the right time and the right place. Wife Lynn whom I love most of all for putting up with my extremely late nights, especially this past year. Thank you one and all.

Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth did not start out as a blog at all. Ben and I simply traded emails back and forth for three years, then collected them, then made posts out of that. Our original intent was simply to have fun and explore what Cap might be like if we were going to make a two hour movie. I have told Ben many times that the best part of the blog was the conversational tone. He gave me a lot of leeway to run with plot or character points that were off the beaten path. Taken as a whole, the blog paints a rich picture of not only Steve Rogers and Captain America but the time in which both exist.

Cap Reference Archive

Links. Books. Film. TV. Thoughts. Some influences and suggestions.

This section is an eclectic collection of links and suggestions for books and films. Some of them have to deal directly with Captain America while others deal with WWII, myths, screenwriting and a lot of influences that inspired the collective work that is Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth. It should be noted also that certain items have been included just to get the mental gears turning or for entertainment value.

For example, we didn't use this to inform our overall opinion but for entertainment purposes, check out Matt Salinger in the 1990 Captain America film. This is the IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103923/

---

Pre-WWII History

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison,"it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."
Quick George Washington bio from the official White House site.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington

Benjamin Franklin bio
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/franklin.htm

Timeline for Declaration of Independence
via Google Images

Revolutionary War flags
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&q=revoltionary+war+flag&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1000&bih=755

1776 the Musical: The Film - IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068156/

Quick bio of Thomas Jefferson
http://www.biography.com/articles/Thomas-Jefferson-9353715

Abe Lincoln bio
http://www.biography.com/articles/Abraham-Lincoln-9382540

Abraham Lincoln was the president that held together the union—by force
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln

1918 Flu Epidemic timeline
http://www.twoop.com/medicine/archives/2005/10/1918_spanish_flu.html

PBS site re: 1918 Flu Epidemic
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/influenza/

Flu Epidemic additional info
http://www.zkea.com/archives/archive02002.html

The Great Depression timeline
http://www.amatecon.com/gd/gdtimeline.html

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: I think y'all get the picture so I'm going to add a couple of notes at the end. Enjoy the show!

SUMMARY PT. 1, 2, 3 & 4
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap. They come face to face and must fight. We pick up the story as Cap has just beaten Red Skull.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 5

Continued from last post...INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
...Cap lands a flurry of lefts and rights until Red Skull collapses on top of a stack of crates.

RED SKULL
(weakly)
How far will you go? What are you willing to do to stop me...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Until I have beaten you. That is how far.

Cap punches Red Skull directly in the face, dislodging a tooth. He is down for the count. Cap walks over and picks up his shield. The girls are huddled next to a car crying, flames still burning in the background.

RED SKULL
You have proven to be rather resilient Captain America.

Cap turns to find Red Skull standing, leaning heavily against some crates. He is obviously injured and cupping both hands against his chest.

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: Like 1-3, I'll comment after the first go-through of Rick's script.

SUMMARY PT. 1, 2 & 3
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap. They come face to face and must fight.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 4

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
Cap and the Red Skull stand a few feet apart. Cap is looking for an opening.

RED SKULL
You are totally out matched. Why don't you simply give up. No one would
know except you and I. If you found yourself back in Europe or in the
States and told them I got away, it wouldn't be a lie.

Cap swings with his right and connects hard then follows it with a knee to the chest and another right. Red Skull staggers.

RED SKULL
Is that all you've got? (Wipes trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with
the back of his hand) That Super Soldier Serum you have in
your veins is only going to make you my punching bag.

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: Like last time, I'll comment after the first go-through of his script.

SUMMARY PT. 1 & 2
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine.
Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 3

INT. SUBMARINE - BRIG
Captain America stands in the doorway of the compartment, shield in hand. The stinging, icy water filling the area and the hallway is now just above the knee. Lights flicker. The sound of rushing water and twisting metal becomes louder. Cap sees a pipe overhead marked "Hot Water" in German and decides to take a right down the corridor. No sign of Hilda or the Red Skull.

He goes through a hatch which he has to force open because of the water and comes to a shaft leading downward. He slides down using just the handrails. This level has less water in it, up to the shins. The ship gives a great shudder and the groaning and breaking of metal can be heard everywhere. Cap only has minutes to get out. At that moment, the electric lights go out and Cap is in pitch blackness with the water rising rapidly. Which way to turn?

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
The Red Skull walks the girls into a front compartment.

RED SKULL
Mein Fuhrer did not like to retreat but it is time for me to get started and pop the champagne.

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil, sadistic man bent on destroying the whole world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice at the end AND the Red Skull must limp away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat...

BEN: Like last time, I'll comment after the first go-through of his script.


SUMMARY PT. 1
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull...

RED SKULL

What was motivating you to crawl to me on your hands and
knees? You are simply too weak for me to care about.

He leaves Hilda to slit Cap's throat.

An now for PT. 2!

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 2

INT. SUBMARINE - MOMENTS LATER

Red Skull can be seen walking through corridors, sliding down ladders to lower levels until he catches up to the two large Nazis and the three remaining bar maids.

FIRST NAZI
Where is Hilda...?

RED SKULL
She volunteered to stay with the American. She won't be joining us.

They reach a hatch going down. It has a warning "X" on it. The Red Skull spins the handle, opens it and motions for the girls to go down the ladder.

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's badass villain during WWII. Without a doubt an evil man bent on destroying the world. I wanted to do a version of the climatic last scene with the two characters facing off. This is rough. If you understand the dynamic it fits nicely with how comics operate as a serial form of storytelling. Red Skull must be defeated soundly and Captain America must be triumphant. Yet, Cap must be frozen in ice at the end which is not much of a victory. AND the Red Skull must be able to limp away to plot again, which also is not much of a victory... Note the cliffhanger moments and pulpy, movie serial feel.

BEN: What I'll be doing afterward is commenting on Rick's rough here about character and dialog and refining it into the film script.

The following five part series takes place after Teaser Trailer: The Cold (Emails #28). Cap has been soundly beaten by the Red Skull, Bucky has been killed and all seems lost even though Hitler is dead...

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 1

ARCTIC CIRCLE, EXT. NIGHT.
The wind howls and tears at the camera. We are in the frozen wasteland. It is snowing very hard.

CLOSE UP
A single open pipe measuring four to five inches around sticks up out of the ice.

CAMERA
Goes into the pipe and we follow it down a long way unto we start hearing voices, German voices. We now CUT TO the interior of what appears to be a compartment on a submarine. It has metal portal doors and bolts everywhere. Cap lays unmoving on a metal bunk bed and four beautiful girls dressed as barmaids are moving about the room taking turns kissing Cap and giggling while he sleeps.

SOUND EFFECT: Loud knocking at the door, metal on metal. The hatch handle spins and a giant man in Nazi uniform steps in followed by another. The girls line up against the far wall. Next through the hatch is the Red Skull looking very menacing. He gestures with his hand for them to be quiet and steps toward the bunk where Cap is motionless. He produces a cigar, lights it and takes a few long drags.

RED SKULL
Wake him.

Captain America: Independence Day

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2011!!

Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in which we declared our independence from Great Britain. America's a young 235 today and this year, Cap turned 70! To commemorate this grand occasion, Rick and I would like to feature the actual documents that define the great American experiment and to treat you to one of our little original story sketches the blog here is known for. We know Steve Rogers would definitely approve.

As always, thanks for reading, folks! Have a GREAT 4th!

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Emails #63: Revisionista

RICK: I just finished reading a particularly breezy "first look" article of Captain America: I am the First Avenger in the Avenger Movie Franchise! Hugo Weaving is pictured. His uniform bears a Hydra patch. No Swastika. No Iron Cross. No German emblems or otherwise mandatory Nazi symbolism. We wouldn't want to offend German movie goers by painting them as villains now would we? I bring this up because the director is quoted using the old two step. We wanted to stay true to the original source material. We don't want it to look like a comic book, too bright, winged mask... It is set in real world WWII. It is set in the Marvel universe. Oh, Cap will lead a group called the Howling Commandoes AND Tony Stark's father, Hydra and an international group will be part of Captain America's origin. In historical fact, the UNITED STATES FOUGHT NAZIS during WWII. They were German and they were evil (not all German people were evil then or now). Millions lost their lives in the struggle. Surprisingly, in Marvel events, CAP FOUGHT NAZIS!!! Lots of them. So many in fact that the theme of Cap fighting them carried for decades in the comics long after the real WWII had ended. Don't forget that Simon and Kirby had created Cap for the sole purpose of... you guessed it... FIGHTING NAZIS. Why is fighting NAZIS important? Because they WERE EVIL!! A greater example of non-ambiguous evil can not be found in recent history although you can certainly stack up quite a few regimes and failed states in the evil category. Yet Cap, who was created as a response to NAZISM by comic book legends Simon and Kirby, was punching Hitler and Tojo in the comic pages before America even entered fighting. But maybe I got it all wrong. I haven't done as much reading on the subject as it warrants. Maybe Hydra was the real enemy in Simon & Kirby's Cap. Maybe in Marvel lore, it is Hydra and not the Nazis...

As a plus side, Chris Evans seems to be quoted showing a great deal of respect and concern for the character. A few more stills in print show him looking much, much more Cap than I had previously thought. He is starting to look the part and I haven't seen anything in print attributed to him that indicated a poor attitude as far as the character was concerned. My concern that he not have enough gravitas to play a genuine leader still remain.