How do you sell a World War II period piece about a star-spangled super soldier to a modern audience without it looking cheesy, simplistic and almost comically over patriotic?
Quite simply, you don't. But who says that's a bad thing?
Director Joe Johnston must have realized this pretty early in the course of production on "Captain America: The First Avenger." The story of a skinny Brooklyn kid named Steve Rogers, who wants nothing more than do his part to win the fight against the Nazis but is too sickly to enlist is quintessential comic book storytelling. The character of Captain America was conceived at a time when good and evil did really look as black and white as the ink they printed comics (and war bonds). The United States was off to fight two evil empires bent on world domination, and propaganda infused comic books just like everything else. Making a film adaptation that captures the character's spirit in 2011 is difficult.
So how do you sell it? Well ... You make it a hell of a lot of fun, that's how.
After undergoing a clandestine military genetic enhancement procedure overseen by the kindly old Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), Steve is bulked into the peak of human perfection. As both the gaunt and meek kid and the hulking Adonis, Chris Evans nails Steve Rogers — a good guy who "doesn't want to kill anybdy" but hates bullies and wants to serve his nation. These kind of generalizations make a character who should look like a flag-wrapped moron into a sympathetic underdog. In the immediate aftermath of the successful experiment, Erskine is shot by a German spy and dies in Steve's arms. Before he goes, the scientist silently prods Steve's musclebound chest, emphasizing not his newfound physicality, but the heart that lies within. It is Captain America's heart that will make him a hero, not his body — and it is the film's undeniable heart that makes it a success, not the action.
That's not to say there's no action, however. Soon after this scene, Steve is in Europe taking it to the enemy — first as a USO performer, then as the soldier he was designed to be. The enemy is HYDRA, a super-science branch of the Nazi war machine that breaks off to pursue its own sinister plots, led by the villainous Red Skull. Hugo Weaving plays the Skull (who really does just have a red skull for a face) with an over-the-top diabolical glee that matches the tone of the entire movie.
The action sequences take a while to arrive, but when they do, all hell breaks loose. There are crazy sci-fi rocket ships, full-on ray gun fights, building-size tanks and just an ungodly amount of explosions. As Captain America ramps out of an exploding HYDRA factory on a motorcycle and casts a smirking glance back at his handiwork, the question ceases to be "How do you sell this to a modern audience" and becomes "How do you not want to cheer for this guy?"
"Captain America" is fun in a way comic book films rarely are anymore. Too often, the genre jumps back and forth between two extremes, like a superhero changing in and out of his secret identity. There are the bright, campy, colorful thrill rides with no substance ("Green Lantern") or the overly serious and gloomy interpretations ("Dark Knight").
Cap lies in the satisfying middle of that spectrum: Yeah, he's dressed in a flag, but it's also a war movie. As "Inglourious Basterds" taught us, killin' Nazis (or HYDRA, whatever) will never go out of style.
The fact that "Captain America" hits all the right notes makes it a victory. But in truth, all this film had to do was not suck. Because, as anyone who keeps up with comic book news or stayed until the end of the credits knows, "The First Avenger" is only one film in a series Marvel Studios has been crafting since "Iron Man" in 2008, with a subplot running through "The Incredible Hulk," "Thor" and "Iron Man 2"; all this will culminate in the first big-screen superhero team-up film, "The Avengers," will hit theaters next summer.
Steve Rogers carries a lot of money on his back — the success of "The Avengers" is dependent, to a large extent, on all its lead-ins being ... somewhere above terrible. Luckily, Rogers has room enough on his broad shoulders to carry both his red, white and blue shield and a film franchise. Make no mistake, "Captain America" is a terrifically fun romp through 1942 and a sign of good things to come from Marvel in 2012.
bobalgreene@dailynebraskan.com
Grade: B
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