hooray for the red, white, and blue

Captain America: The First Avenger is an old-fashioned film, calling to mind less super-hero movies, although it is clearly part of the Avengers production line, than some WW2 propaganda movies from the 1940s that starred Dana Andrews or Robert Walker. What is different about Captain America is that even at a time when the U.S. is engaged in wars across the globe, it really isn't a propaganda film, or even purely patriotic. It is too much of a pastiche, too self-aware for any of that. That is not to say that it isn't entertaining. It is. If it calls to mind a more modern film, it would be Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, which treated its comic hero with both affection and fun. Captain America has tons of action, with lots of bodies flying, although, mercifully, little gore. No matter how many bad guys or good guys bite the dust, it never loses its sense of humor. Like a Saturday morning cartoon, it was fine for kids to see along with their parents (and grandparents).

Chris Evans as Captain America

There were quite a few old-timers in the audience at the Saturday matinee that we caught — people from my mom's generation, who, like her, were probably fans of the original comic (which debuted in December of 1940), and for whom the WW2 plot would have deeper meaning. I'm not sure what they thought about Hugo Weaving's villain, Red Skull, who gave the offscreen Hitler a run for his money. Weaving was so bad he was beyond a Nazi, Hollywood's favorite villain for decades.

Was Captain America patriotic? There was a lot of red white and blue, and his star spangled shield got quite the workout, but I didn't feel "Go U.S.A.!" as I left the theater. The movie is as much a star-crossed, unrequited love story as it is an action flick, and as far as those go, it is better than most. It was interesting that in the middle of the film, after 90-pound weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was turned into Captain America, he was then also immediately processed as a celebrity and sent out on the road to sell war bonds. An illustration of the power of propaganda, but not itself functioning as propaganda.

Evans, with Hayley Atwell

Probably for many that currently have a loved one serving in the military, viewing the film would have felt more patriotic. But Captain America works more as a depiction of patriotism and the power of propaganda. The hero's overwhelming desire to serve his country, the good old U.S.A., even when he is considered physically unfit to do so — would his yearning to enlist be understood by many kids in the audience? There are still plenty of brave young men and women who join the military every day, to join a current conflict, or as a career move. But the country, the world, is so different today than it was in WW2.

We are a global society now. How can we completely understand the fierce pride of country that Americans felt before and after Pearl Harbor? My father was in WW2 — he signed up at 17 and joined the Coast Guard — so I have a sense of how people might have felt, but I grew up in the post-Viet Nam era, with hovering shadows of the Cold War. While I was in college my brother was in the Navy, stationed off the cost of Beirut for over a year, unable to leave the ship he was on, but most of my classmates, not to mention the rest of the country, were pretty unaware of what he was involved in. With so much information, so many conflicts, now at our internet fingertips, it's no wonder that most people choose to flip the channel to something else, tune in to the shows featuring fighting housewives rather than try to understand global conflicts. Will Captain America bring back a nostalgia for America? A "U.S.A. is #1" feeling? I'm not so sure. It was able to bump Harry Potter from the top of the box office, at least for this weekend.

Evans, pre Captain America

The movie features some pretty nifty CGI, with the buff Evans looking convincingly slight in his earlier scenes and Weaving looking extremely creepy as the villainous Red Skull. But most impressive are the human actors. Evans has a nice rapport with British officer and love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Tommy Lee Jones seems to have found his mojo and turns in a great, crusty performance as Captain America's commanding officer Colonel Phillips. Dominic Cooper has fun as Iron Man's daddy, Howard Stark. Stanley Tucci is as great as ever as Dr. Abraham Erskine, a German emigre scientist who helps create Captain America — or is it invent steroids? There are a nice assortment of sidekicks, although we never really get to catch the characters' individual names, including Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, and Kenneth Choi, who become Captain America's elite attack force.

Whether recruiting offices see a surge or not over the next few weeks, the movie is definitely worth seeing. I had minimal interest in the upcoming Avengers film, Joss Whedon regardless, but after Captain America and the non-Asgard scenes of Thor, I am actually looking forward to it. Go, Captain America.

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