Captain America: Civil War

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

2014. Rated PG-13, 136 minutes.

Cast:

Chris Evans

Scarlett Johansson

Samuel L. Jackson

Robert Redford

Anthony Mackie

Sebastian Stan

Frank Grillo

Cobie Smulders

Emily VanCamp

Hayley Atwell

Like Thor and Iron Man we find Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Evans), trying to piece his life back together "after New York," or the events of The Avengers. In case you haven't kept up with what's going on, Cap has an additional hurdle. He's not long been woken after having been frozen for nearly seventy years. He has a lot of catching up to do. Of course, that has to wait because there's a world to save. Some bad folks, I won't say who, have taken over SHIELD. They plan on restoring world order, and running things, by eliminating every person in the world they deem to be a threat. This numbers some twenty million people. Yes, Captain America, Black Widow (Johansson), and Nick Fury (Jackson) are included in that group. Superhero stuff ensues.

One thing we notice early on is that the tone of this movie is different from just about every other in Marvel's shared universe, with the first Captain America being the closest one. The rest go out of their way to make us laugh. While there is some humor here, that certainly isn't the case. Things don't quite veer into The Dark Knight territory, but it is a fairly serious minded superhero flick. The movie uses this to tremendous advantage by creating tension sooner and rarely diffusing it. Action scenes are given more oomph. Combine all this with the fact that neither our hero nor the people helping him are actually invincible and that tension is increased a bit more. We feel like there's something on the line.

Captain America himself is a big asset. Chris Evans has found the hero he should be playing. As The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four series, he was too much. He got to be real annoying, real fast. In other things, I've usually found him too bland to make me care about whoever he was playing. The character of Captain America calls for a certain level of blandness. Like Superman, he represents the cheesy ideals of a simpler time. He is also a physical specimen superior to the rest of us. Evans embodies all of this. We believe him when he expresses confliction over the politics at play within SHIELD and elsewhere. Unlike Superman, and what ultimately makes him a better fit for the movies, is that he is not indestructible. As enhanced as he is, he will still succumb to many of the same things we will. Granted, none of us are jumping out a plane with no parachute and landing unharmed, but he can still be taken out by a gunshot or be cut by a knife.

Helping us psychoanalyze our hero are Black Widow and Sam Wilson, aka Falcon (Mackie). Both ask him tons of personal questions. Black Widow does so mostly in an effort to help him kick start his love life. Meanwhile, Falcon tries to help him fill in the blanks created by seventy years of sleep. It's a cool way for us to get to know a little more about Cap, and inject some laughter into the proceedings. Johansson gives her best performance of the character, to date, and Mackie does a very nice job with his role. He is an actor I've admired for a while now, so I'm happy he's getting a chance at becoming part of a huge franchise on a recurring basis (hopefully). Speaking of our supporting cast, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Samuel L. Jackson. He continues to make Nick Fury his own.

All of these performers come together to tell us an intriguing story. It's the saga of a prodigal son returning, but not sure what to, and if he still belongs. It's the self-examination of a man who is struggling with his sense of right and wrong. His feelings are egged on by his lack of trust in the powers that be. These are issues he never had to deal with during his World War II days. Eliminating the enemy was easy because everyone knew who they were. With evil-doers more clandestine than ever and their identities rapidly changing, Cap has a lot tougher job than he once had.

Examining our hero's mental state is fine and dandy, but it all would be for naught in a boring movie. See Ang Lee's Hulk for proof. Luckily, this one not only has tons of action, it has tons of good action. The battles Cap gets into are some doozies. His hand-to-hand combat is shot in a way that owes a lot to The Bourne Identity. The camera is a bit shaky and closer than normal. It works to emphasize the force and speed at which our hero is moving. His best fight is one with a person who has a very interesting identity. However, the best action scene of them all might be one that doesn't include Cap at all. Instead, it features Nick Fury trying to escape with his life. It's Fury's finest scene in any movie, period.

One of the negatives in all this awesomeness is something this movie imposes on itself and wouldn't change. That problem is that it's "just" a Captain America flick. Marvel's shared universe concept comes back to bite them. By that, I mean we already know that this is a world where Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk exist. The conflict of this movie certainly seems like a big enough issue to get their attention. Alas, none of them are even doing a fly-by to see if Cap is okay. This is by no means a deal breaker. However, it just feels a bit odd that so big a problem get such a limited response. On the technical side, there were a couple of hard to ignore continuity issues. These mainly involve just when and where Falcon is able to access his wings. He seemed to just get them out of nowhere on occasion. Again, not a deal breaker, but an annoyance.

The bigger negative is Captain America's abilities. I mentioned them as a positive, earlier. I also exclaimed how great it is that he isn't immortal. Still, just how enhanced he is is a bit vague and inconsistent. Remember that chuteless sky-dive? It looks really cool, but leaves us a bit puzzled when something of much lesser impact than landing that jump hurts him. It's a problem the character has been dealing with since long before he made the leap from the comic book pages to the big screen. Therefore, I won't knock the movie too much. It's really hard to. To be honest, this is arguably the best Marvel movie of this whole shared universe thing.

Captain America Blogathon

Andy over at Fandango Groovers Movie Blog had a great idea for a blogathon. He was inspired by the upcoming movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Unless you yourself have suffered a similar fate, you're likely aware that Cap was actually frozen for nearly 70 years. Andy wondered aloud to his fellow bloggers what ten movies would we recommend for him to watch. The only rule is that the movie must have been released during the time he was cooling his heels, from 1943 to 2011. I can handle that.

Aside from saving our tails, he has some catching up to do with the rest of society. After all, the country as he knew it is entirely different from the one he woke up to. Think about it. In 1943, America was basically an apartheid. When Cap was thawed out, he immediately went to work for a black man. And that's only one difference. With that in mind, I didn't want to just offer up 10 classic films and/or pull one from every decade. As enjoyable as that might have been I didn't think it was the most beneficial to a man in his particular situation. I picked 10 films that I think will help him best understand what his beloved country has become and where we might be going. In no particular order, here they are:

United 93

(2006)

Since September 12, 2001 we've been living in a post 9/11 world. That only makes sense since this is the single biggest tragedy on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Any understanding of America as it is currently constituted must include this fateful event. This examination presents the story of the one plane that did not hit its target. Honestly, I've never even watched this movie myself. When it came out, I avoided it as being too soon and have never bothered with this or a number of other films on the subject. However, for a person with no (or extremely limited) knowledge of 9/11, I figured he may as well start with the movie plenty of people say is the best and most honest of the bunch.

Eyes on the Prize

(1987)

In the opening, I alluded to the drastic change in race relations. No, things aren't perfect. Not even close. However, there have been major improvements during the time Cap was away. In looking for a "regular" movie to help him understand what went on, I found that most covered a singular aspect or event pretty well. The problem is almost all of them depend on at least a working knowledge of what went on during the early and middle twentieth century. Eyes on the Prize probably isn't something he can watch in one sitting. It's a six-hour PBS documentary that has been hailed as the most comprehensive examination of the Civil Rights Movement in this country. It spans the years 1952 through 1965 and details the growing pains of a nation.

Woodstock

(1970)

The 1960s is known as our most turbulent decade. Eyes on the Prize details one side of things. In reality, the Civil Rights Movement was a symptom of our changing ideals. Along with those ideals, our attitudes and our music changed to such a degree that they simultaneously reflected and informed everything about us. It all culminated in three days of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll in upstate New York. This documentary captures the spirit of the youth that were changing the world...at least the ones not permanently stuck in a foggy haze.

Young Frankenstein

(1974)

Everything doesn't have to be dreadfully serious and "educational." This Mel Brooks classic is neither, yet it still teaches us about ourselves. Though it's forty years old, it still exemplifies our collective personality. We're a bunch of self-aware, snarky, sarcastic smart-asses using the past for both inspiration and target practice. Quentin Tarantino's entire career is built on precisely this. Instead of going with one of QT's flicks, I chose this since it skewers something Cap is familiar with and is just damn funny!

Norma Rae

(1979)

The role of women and labor laws in general have greatly improved since the 1940s. Why not a movie that captures both? Sally Field's Norma led the unionization of the factory where she worked. True, everyone isn't in love with the idea of unions, but it's hard not to be swept up in the story of a woman fighting for her basic rights and those of her fellow co-workers.

Milk

(2008)

Here, we have the story of Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay elected official. At its core, it is another movie about a person standing up for what they believe in. However, what's on the surface might be the toughest thing for Cap to wrap his head around. Remember, he's a man of the 1940s. Its highly likely he's never met a person he knew to be gay and saw the public shunning of anyone rumored to be. Sexuality, and the right to not be persecuted for it, are at the forefront of Civil Rights issues in this country. So before diving into an episode of Glee, he should start here.

Jaws

(1975)

America loves its horror movies and its summer blockbusters. With Jaws, we get a classic of the former and the genesis of the latter. Its a movie that tapped into a very basic fear to create mass paranoia. Not that Captain America would ever be scared, but maybe he could relate to the feeling of helplessness in the face of nature engendered by this movie. As a bonus, he'll be introduced to Steven Spielberg the same way most of us were. Whatever you're personal opinion of the man doesn't change the fact that he's made some of the nation's most beloved films of all-time.

The Social Network

(2010)

Something Cap had to notice was that there are computers everywhere. It smacked him in the face when he boarded SHIELD's flying command center in The Avengers. The truth is this is probably fairly close to what he thought he early 21st century. What he was probably less prepared for was all the mobile computers people were walking around with: smart phones, tablets, etc. Even more unfathomable was probably all the completely inane things we're doing with them. We live in an age where people act upon the need to tell a thousand of their closest friends whom they've never met that they're taking a dump. Information, no matter how useful is constantly disseminated. This is also the age of billionaires who became such by electronically shrinking the gap between you and your fellow man even as it physically widens he same gap. What better movie to demonstrate this than the story of Facebook?

Sugar

(2008)

I thought about going with a football movie, here. After all, it is by far the most popular sport in the country. However, went Cap went under baseball held that spot. Therefore it's a reasonable assumption to say he's more of a baseball guy. I imagine most of you have no problem with that logic. On the other hand, you're probably wondering why not Major League? Bull Durham? Field of Dreams? Any of the other classic baseball flicks? The answer is I'm trying to dig a little deeper. This movie doesn't merely romanticize the sport or deliver a ton of laughs. Sugar chronicles the journey of a young man from his native Dominican Republic to the heartland of America on his quest to make it to the big leagues. Obviously we touch upon Latino immigration, though as a fish out of water tale, not from a political standpoint. We get a hint at how prevalent Hispanic players are in baseball, these days. Finally, we also deal with the less glamorous side of sports where most athletes exist.

Colors

(1988)

Unfortunately, gangs are also a prominent part of our landscape. Their presence is evident in urban murder rates all across the land. They have been with us for over a century in some form or another. However, the current makeup of gang culture as largely a two party system with lots of tiny affiliates had its start in Los Angeles in the 70s. Their activities escalated with the onset of the crack era and spread across the country in an easterly fashion. Colors gets Cap in on ((virtually) the ground floor and exposes him to a troubling facet of inner-city life.

The Avengers

Captain America: The First Avenger

Directed by Joe Johnston.

2011. Rate PG-13, 124 minutes.
Cast:
Chris Evans
Hayley Atwell
Tommy Lee Jones
Hugo Weaving
Sebastian Stan
Stanley Tucci
Dominic Cooper
Toby Jones
Neal McDonough
Derek Luke
Samuel L. Jackson

To say Steve Rogers (Evans) is weak is an understatement, at least in a physical sense. Mentally, he’s uncommonly pig-headed…er…determined. It’s 1942, and he’s hell-bent on getting into the military. After all, he hates bullies and there are none bigger than Hitler and his Nazis. Unfortunately, 90 pound asthmatics get turned away from service repeatedly. As it turns out, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Tucci) has been watching him. The doctor thinks Steve’s qualities, both physical and mental make him the perfect candidate to be the guinea pig in an experiment to create a super soldier using a special serum the doc invented. Lest you think Rogers is the only pumped up soldier in the world, high-ranking Nazi Johann Schmidt (Weaving) had already gotten a hold of an early version of the serum. He’s also gained possession of an ancient magical thingamajig that pretty much eviscerates anything its pointed at. So there’s that to deal with.

Captain America pulls the trick lots of other comic book movies struggle with. The origin story is at least as good as what happens after our hero becomes super. Rogers is established as such an underdog and is so feisty we can’t help but root for him. He feels ripped straight from the pages of the old comics. Not from the stories themselves, mind you. He’s from that ad in the back where the weakling gets sand kicked in his face. By the way, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that this early portion of the film contains some of the more remarkable uses of cgi. We have no problem believing Chris Evans is short and scrawny. This also aids Evans in giving one of his very best performances.

Once our guy actually becomes the hero, which takes a while after he undergoes his metamorphosis, we get the action we came for and of course, the villain we came for. In the role of the bad guy, Schmidt AKA Red Skull, Hugo Weaving delivers the goods as usual. It’s not quite the iconic work he turned in as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, but he has a way of making us feel uneasy without going over the top. When his true face is revealed, it does enough on its own. Wisely, he doesn’t break out in histrionics trying to act crazy. He has the confidence of a man who knows he’s frightening. He doesn’t have to prove it.

Marvel has managed to get its last few films right. This, along with Thor and Iron Man 2 before it, works as stand alone entries into the comic book giant’s film canon. They also work as catalysts for translating the idea of a Marvel universe to the big screen with this upcoming summer’s The Avengers. Before these three, each comic book movie was its own self-contained reality. Things have changed. Allowing these characters to be linked also allows for them to develop. We see Captain America do just that. Along the way there are bumps in the road. How he arrives where he does by the finale is bittersweet. It also leaves us very ready for The Avengers.

MY SCORE: 7/10