With the popularity of comic book properties spilling over into movies, TV, and other forms of entertainment, the @$$Holes of AICN COMICS thought it might be interesting to offer our own take on these things. So while some of the other reviews on AICN come from aficionados of film, the @$$Holes are reviewing from the perspective of the rabid comic book reader. With the number of comics being adapted into film ever rising, look for more AICN COMICS BEYOND! in the future.
 

Spoiler Free!

CAPTAIN AMERICA (2011)

Directed by: Joe Johnston
Written by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Captain America Created by: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Reviewer: superhero

Well, the first thing I have to say is: this is it CAPTAIN AMERICA fans…this is the CAP movie we’ve all been waiting for.

When Joe Johnston was named as the director of this movie I was hoping we’d be in good hands. I’ve been a big fan of the movie version of THE ROCKETEER for a while (I actually just watched it the other week.) and I hoped that if Johnston could bring just a taste of the period feel along with the heart that he brought to that movie to the CAPTAIN AMERICA film that everything would be fine. But it’s been a long time since THE ROCKETEER and I can’t say for sure that I’ve seen anything that Johnston’s directed since then. So while Marvel Studios’ choice of Johnston seemed a bit out of left field, I was hopeful. But there’s nothing to worry about friends, CAPTAIN AMERICA is THE ROCKETEER cranked up to eleven.

I really don’t think I’ve seen a live action superhero movie since possibly Raimi’s first SPIDER-MAN flick that just wholeheartedly gives the superhero concept a giant bone crushing bear hug as much as Johnston’s Captain America does. Yes, IRON MAN, THE DARK KNIGHT, and THOR are great films but none of them truly feel like an old fashioned superhero romp to me. None of them embrace the great underwear on the outside four color nature of the comics that I grew up on. CAPTAIN AMERICA does. CAPTAIN AMERICA embraces the costume, the earnest hero trying to prove himself, the code of honor, all of it. It’s not embarrassed of what it is or where it came from. It holds its roots over its head and waves them proudly like, well, like a grand old flag.

Yes, there are some changes that some inflexible die-hard fans may not be able to deal with. Heck, there were choices that made me raise an eyebrow. The biggest one being that the Red Skull is technically not really a Nazi. As a matter of fact, there’s hardly a swastika is sight. But I’m not trying to freak you out because it all makes sense in the structure of this new cinematic Marvel universe. It’s not a change that I would have made but it’s not sacrilegious. Not like, say, making the Skull an Italian. The point that I’m trying to make is that despite the changes the movie really is the Captain America we’ve all grown to know and love throughout the years.

But the real genius of the movie is how it combines all of the aspects of Cap throughout his long and somewhat convoluted history. There are Easter Eggs galore in this movie, some of them more obvious than others. Heck, you even get to see the original Simon-Kirby costume at one point. It may not be in a way some old school fans may want to see it but the point is that it’s there. They made the effort to put stuff like that in there and it’s in a way that makes sense to the story and made a fan like me tingle with happiness on the inside.

Chris Evans brings his “A” game to this role. He plays a Cap that may not be the secure, headstrong Cap that we’re used to in the comics but it is one that I could easily see developing into that Captain America. What Evans does bring to the part is a real sensitivity and humanity that would obviously come from a person who felt the fragility that Steve Rogers once felt. Evans’s Steve Rogers is not a cardboard cutout hero. He is a person with a heart and a desire to do good while having the strength to rise to the challenges in front of him. Evans embodies what the comic book character Captain America has been all about throughout the years and that is the strength of his performance.

So this is it, this is the movie that’s kicking off THE AVENGERS and I have to say that it does the job right. After CAPTAIN AMERICA I have to say that I’m officially cyked for THE AVENGERS. Even though I enjoyed Thor I thought that it was a bit too hamstrung by having to tie into the other Marvel movies and it made me a bit worried about THE AVENGERS. CAPTAIN AMERICA doesn’t suffer from that at all. It is a CAPTAIN AMERICA movie though and through and it’s fantastic. All I can say is bring on THE AVENGERS and…CAPTAIN AMERICA…Fuck Yeah!

Discovered as a babe in an abandoned comic book storage box and bitten by a radioactive comic fan when he was a teenager, superhero is actually not-so mild mannered sometime designer & cartoonist, Kristian Horn of Los Angeles, California. He's been an @$$hole for three years. Some of his work can be seen at www.kristianhorn.com and check out his blog at www.parttimefanboy.com.