Marvel has slowly been building up its cinematic arsensal, leading to a full scale movie of The Avengers, set to premiere in 2012. Following the release of Thor, Captain America is the final individual release prior to the massive superhero team-up. Here, we get to watch the scrawny Steve Rogers become the hero and icon known as Captain America. Now you can enjoy the story of Captain America, which comes home on Blu-ray and DVD on October 25th!
Steve Rogers was not what you would call an ideal candidate for the Army. World War II was in full effect and all Steve wanted to do was help stand up to the Nazi forces, but, unfortunately for Steve, he had a list of medical conditions that kept him from being eligible to fight. After several failed attempts to join the military, he is presented with an opportunity to undergo an experimental process to become the first Super Soldier. In his new role as Captain America, Steve must prove himself and take on Nazi scientist known as the Red Skull, and the forces of HYDRA. Can Cap stop the Nazis before they unleash their newest weapon against America?
Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) takes on the role of Cap, and underwent intense three month training to become the onscreen legend. Much to everyone’s surprise, Evans does a fantastic job in the lead role, and steps into Roger’s shoes with ease. Steve is just a little guy from Brooklyn, and Evans was able to convey the eagerness and confidence needed for the audience to connect with the character. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) IS the Red Skull. Period. Weaving demonstrates once again his ability to channel a very dark and twisted character with delusions of grandeur. I loved the fact that they mainly used prosthetics on Weaving, instead of going full CGI to bring the Red Skull to life (although they DID remove the tip of his nose, but that was a very nice touch). When the Red Skull and Captain America face off, there is no question that these actors are fully engrossed in the characters they are portraying. Sebastian Stan (Hot Tub Time Machine) plays Cap’s friend Bucky, who has a different (but enjoyable) take on the character. The biggest twist is that in this world, Bucky was Steve’s friend before he enlists in the military, and is in no way a “kid sidekick” to Cap. Bucky isn’t afraid to do the dirty work and is a much darker character, but it definitely fits with the gritty depiction of WWII. Hayley Atwell (The Prisoner) plays Steve’s love interest, the lovely Peggy Carter, who provides a great foil for Evans’ Rogers. These two characters connect on a very personal level and you see how love and war are two things that do not mix well together. Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black) also appears in the movie as Col. Phillips, who is Cap’s superior officer when he is induced into the military. The first mention of Jones’ involvement had indicated a small role in the film, but he actually has several key scenes throughout the movie and was the perfect addition to round out this cast.
The creative team found a way to incorporate Cap’s original costume into the movie (in the form of a USO costume), and show the evolution from a more Super Hero-esque design, to a more practical design that someone fighting in WWII might actually wear into battle. Cap’s new costume still has a strong connection to the character and does justice to the original design (drawing heavily from the more recent Ultimate Comics version of the character).
A testament to his dedication to the role, Chris Evans underwent an intense three month training to become the onscreen legend. It was determined that they would not be able to pull a Castaway and have him shrink down after beefing up to become the perfect human, so visual magic would be required. Steve Rogers starts out as a 90 pound weakling, and the minds behind the film digitally shrunk Evans frame by frame and occasionally having to use a body double. The Visual Effects team worked hard to capture Evans’ performance, ensuring that it truly was Chris who was doing the acting, and not just a CGI version of the character.
Special Features:
- Feature film with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford
- Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer– Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) encounters a bit of trouble on his way to Thor’s Hammer (events that take place during Iron Man 2). Check out this short film, which showcases the talents of this Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Featurettes:
- Outfitting a Hero – Watch the creative team go through the process of bringing Cap’s iconic uniform and shield to life! This was a very interesting featurette and is a must for fans of the comic.
- Howling Commandos – While they were never referenced as “The Howling Commandos” in the movie, there is no doubt as to who these characters are. Each actor from this group talks about joining Cap’s team.
- Heightened Technology
- The Transformation- This amazing featurette covers the process of digitially making Chris Evans into the weak Steve Rogers for the first act of the film. It is extremely impressive and any fan of film in general should watch what they went through to make it a reality.
- Behind the Skull
- Captain America Origins
- The Assembly Begins – Get a quick glimpse at The Avengers in this sneak peek!
- Deleted Scenes with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford- There is one deleted scene that you CANNOT miss, and that is an extended Alternate Ending to the film, featuring Captain America meeting Nick Fury. This is the ending that should have been included in the final cut, because it answers questions for the average movie-goer that might not know all about Cap. Most importantly, how did he survive? Nick Fury weighs in on this issue, and also gives Steve some background on the world that he now inhabits. I think that this information was crucial and having cut it from the film was a waste.
- Trailers
- 1080p Video
- 5.1 DTS HD Audio
- Digital Copy of the Theatrical Release
Overall:
There are so many great things about the movie that its hard to know where to begin. This movie seamlessly fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and was the perfect precursor to The Avengers. With the inclusion of Howard Stark (Tony Stark’s father), the Tesseract (aka Cosmic Cube), the World Tree (from Thor), and the S.S.R. (which eventually becomes S.H.I.E.L.D.), Captain America’s ties to the Marvel Universe are strong. Setting the film almost entirely in WWII was definitely the right decision, allowing us to see Rodgers grow as a character and become the hero that is destined to save the world time and again as leader of The Avengers. Captain America is a must have for any comic fan, but also will have appeal to non comic book fans as well.
ComicsOnline gives Captain America 5 out of 5 USO songs composed by Alan Menken (that damn song has been stuck in my head for hours…)
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