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Captain America: The First Avenger

Directed by Joe Johnston, 2011. 125 minutes. $17.99.

In the anxious early stages of World War II, America was poised somewhere between “can-do” and “can-we-really?” Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans), an all-American asthmatic embodies this emotional state. His dogged attempts to join the military are thwarted with a 4F until a scientist (Stanley Tucci) sees inner qualities that make Rogers a perfect prototype for a battalion of super soldiers.

Who doesn’t already know what happens next? Rogers is transformed into a buffed-up war machine. The scientist is murdered, ensuring that the newly created Captain America remains a super army of one. In the universe of Marvel Comics, this turns out to be more than enough.

The Marvel Universe, not ours, is where Captain America really lives. It’s another big-budget comic book translation for the box office. Marvel devotees and war buffs alike will notice that there’s now an integrated squad of GIs assisting the Captain. And they will be pleased with the film version of the Captain’s nemesis, the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a brilliant and ruthless SS officer reminiscent of Reinhard Heydrich. The Skull has his own fascist cult, and a mystical cube so powerful it can vaporize armies and cities. Who needs Hitler?

Ludicrous? You bet. Captain America is as lively and blithely heedless a take on World War II as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Marvel fans, at the very least, will love it.

 

Originally published in the February 2012 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.