AMERICA CAPTAIN: THE FIRST AVENGER

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Captain America: The First Avenger is an American film dated July 22, 2011, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. Belonging to the genre of Action / Science Fiction / Adventure, the film directed by director Joe Johnston presents an exceptional cast, where the names of Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving (Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, V for Vendetta), Samuel L. Jackson stand out. , Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones (1994 Oscar for The Fugitive), Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada, Amabili Resti), Natalie Dormer, Sebastian Stan, Neal McDonough.

Steve Rogers
The plot is set in the year 1941, in the middle of the world conflict, and is centered on a character named Steve Rogers (character played by actor Chris Evans). Steve is a young boy from Brooklyn with a slim and frail physique (his weight in fact does not exceed 50 kg) but with a great dream, that of enlisting in the American army and fighting alongside those he himself defines as "my brothers. and my sisters "in the corps of the allied forces. Steve's dream, however, is soon shattered. For his constitution and above all for the pathology that haunts and afflicts him from birth,

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asthma, the boy is repeatedly considered ineligible for military service, but his strength lies in the fact that he never gives up. In fact, Steve is a too good and human boy and he couldn't know his weaknesses better. After the humiliation suffered by the words spoken by the general in the phase of choosing the recruits "When I brought a 40 kg asthmatic to my base I let him run, but he is still too thin", despite the effort put into the exercise, Steve is discarded but he cannot resign himself to the idea of ​​not being able to contribute to the war against the Nazis, and especially against Hydra, a division of the Nazi party led by the evil Red Skull. Consequently, armed with will and courage, he undergoes yet another medical examination. The love for the country and for weapons is so much that he refuses an appointment organized by his friend Bucky Barnes to celebrate his departure for the front. In his last attempt, however, the boy does not know that he will soon take a fundamental step for his future.

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The transformation
Here Steve in fact meets Dr. Abraham Erskine linked to a particular philosophy of life and in which there seems to be space just for him. "I'm looking for qualities that go beyond the physical" these are the words exclaimed by the doctor and from which his thoughts emerge clearly. Dr. Erskine offers the young man to be part of a top secret research project, a sort of experimental program. Erskine is in fact attracted by the particular qualities that the young man holds and that is why he decides to entrust him with the possibility of joining the American army. His intention is in fact to subject him to the experimentation of a new serum, invented by himself, which will result in an increase in strength and physical capacity and the consequent final transformation of the young man into a supersoldier, in what will then commonly be referred to as Captain America.
Dr. Erskine is well aware that only a boy like Steve, aware of his weaknesses and frailties, can understand the importance and value of such a power without being overwhelmed by it. Thus, Steve, incredulous, perplexed and at times even comical ("is it allowed to go to the bathroom?" pronounced at the very beginning of the experimental phase) is locked up inside a display case and subjected to the injection. The operation takes a few moments and suddenly, after a blinding flash of light, the result will be astonishing when the case is opened. Erskine has succeeded this time in the enterprise and of the old frail and minute Steve, there is no trace. Instead, there is the statuesque presence of the new Steve Rogers, with a sculpted physique and innate power that amazes all the members of the American army, whom Dr. Erskine had invited to the experiment for the occasion. However, their disbelief will be short-lived, because the luminary himself will be the victim of an accident in the same place where the transformation took place. After the killing, Dr. Eskine's project devoid of any form of continuity and replication, will be set aside by the army itself. Meanwhile, what used to be a dream in old Steve is now reality as Captain America.
"I requested an army and they gave me you" these are the words of the general in charge of the operation against the Nazis and pronounced during the launch of the war campaign.

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The superhero in battle
Steve is then immediately enlisted, wearing a star-and-stripe costume with a reference to the American flag and using a practically indestructible circular-shaped shield as a weapon of defense and attack. Just the shield will become the symbol of the hero throughout America and around the world. Captain America is invested with a special mission to complete, that of defeating "Red Skull", or the ambitious Nazi scientist Johann Schmidt, who by forcing Dr. Erskine into a forced collaboration, had first proven the effectiveness of serum but with disastrous effects; in fact, up to that moment the serum was in a beta experimentation phase and for this reason, in fact, as Schmidt developed his physical abilities, he showed a disturbing deformity and above all an exasperation of his hegemonic aspirations and a conspicuous increase in his own delusion of omnipotence. Captain America is then sent to Europe to free her from Nazi imperialism, but his mission is upended when he learns of the capture of her best friend, Bucky Barnes. The decision is immediate and the main objective becomes to free him. The mission is successful and Steve finally becomes an active part of the US military. Despite the experiment, his new physical prowess and despite the enlistment, Steve however expresses all his dissatisfaction, frustration and disappointment which are mostly the result of his power. In fact, if the serum in Schmidt had amplified his ferocity, on the contrary, in Steve it had increased his nobility of mind.

The existential crisis
Steve became super-mascot of the United States, set aside by the high ranks of the army, and used as a propaganda hero in shows to receive important economic support for the world war from the American population fascinated by the character of Captain America in fact, begins to understand the futility of his power and physical prowess. In fact, if previously, his physical and health problems had not affected his will and courage, now he finds himself rejected again and forced to follow a path of him not of him but rather established for him by others. The desire for justice that is in Steve, where any form of success is excluded, consists only in overcoming the impositions of a system which he felt he had to obey out of patriotism and in showing his will to serve and his will to be useful.

The merits of the director
The success of director Joe Johnston (name that came to the fore for films such as Jurassic Park 3 and Wolfman) in the film Captain America: the first avenger is linked to two main factors:

1) The first is to have given justice (with his Captain America ) to the cartoon character created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby re-proposing the story of a good boy, willing and courageous, lover of the homeland and limiting rhetoric to a minimum. It was in 1940 that screenwriter Joe Simon drew a first sketch of what was initially called Super American; the name, however, was abandoned by Simon himself due to the presence of other heroes who used a similar name. The choice therefore fell on Captain America for the lightness of its sound.

2) The second is to have modernized and updated the story, meeting, in so doing, the aspirations of today's public. Always keeping faith with the 1940 Captain America, the script used and the dialogues present in it are well constructed. The plot holds a balanced rhythm where the initial scenes present in the first part of the film and which represent the history, humanity and courage of a young man from Brooklyn, are flanked by the scenes of the second part typical of an action movie, scenes of action and introspective sequences accompanied by very suggestive scenographic effects in which the director himself manages to manage the excited phases well without ever exceeding and touching the confusion. Emphasis is also given to the fighting techniques used by Captain America, also through the use of his weapon, the circular shield, where modern shots reign supreme with the support of 3D technology that blend well with those already shown in the film. historic projected in 1941.

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Captain America vs Red Skull
The film also captures the viewer's attention, because it never loses contact between the story of the character and the relevance to his authentic personality. This happens especially in the second part of the film where Johann Schmidt / Red Skull and Steve Rogers / Captain America bring the hero-antihero duality to life. Both in fact it is as if they represented two sides of the same coin, good and evil. On the one hand a personality dominated by delirium, anger, power and the desire for destruction, on the other a personality, that of Captain America, determined, courageous and invaded by the feeling of justice that emerges from the words of the protagonist Steve Rogers " if you run away once you will never stop doing it " and above all from the architect of his change, the luminary Dr. Abraham Erskine: " Whatever happens, remain yourself. Not just a soldier, but a good man ". Captain America despite the era to which it belongs, however, represents a contemporary hero, engaged not only in physical confrontations but also in important moral duels, with the soul of a living and real character, made up of an idealism and a courage that does not fear the passage of time and which are always present. What can be deduced from the words of the luminary Erskine : "The superhero fights to defend justice, protect the weakest, thwart any threat to freedom. But, despite all this, the superhero remains one of us, remains human, only by knowing the our weaknesses will be able to put his strength to good use". Source: www.cartonionline.com

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