Certificate:
PG
Running
Time: 97 mins
Director:
Albert Pyun
Starring: Matt
Salinger, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty Darren McGavin
Genre:
Superhero, Comic Book, Action
Country: USA

In an alternate universe this 1990 adaptation
of the much loved super soldier starred Val Kilmer which maybe prevented him
from stepping into the Batcave for Batman Forever. Maybe Michael Keaton stayed on-board and helped use some star-power to get Tim Burton back behind the lens.
In our reality, however, Kilmer passed in favour of making The Doors and Albert Pyun’s ill-fated
flick sits unloved on the IMDB star score at 3.2 (out of 10). That’s a whole 1.0 less than Fifty Shades of Grey… c’mon people!!
Though Pyun might not have got the big name
he wanted to stand behind the mighty shield, he certainly populated the
supporting cast with incredible actors including Darren McGavin (Kolchak the Nightstalker, Raw Deal), Ned Beatty (Superman, Deliverance) and Ronny Cox (Deliverance,
Robocop and Total Recall). Perhaps it
was the lack of star-power at a time when the name above the title was
everything explains the very visible
budgetary restraints on the film.
Perhaps the fact that the Studio rather than director held final cut[1]
explains the script problems or perhaps it’s me. Perhaps I’m trying to defend in indefensible.
Matt Salinger does a decent job as Steve
Rogers, he certainly fills Cappie’s suit well enough to look like an seriously
imposing individual, even in a bright blue suit with a white capital ‘A’ on his
forehead. McGavin is excellent as
always. Though I will forever remember
him as Carl Kolchak, he has a marvelous ability to play the authoritarian type
and as a (assuming four-star) General he’s able to shine brightly enough for
you not to notice the holes in his character development. Scott Paulin (as Red Skull) is terrifying,
phenomenally terrifying. Rather than
cast names Pyun has cast talent and it has undone him.
There’s so much good going on in Captain America, so where does this 3.2
rate come from? Well for one, though
Pyun’s director is smooth, well paced and pretty to look at, what the camera
(and in turn the audience) is looking at is made on the cheap. Then there’s the issue of the script. With the exception of Steve Rogers and Red
Skull there’s few other elements from the super soldier’s world to excite
readers of the comics. It’s 1990 by this
point. The short-lived Spider-Man TV series/TV movies ended
eleven years earlier and yet Marvel have failed to learn their lesson. You need more than the protagonist and
antagonist to make a superhero movie. Batman had hit screens the previous year
and excited the world to the point were we were all close to being sent to
Arkham for observation. Would it
captured the audiences’ imagination if it was Batman vs. Joker in Delaware instead of Gotham ?
If it was Police Commissioner Peacock instead of Gordon? These might be small things but if you’re
going to cast a love interest in your movie why not have the love interest from the comic?
Peggy Carter, Vicki Vale, Karen Page, Betty Ross. These ladies (no matter how well or poorly
fleshed out in comic form) are intriguically linked to the title
characters. To strip them from the text
is to strip part of Captain America ’s patriotism away, part of Batman’s
brooding menace, Daredevil’s radar. Pyun
pulled together a talented, if slightly less known, cast. Went to the effort of creating a visual
aestethic that bridges to gaps between comic and film mediums but it is all for
nothing if you don’t get the small details right.
At this point DC were streets ahead with two
incredibly well received Superman films under their belts, Tim Burton’s Batman wowing audiences and a sequel in
the pipeline. By this point Marvel had
one success in The Incredible Hulk TV
series but several failed or flopped attempts to broaden their film/TV
universe. Captain America is most certainly a step in the right direction but
it’s a stumble step, albeit one I love seeing.
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