Movie reviews
Captain America: The First Avenger (PG) is, as its title suggests, one of the Marvel “creation myth” stories about its pantheon of crime-fighting defenders, but while the story of how Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) goes from a puny weakling rejected by the US Army to the superhuman scourge of Nazi-occupied Europe has a potentially fascinating historical backdrop, Joe Johnston’s film is most interesting in its earlier stages, when the character of Steve Rogers is still developing. In fact, it’s a quietly impressive performance from Evans, who previously donned a superhero costume when playing Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies. It’s also true that Evans is surrounded by some fine actors at this point, Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones in particular, with Hayley Atwell providing a romantic foil as Agent Carter. Once Steve Rogers becomes Captain America, however, the story very quickly segues from what might have been sublime to the overtly ridiculous. The makers are at pains to point up the essential silliness of Captain America’s unbridled jingoism and attention-grabbing costume, but the moment when rogue Nazi Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) pulls off his mask to reveal himself as Red Skull is when the audience is forcefully reminded that not only is the story rooted in a cartoon, but it’s inescapably cartoonish. The movie works best as a less gritty Indiana Jones movie (one of Weaving’s lines alludes to Spielberg’s classic homage to the matinee pot-boilers of the 1930s and ‘40s), but while it’s solid popcorn hokum, there’s an unavoidable predictability to the superhero narrative that leaches a little more tension from each new take on the costumed crusader.
CARLOS GALINDA (Demián Bichir) takes no shield or cape when he goes out to work as a gardener in the plush suburbs of Los Angeles in A Better Life (15s), but he’s a far more plausible and satisfying hero than Captain America. An illegal immigrant, Carlos craves the American Dream, if only to provide security for Luis (José Julián), the son he is raising alone. Here it’s desperation rather than a noble sense of justice that drives Carlos to adapt the superhero trope of a cloak of invisibility, as he engineers a life that flies below the radar and the attentions of Homeland Security. Director Chris Weitz has come a long way from his American Pie days, and while A Better Life is a thoughtful offering that occasionally strays into worthy-but-dull territory, the film is illuminated by a superb performance from Bichir, particularly when Carlos’s ambition exceeds his formerly cautious grasp, causing his carefully constructed life to crumble around him. Once Weitz dispenses with the social commentary and allows the characters to define the story, however, the movie comes alive with a gripping tension, as a series of events snowball first into a tragedy and then an emotionally charged denouement that is fully entitled to tug at the heartstrings.
