It's 1942, and STEVE ROGERS, a scrawny, sickly Brooklyn boy, wants to join the army. He's classified 4F
and turned down, but he is persistent and applies to six more recruiting
offices. Finally, at one center, he
meets Dr. ABRAHAM ERSKINE, a German scientist who defected to the USA
because of the Nazis's brutality. Erskine has developed a serum to create
supermen; he tried it once with a Nazi, JOHANN SCHMIDT, but it had, well, side
effects. Erskine believes Steve will be the perfect candidate. Steve agrees, undergoes
the procedure, and, voila, becomes buff.
Meanwhile, Schmidt, back in Europe finds a magical tesseract,
and uses it to create a powerful organization, HYDRA, with which he plans, not
only to conquer America,
but to rule the whole world, subjugating even Hitler.
Need I say that Schmidt is insane? Need I say that Steve and
Schmidt will be fighting each other? Need I say who will win?
The movie is formulaic to an extreme. COLONEL CHESTER
PHILLIPS, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is the stereotyped gruff officer with good
intentions. Schmidt's assistant, ARNIM ZOLA (like evil Major Toht in
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" but with thinner glasses) is a typical
sidekick. The first confrontation between Steve and Schmidt is prolonged and
detailed. Following clashes are quite brief until the last couple of fights,
which become detailed again.
Two details in the film really bug me. First, they mention
Nazi brutality with no reference to the Holocaust, and even portray Schmidt's
Hydra as being worse than the Nazis. ('Where
Eagles Dare' an otherwise wonderful workout film, likewise omits any
mention of the Holocaust.)
Second is the portrayal of tesseracts in several Marvel
movies as powerful, magic cubes. A tesseract is simply a four dimensional cube
(like a cube can be considered a three dimensional square). There is no magic
in it. Why not be accurate?
As a cinematic production, this movie is unremarkable in
every way. But as a workout movie, it's pretty good with lots of fun (if
unlikely) action. I give it ++++ - it will get your pulse up to a run.
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