Captain America

Today I watched Captain America by accident. I was supposed to watch it with another friend of mine sometime within the week, but my parents kinda decided to watch it while we were touring around the local mall. So I had to say yes.

Out of all the superhero movies I have watched, I must say that Captain America was the best I have seen so far. Where everyone else had to rely on their super powers and machinery, Cap only has his guts and raw instinct to survive. Sure he had superhuman strength and speed, but he had no laser beams, telepathy, fancy lightning bolts, nor he had the ability to fly.

In fact, the way he moved throughout the story pretty much reminded me of Nathan Drake from Uncharted. He was stalking the bad guys, Uncharted. Flinging them over railings unnoticed, Uncharted. Jumping over huge gaps and cliffs, again Uncharted. And that train infiltration under the snow? How more Uncharted get you get? LOL. But I enjoyed the similarities and it was pretty amusing to see.

But I guess what I like the most about Captain America was the message. I know how some superhero movies force you some sort of moral anecdote. Remember Spiderman’s “With great power, comes great responsibility?” Well this movie isn’t pretty much different. And all of that comes from the brilliance from Stanley Tucci’s character, Dr. Erskine.

My particular favorite is when he talks to Steve the night before his supposed transformation. Steve asks him why he was chosen among all the other guys out there who are far more physically fit than him. Dr Erskine replies, “Because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power.” That little line spoke volumes to me. We now live in a sad world where those who are strong, have wealth and influence abuse their power for their own gain. Why, in the news nowadays, we’re having a case of money fraud from our ex-president’s husband. It’s just a sad realization. I guess it takes a man who has gone through hardship and has to work harder than the rest of the world to fully appreciate the value of life. And Captain America epitomizes that.

Speaking of Captain America himself, Steve Rogers is such a fascinating individual to study. He’s such an idealist who never falters despite being a small, skinny, defenseless twink at the start. Even though he’s not clear cut for the army, he enlists himself over and over again with this one line of thought: “I don’t want to kill anybody. I don’t like bullies; I don’t care where they’re from.” The thought of protecting the weak and protecting his country far outweighs his fear of death. And the fact that he stands up for himself even though he’s not physically strong is a testament on how truly courageous he is. And that scene wherein he grabs the grenade? Priceless. Sigh. How can you not like the guy?

I must say I got teary eyed at the end of the movie. Don’t want to spoil it, but I find it sad how he left some unfinished business only to find out in the end that opportunity was long gone forever.

So if you haven’t watched it, go do so. Believe me, if I can talk that much about this movie without mentioning over and over again how extremely hot Chris Evans was in the film, then it’s a bloody good movie.