Captain America (1990)

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Many people out there, including myself, have been unaware of this film's existence until finding some random review of it on the internet. It has gone under the radar since its initial release due to being one of the all time worst superhero adaptations in cinematic history. Once again, this one is definitely "so-bad-it's-good", maybe even more so that 'F4', and that's saying a lot! The difference being that at the very least, 'F4' had some accuracies. 'Captain America' is downright painful in its execution, right down to getting ethnicities completely wrong.

As one would probably guess, this film has a lot to do with Cap's (Matt Salinger) origin, and his big battle with Red Skull (Scott Paulin) the German baddie who for some reason is now Italian here, and, for most of the movie, is covered with plastic surgery. He ends up being one of the all-time worst villain adaptations in comic book movie history. But at the very least, his character is actually kinda funny to watch. Actually, the same goes with Salinger, because the dude is a terrible actor here. Plus, I mean, look at his costume.

And speaking of the costume, that gets me started on 'First Avenger' comparisons, and why that's actually such a good movie. 'First Avenger' gives a clear explanation for his corny costume, in this, he just kinda gets it, and it's even addressed that it lacks camouflage as a military soldier's outfit. 'First Avenger' allows us to get to know and like Steve Rogers as a person, giving leeway as to why he's the perfect candidate for the Super Soldier serum. Here, he's just some guy with Polio who volunteers so he can be somewhat normal again, and it's all done in a matter of minutes. By the time Steve turns into Cap, we don't care what happens to him from here on in because we have n idea who this guy is as a character, save very small details. And guess what? We never really DO get to know him. He's just a meathead throughout this whole thing to the point that it's comical.

At best this is an incredibly basic and poorly adapted superhero story of good guy vs bad guy before bad guy hurts too many people. Red Skull's motivation here is disagreement on environmental policies that the President (Ronny Cox) has put in place. Cap then has to rescue a kidnapped president. Again, very basic plot, but it's the overall execution that will have people laughing at this movie - and not in a way it's meant to be laughed at.

Indeed, this is most definitely on the lowest side of superhero movies that I've seen. It still has that "so-bad-it's-good" quality to it, and that at least gives it that rewatchability that you get from such terrible titles. But make no mistake, this is a movie to be passed around in the same way 'Troll 2' or 'The Room' is. You wanna introduce people to it because it's so bad.

I'm one of those seemingly few fans of Captain America's films and overall character arch in the MCU (seriously, I know a LOT of people who show Cap a lot of hate). To me, he's the moral compass, voice of reason, and the character who wears the title of "hero" on his sleeve more than any other hero in the MCU. I also enjoy his "underdog" story, as I, myself, wear THAT title on my own sleeve. He got to be the character we know now through several stories of solid development, most of which was told in his intro film - 'First Avenger'. This film will most definitely make one appreciate Cap's MCU films on the same level I do, because this offers nothing! It's just a goofy attempt from a director who seemingly only knew the source material incredibly loosely. As in the names of the characters, the look of the suit and... not much more.

1/5

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