Comic Vine

March 23, 2011

 

The full Captain America: The First Avenger trailer is officially here as   a two and a half minute full trailer. Previously we only had the 30-second Super Bowl TV spot.  Despite being two minutes longer, we've seen much of this footage already. Let's break down the trailer to see what new information we can discover. 

The trailer opens with an exterior shot of the recruitment center. You get a real feel for the time period and this reminds us that this is a period piece film.  We can safely assume that this will be when little scrawny Steve Rogers will make his attempt at joining the Army.


Poor Steve, he is so full of patriotism and all he wants to do is serve his country. You can see from the guy behind him that he clearly is not fit to serve.  Did they let Hobbits join the service? I would wonder if they made helmets in his size or if he'd be able to carry a rifle. As in the comics, he is rejected with a 4F designation.
 
Back at home, when pushed into some garbage cans in a back alley, we get the little foreshadowing of what's to come as he holds the lid in a shield-like fashion. What do you think the odds are that it will provide adequate protection for him? It's simply ripped from his hands and he's rewarded with a right hook to the kisser.

Back at the recruitment center. Did the first scene happen after we see Steve's alley fight? It makes more sense that we would get a sense of who he is and what he's going through before making his attempt to enlist. Not only would enlisting allow him to do his duty, it would also allow him to escape his sad life and do something he longs to do.

    
Here we see Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. It has been said that Bucky actually acted as Steve's protector in the neighborhood.  This is a departure from the comics where Bucky was the younger military camp mascot. With Bucky enlisting and shipping off, what will Steve do to protect himself from the evil neighborhood bullies? Bucky tries making it clear that War isn't something to mess around with. Surviving in the alleys is one thing but trying to survive in a war is another.

    
Tommy Lee Jones plays Colonel Chester Phillips and gives his speech to the new recruits as Hayley Atwell stands behind him as Peggy Carter. This cuts away as Steve clearly makes another attempt at enlisting. Professor Erskine tells Steve about the chance to serve for his country. During Colonel Phillip's speech, he tells the new recruits about their plans for a new breed of super-soldiers.

In a series of quick action shots, we get a look at Dum Dum Dugan doing what he does best: wearing a derby and kicking ass. What I want to know is, is Nick Fury going to be appearing and is Dum Dum around in the present? We haven't seen him in the Iron Man movies.  

As a volunteer in taking the Super Soldier Serum, Steve prepares to undergo the experimental treatment. He asks why he was chosen. He is told that a weak man will value the strength and power given through the experiment. We see some of the set up footage seen in the TV spot as they prepare the vita-rays to transform him.  
 


We knew Howard Stark was involved from Iron Man 2 and Incredible Hulk. It turns out that he was the one to pull the switch that began the experiment.   
  

Next is the familiar shot of Steve, newly transformed into a giant mass of muscles, emerge from his experiment pod. Showing him running down the street gives an idea of what he can do besides walk around in his new body. Is he running to test his new body or is he freaking out over the change? You can see Peggy standing outside watching him run. And shouldn't his pants be a little tighter. I'm not saying I want to see him wearing tighter pants. Hopefully they thought ahead and had him wear some oversized ones before the treatment. 
 


Check out the shiny enemy weapons. I know HYDRA has some spiffy toys but this is where the 1940s feel starts to fade away. It appears that Steve doesn't like them either as he swims after it, punches through the cockpit and pulls the guy out. When he asks who he is, the reply is, "The first of many." 


Enter the Red Skull! In the first shot we see him from behind in his disguise. What is that shining blue light in front of him? Could he be holding the...Cosmic Cube? In the next shot we see the army of HYDRA agents along with a familiar shiny red dome holding up a drink to his troops. 
 

We know that Red Skull has a pretty damn good mask to cover his red...skull. There's a couple interesting things here besides the fact that he has an amazing latex mask that makes him look completely normal. The first is that this is a reversal from the comics. Originally Red Skull simply wore a skull mask until eventually he became the victim of his own red skull powder that turned his face red and skull-like. The second thing is from this trailer, it appears that he is revealing himself to Captain America. Why he would feel the need to reveal his true face to Cap is something I want to know. 
 
In the last spot, we saw Cap and his buddies bust into the warehouse to start kicking some butt. What I really like about this is the fact that Captain America uses a gun. We know he doesn't need one and it's something that writers have tried to shy away from. The fact is, he was a soldier. He went through training (as seen in the TV spot). He most likely won't be using it long but I really dig that he does at least for some time. 
 
Next is a flash of action shots with things exploding, all pretty much which we've seen in the TV spot. As before, I find the shot above humorous as the HYDRA agents go up against Cap with flame throwers. You can see some guys standing in the background with fancy looking guns but perhaps they're playing around with him. He should easily be able to jump over the flames since we saw him running down the streets with speed.
 

    
Peggy and Colonel are out for a drive in a convertible. I'm sure she's looking up at Cap. Is it wrong that she's developed such feelings for him. Did she fall for him before he became hunkified or did she see him before his change. How cool would it be if this wasn't just a normal convertible but instead one of those flying SHIELD cars. That would probably be too much though. 
 


Can Cap throw his shield and can he catch it? The answer is an awesomely great yes. Not only can he catch it as if he had a giant magnet in his gloves, he has also mastered the ricochet effect in bouncing it off the walls to hit whatever target he's selected. 
 
After we get the spiffy logo and a close look at the shield, we get the "funny" ending. Most action movie trailers try to end with a funny bit. Ha ha...look at Captain America scared at being shot with a little gun. But still, I'm so ready to see this movie. 
 
That ends the trailer. Despite being two minutes longer, it almost feels like we didn't get a lot of new footage. That is good as I'm sure we'll be seeing a bunch of TV spots highlighting different things and giving away too much of the movie before it hits theaters. 
 
Was there anything in the trailer that I missed? How do you think this trailer compares to others and to the TV spot? 
 
Here's the trailer once again in case you haven't seen it.