How Not To Make A Superhero Movie: The 1990 CAPTAIN AMERICA

Believe it or not, movies based on Marvel Comics existed before the MCU; and even before the 2000’s-era X-Men movies. Though ubiquitous in the current multiplex, the making of superhero movies in the past were a gamble due to technology of the time or audience unfamiliarity with these characters. With that in mind, how to tell the story onscreen is another matter.

The Richard Donner Superman and 1989 Batman are examples of superhero movies that lacked the resources studios currently have, but both movies work well on bringing these iconic characters to life. Christopher Reeve embodies the alien who fights for “truth, justice and the American way” and the 1989 Batman gives us a hero lurking in the shadows of a Film Noir-inspired Gotham City. Unfortunately, some movies weren’t as lucky as these two.

Howard the Duck is the first Marvel character brought to the big screen (for a feature, there is a 1940’s serial of Captain America). A huge bomb on release, but not a bad movie. Really, I like Howard the Duck. Though some parts of the movie lack clarity on who the movie is marketed toward, kids or adults, I admired its weirdness and pride in doing something different. That being said, Howard the Duck is not a bad movie or failure; that (dis)honorary title goes to the 1990 Captain America.

Prior to Chris Evans filling the shoes of the character, Captain America was portrayed by Matt Salinger, son of the late JD Salinger (!). Salinger’s performance, unfortunately, does not meet the standard of a superhero, and the movie itself fails. The 1990 Captain America shows the viewer, and any aspiring filmmaker, how not to make a superhero movie.

A Cowardly Hero

The appeal of heroes in films like Wonder Woman, X-Men: First Class or even Deadpool is their bravery. These men and women take it upon themselves to save humanity or just the ones they love. In the TV series and comic, Daredevil, Matt Murdock is the “man without fear”, but this Captain America we see should be crowned “King Wuss”.

For a superhero, he runs away too often and gets his ass kicked one time too many. Not only that, he is a thief! When he needs a car, he pretends to be sick. He gets out, goes in the puke stance, the driver leaves the car to see if he’s okay and he runs and steals their car. Is this supposed to be his superpower? I don’t remember that from the comics.

Chris Evans at least dives into the action and isn’t afraid to take a punch. The Salinger Captain America, from what I noticed, hides a lot and throws the shield. The times when he does go face-to-face he gets beaten up. Wow, what a lame superhero, and to get continuously beaten up in that ridiculous costume.

Laughable Costume

When bringing a comic book character to the big or small screen, some liberties are taken for the sake of adaptation. The realistic liberty to take is the costume, because some just simply don’t translate well on screen. Wolverine’s yellow outfit from the comics would look silly and impractical on Hugh Jackman, hence the leather flight suit. This was not taken into consideration for Captain America.

In the comics, Captain America has white wings on the side of his mask. It looks fine on a hand drawn character. In The First Avenger, the wings don’t stick out. The wings are painted on a motorcycle helmet. Still there, but looks more practical onscreen. Salinger’s wings stick out.

The wings are too big and distract viewers. He cannot comfortably wear a disguise over those big wings. Also, his costume looks cheaply made. The eye holes are uneven and the costume’s material looks like rubber that would easily tear. If so little attention is on the costume, you should check out the effects.

Weak Effects

We’ve all been spoiled by CGI in the MCU and other comic book movies, but that does not mean that you can’t make a good superhero movie with practical effects. The 1989 Batman looks good, and though not a traditional comic book character, Sam Raimi’s Darkman excels in make-up effects. These two movies put effort into their effects department, something this movie does not.

The Steve Rogers character is too weak for service, so goes under experimental treatment to become a super soldier. We see this clearly in The First Avenger, effects show Chris Evans as a 98 lbs weakling at first, then jacked later. The 1990 Captain America makes no change to his appearance. He looks the same at the beginning and end of the experiment. It’s pointless, just use a different actor for the pre-experiment Steve Rogers and Matt Salinger for the after.

The one interesting effect is of the rat the Nazis use prior to the creation of Red Skull. The rat is creepy and resembles that rat monkey from Dead Alive, and the Red Skull make-up is tolerable. Unfortunately, Red Skull’s screen time is limited, and as an audience member you feel cheated.

Cheating The Audience

The Red Skull is Captain America’s main nemesis, so audiences were anticipating multiple scenes with the two of them. This movie has only one scene with them and it’s brief! The remainder of the time is of an old man Red Skull with a normal face. Huh?

Furthermore, Red Skull heads Hydra, some super science branch of the SS. Again, we hope for some high-tech equipment to fight Captain America or threaten the US. However, this film turns Red Skull in the second half of the movie into an Italian gangster. Where is the Nazi scientist stuff?

The villain loses his identity, and as I wrote earlier, the hero should be this great super soldier but he isn’t. Sgt. America (I demoted him) can’t fight the bad guys and can’t seem to work well with anyone without resorting to auto theft.

1990’s Captain America: Final Thoughts

The 1990 version of Captain America fails as both an interesting superhero movie and how to make an entertaining one. Though some liberties can be taken in adaptation, one element that should never be altered is the theme or the identity of the character. Man of Steel is garbage (for uncountable reasons but will name just one thing here) because of a brooding Superman. Save the brooding for Batman, Superman is our white hat cowboy/sitcom dad.

This is one of the worst comic book movies I’ve seen. Now, if you’re curious about watching it, I encourage you to rent it and make a game out of it. Young filmmakers, take notes and use as reference prior to making your own superhero movie.

What is the worst superhero movie you have seen? What are your thoughts on this movie? Please leave a comment below.