Captain America: The First Avenger came in at No. 1 at the box office this weekend ($65.8 million opening weekend) — with a little help from one of our own.
Captain America is different from the rest of this summer’s crop of superheroes. He doesn’t live in Lisa Frank-inspired other world of Asgard (like Thor). He doesn’t travel to a planet to meet other alien superheroes (like the Green Lantern). He spends the entirety of his movie on Earth, and the bulk of it during World War II.
This means he also doesn’t get futuristic guns or ships, doesn’t have a robot-controlled Iron Man suit, and doesn’t even get a grappling hook. His powers, though super, are almost too human: he’s got speed, strength, and agility (and a cool shield that can stop bullets). How is that supposed to help against the modern supervillian?
Well, there is one weapon that existed during the 1940s that Captain America gets to wield powerfully: propaganda. It comes in the form of a USO-style anthem, “The Star-Spangled Man.”
FYI: This isn’t really a true video (you think I’d give away plot details so easily?); it’s just a still image as the song plays.
I have to say, I love this. I feel like most superhero movies lazily go for a modern-rock soundtrack — Iron Man 2 had an all AC/DC soundtrack, for example. Even Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland had a theme by Avril Lavigne, so this retro-sounding song is, if nothing else, refreshingly different. (It’s also way less emo than Spider-Man 2’s “Vindicated,” by Dashboard Confessional.)
The best thing is that this song wouldn’t exist without Northern Westchester native, Alan Menken. (His neighbor, Stanley Tucci, is also in the movie.) Though Paramount Pictures produced the film, Disney is the one that purchased Marvel Studios. I’m pretty sure Disney has Menken locked away in a tower somewhere making him churn out songs for whatever is needed, be it a yearning princess song for a movie like Tangled or a 1940s-style rallying ditty for Captain America. For a while, I was down on Menken for writing a bunch of songs that were all samey-sounding, but now I’m back on board.
Alan Menken songs aside, which superhero has won the summer for you? Let me know in the comments.
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