Captain America: The First Avenger

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Captain America: The First Avenger's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Captain America: The First Avenger completed by The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 3 August 2011.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

ACCM review

This review of the movie Captain America: The First Avenger contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

The story is set during World War II. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is small and slight. He has often been bullied but has always stood up for himself and for what is right. He is desperate to join the army, and has tried many times but has always been rejected because of his slight build and asthma. After trying yet again he is overheard by a scientist, Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who is working on a very secret project for the American War Office. Through Dr Erskine, Steve is enlisted in the army and becomes the first volunteer to trial a new serum which makes him stronger and faster than the average human.

At the same time the evil scientist Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), who is part of the Nazi weapons research unit called Hydra, is hunting for Dr Erskine. Dr Schmidt raids a small Norwegian village and finds a crystal which is supposed to have come directly from the gods and will provide unlimited power for weapons. Now nothing can defeat him except for Dr Erskine’s serum. Schmidt was originally part of Dr Erskine’s experiments and knows that the serum is powerful enough to create men that cannot be defeated. He eventually assassinates Dr Erskine and destroys the serum but by then Steve has been already been injected.

Steve is now Captain America and needs to defeat the evil Dr Schmidt before he tries to conquer the world.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Superheroes; war; medical experimentation

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There are many violent scenes, some of them intense and frightening, in this movie, for example:

• Dr Schmidt raids a Norwegian village and kills some of the residents. He threatens an old man with the death of the whole village if he doesn’t cooperate but in the end gives the order to destroy the village and kill the old man anyway.
• Steve is punched many times by a bully who is a lot bigger than him
• Heinz Kruger grabs a child and threatens him. As Steve comes towards Heinz the child is thrown into the water. However the child tells Steve to go after Heinz because he can swim.
• Steve chases Heinz Kruger (Dr Erskine’s assassin) and Heinz kills himself using cyanide, foaming at the mouth as he dies
• Heinz Kruger shoots his enemies with a laser like weapon which causes them to vaporise
• There are many battle scenes which involve shooting, explosions, people being blown up, people being shot, planes being shot down and hand to hand combat.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of eight, including the following:

• At one point, Dr Schmidt and Steve Rogers are fighting and Steve hits Dr Erskine particularly hard. His face slips and suddenly he takes off what is actually a mask and you see the real Dr Schmidt who has a misshapen red scary face. He is revealed as the character, the Red Skull. He is very scary looking.
• Blood spatter is seen after one character is caught in a propeller

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Some children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned.

Product placement

None of concern in the film, but as a Marvel Comics character, Captain America has associated merchandise available.

Sexual references

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Some kissing
• An implied “mooning” by a soldier to show disrespect for Steve

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Soldiers drinking in a bar
• Captain America tries to get drunk but is unable to

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• hell; ass; son of a bitch; bloody

The movie's message

Captain America: The First Avenger is a classic good vs evil action adventure story based on the Marvel Comics character. It contains violent and disturbing scenes that make it unsuitable for younger children and teens.

There is a strong pro-American message as can be expected in a 1940s setting.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• teamwork
• standing up for what you believe in
• never losing site of your own values
• the importance of loyalty and friendship

Parents may also wish to discuss the issue of bullying and what the movie shows about solving the problem. Is violence really the best solution as shown here?