CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER - Re'Cap'ping The Trailers

The countdown has officially begun for our U.S readers with Captain America: The First Avenger released in just over a weeks time! For those of us on the other side of the pond, here in London, we have to wait an extra week until we can squeeze into the cinema next to all of the other sweaty guys in their mid-30's wearing a star-spangled shield on their t-shirt. Yep, I will be counted amongst that number! So to get our appetites whetted before the big day I wanted to look back over the trailers and TV spots that have been eked out to us to build our anticipation. You probably won't remember this but the very first footage that was released for Captain America: The First Avenger was not done so by Marvel or Paramount, but by an amateur paparazzi. The first tid-bit that I remember being forwarded was this YouTube clip filmed on someone's smart phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gatx2RLVyj0 I know, I know. How annoying was this? Clearly it is a big Hollywood film crew with cameras everywhere and amazing production design taking the street back to the era of the 1940's. But all I can see is a tiny figure I can only assume is Chris Evans running up the street. Alas, this was enough to start me digging for another fix. And here is what I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpONLEmAtrU Obviously not a real preview trailer released at the San Diego Comic-Con, but kudos to whoever was behind it for putting in the effort to make it look and sound as if they had filmed it off the screen at the convention. The shots from Resident Evil, Hellboy and even Gossip Girl give it away immediately. But I can understand the urgency fans feel for wanting to see a film that they have been told is over a year away from release! And so finally, during America's nation-stopping Super Bowl (March 2011), we got to see an official hint of what was to come: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QVzn80rGSc And that did it. As much I as occasionally like to pretend that I have high-art tastes and deem only to watch true 'Cinema', the little comic-geek in me leapt forward and screamed "Goddamit, we'll be front row!" Next we should take a look at the big trailers that hit us full-punch in the gut as we sat in the cinemas, waiting to watch Thor and X-Men: First Class but before we do I am wondering if you have seen the slightly altered version of the Super Bowl spot that we posted above? Take a quick peek (warning for the under 18's - the following video contains coarse language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3TKCeGc2Ao Nothing fancy. No fan-made scenes, or mixing up footage from a whole bundle of different films. Just a simple and effective change of score. I cannot hear that song without grinning stupidly and plodding around my flat like a Thunderbirds reject! That was just a bit of fun but now onto the main feature... The first time I saw this trailer I was relaxing into my high expectations of how Matthew Vaughn was going to re-envision the X-Men franchise. But for a few moments I completely forgot which of Marvel's trademarks I had come to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JerVrbLldXw Granted this is just an extended version of the Super Bowl spot with an additional two minutes of footage. But I love the sneaky way that the editor has built in the main elements of this 70 year old origin tale (no need to hide anything here) so that it focuses slightly less on the action and overt special effects. I thought this was a pretty good trailer until I caught this in the previews before Transformers: Dark Side Of Moon 3D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4DlMggBPvc Now this is a film I want to see. Sure there's action, good guys, bad guys, good-looking women and flame throwers. But this trailer presents a film that has more going on than just a visual feast. May I use a dirty word here? Story. It seems as though there is a chance that director Joe Johnston has attempted to defy the Hollywood standard and create a character-based film (this is only a trailer so perhaps my hopes are nothing more than intangible dreams). Fingers are crossed that this brief glimpse is translated from a similar approach in the full feature.