Welcome back to 1 out of 5 – Would Recommend, where we though Captain America: Civil War was pretty darned good. Today, we’re watching a Captain America sequel that’s not so good – 1979’s Captain America II: Death Too Soon!
What’s The Plot?
Revolutionary terrorist Miguel kidnaps a government research scientist to create a biological weapon that will accelerate human aging to a lethal degree. He plans to use it to hold the city of Portland, Oregon for ransom and kill all its inhabitants if his demands go unmet…but luckily for the future of ironic beards and needlessly artisanal goods, Captain America is on the case!
Who needs The Falcon when you have a sweet hang glider?
Who Made This Beautiful Garbage?
Universal Television for CBS, both the studio and network behind the classic Incredible Hulk TV series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. This movie was aired in the same year as last week’s, and it seems as though they were intended as precursors to a series much like the Incredible Hulk and Amazing Spider-Man TV movies had been. Unfortunately, these flicks just aren’t that good and – like other Marvel TV movies – it didn’t get picked up.
Which is a shame, because even one full season of Reb Brown running around as Captain America would have been great.
Five Reasons to See It
- Miguel is played by the late, great Christopher Lee. Like so many of the B-movies that the man did over the years, he elevates the material with his presence.
Pictured: A man who presumably had house payments to make.
- Cap gets hassled in his secret identity by some of Miguel’s henchmen, who threaten to paint glasses around his eyes. It may have been a threat to punch him in the face…but he literally says he’ll fit Steve with “the same prescription” as the glasses he just drew on his cat painting.
- Captain America’s motorcycle has built in hang glider. For emergencies.
- Captain America’s mighty shield gets a lot more use in this film, which is both blessing and curse. On the one hand, Cap acting more like his comic book self is a solid step in the right direction. On the other, the shield is still a flimsy piece of plastic.
If you look closely, you can see the shield bending on impact.
- “You didn’t expect to fool an old jungle fighter with a boomerang trick like that, did you?” – Miguel, making him perhaps the most genre savvy villain Cap’s faced on film.
Recommendation
Like the first movie, this one is a pleasantly cheesy way to waste an afternoon. Reb Brown’s Captain America is no longer hyper-mellow, they do a much better job is showing off Cap’s superhuman powers, Christopher Lee makes a compelling villain (though his screen time is limited), it is – overall – a better film than the first.
It’s also the thinnest kid at fat camp, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun.
It takes a skilled man to dodge something that was clearly three feet away from him.
NEXT WEEK: We’ll watch Reb Brown do what he does best – scream and overact – in 1989’s RoboWar!
