Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Jon Hamm, David Morse, Michael C. Hall, Isla Fisher, Holt McCallany, Chris Sullivan, Michael Beach, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Stephen Baldwin, Robert Forster
Plot: We’re in the middle of the Vietnam war, it’s 1968. Nathaniel Adam, a member of the United States Air Force, (Jon Hamm) comes back to his quarters after a gruelingt day. He was tasked to drop napalm over a village and he did. He had mixed feelings about it. He was proud to serve his country, but, at the same time, he feels like this war doesn’t benefit the US and some of his colleagues knew about that particular sentiment. His superior, General Wade Eiling (David Morse) enters with a bunch of other soldiers. He tells him that he’s under arrest for treason and there’s nothing he can say at the moment to make his case.
A couple of months earlier, an expedition led by the brilliant young scientist Henrich Megala (Michael C. Hall) arrives at the site. Along with his fellow colleagues, Damon and Ashana Long and Dr. Sarrok, they try to take a sample from the body of a silver, metallic alien, who crashed on Earth. Damon Long is the first to try and collect a sample. When he inserts the knife in the alien, there’s a huge explosion and Damon is killed. Megala, who was standing a little further, didn’t die, but the amount of radiation gave him a permanent disease.
Nathaniel is accused of giving a base camp position to the enemy, but he didn’t do it. Wade Eiling doesn’t care what Adam says, he got intel that says he did and besides, everybody in this camp knows he’s against the war in Vietnam. Eiling tells him he’s accused of treason and there’s nothing he can do about it. He offers him a chance for redemption. In exchange of a presidential pardon, he must participate in a secret military experiment designed by Heinrich Megala: Project Captain Atom.
Just before he leaves for Vietnam, Eiling meets with Megala, who’s now blind with one eye due to the disease. Megala asks Eiling to find someone for their experiment, it’s finally ready. He explains it to him. They will hide a man with the gigantic alien’s body and they will set off a nuke underground. There’s a small chance he survives, but if he does, according to Megala’s study on the alien, it would create a super soldier, something he was tasked to create by the American administration.
Nathaniel is brought back to the United States by Eiling and his man. He’s denied a request to meet his family and placed in a secret room by him. They fetch him out only when it’s time for him to go to the experiment’s site. He tucks near the alien’s body and they set off the atomic bomb underneath them. After the explosion, they examine the site and determine that Adam, along with the alien, disintegrated.
Eighteen years later, a strange humanoid appears at the Winslow Air Force Base, where they did the Captain Atom experiment years ago. The humanoid is composed of a metal body and his appearance distracts a pilot, who crashed his jet on take-off. He’s suddenly surrounded by soldiers and they tie him up. They throw him in jail, under the watch of General Eiling. He brings in a couple of scientists to examine the humanoid and they don’t do anything to him, as it starts to take a human form. His body is brought back to its normal appearance. It’s Nathaniel Adam. Eiling is shocked to find out Adam is still alive. He orders everyone to leave, but Captain Martin Allard (Holt McCallany). With the help of Allard, Eiling interrogates Nathaniel, but the latter can’t remember anything but an explosion. He starts to remember more and more, until Eiling tells him that everyone he knew, including his wife Angela, is dead. It triggers Adam who starts to try to break his bond by turning into his metal self. Allard comes to the rescue and anesthetize Nathaniel with nerve gas. Eiling files an official complaint with the help of Allard that Adam tried to attack him and deems him an extraterrestrial threat.
A couple of minutes later, Eiling meets with a now wheelchair-bound Megala. He asks him why Adam survived the explosion and Megala shares his theory that the test in 1968 may have sent Nathaniel through the realm of space-time to the present day due to the alien metal absorbing the amount of excessive energy, which now bounds to Nathaniel. Megala also says that if he can learn to control his new-found powers, the possibilities are endless. He tells to Eiling to seriously consider Nathaniel’s potential as a super-weapon. Megala seems to be in admiration in front of Nathaniel, which prompts Eiling to decide to get rid of both Nathaniel and Megala.
When Eiling comes back to the Air Force base, they decide to send Nathaniel with a missile to explode in space. At the same time, Eiling sent men to kill Megala at his retreat. They were about to kill the man, until his aid, nicknamed Babylon (Chris Sullivan) arrives and kills both men. Nathaniel awakens and he quickly adjusts to his quantum powers and he’s able to fly back on Earth before the missile explodes. When he comes back to Earth, he goes straight to his former house, only to find out that they don’t live there anymore. Saddened, Nathaniel starts walking in the streets desperately, until he’s approached by Megala and Babylon who were dead certain that it was exactly where he would go when he broke free from Eiling.
They all go back to Megala’s retreat. Heinrich starts teaching Nathaniel what he can do with his new power and Nathaniel is able to fulfill his full potential after two weeks of intense training. They all think that they’re living in peace, but Eiling has been spying on them from the start and after realizing everything Nathaniel could do with his quantum powers, he decided to follow Megala’s advice.
Wade Eiling goes to the White House, where he meets President Ronald Reagan (Robert Forster). Together they discuss the former deal that was made by the previous administration to pardon Adam. He says they are keeping the deal on the table on one condition. Nathaniel Adam must use his powers to serve the United States of America.
Eiling goes with a handful of men and Captain Allard to Megala’s retreat with the intent of capturing Adam, yet again. Nathaniel threatens them with his powers, but Eiling defuses the situation by claiming that he will allow him to meet someone he loved. They all go together to a cemetery where Eiling show Adam the grave of Angela Eiling, Adam’s former wife who remarried with Eiling after his disappearance. She died from a heart attack four years ago. Nathaniel swears he will kill Eiling right here, but Eiling once again uses words to defuse the situation. He says that he’s still technically a traitor in the eyes of the United States and he presents him with the deal Reagan arranged. He says he would be working as a superhero named Captain Atom to the service of the United States of America. Eiling adds that he will dig evidence to prove his innocence once and for all while he’s working as Captain Atom. Nathaniel accepts the deal. Eiling also adds that as soon as he completes his first assignment, he’ll get to see his kids, who are still very much alive.
Meanwhile, Bette Sans Souci, also known as Plastique (Isla Fisher), a Canadian terrorist who has the ability to project explosive force from her body, goes to Toronto, Canada, where she starts attacking civilians with her power. She flees the scene before the authorities could arrive. She does the same thing in New York, Chicago and Vancouver.
Six weeks later, Captain Atom makes his public debut, against the wishes of Megala, who thinks it’s too soon. He makes on an appearance on live TV, proclaiming him as the latest up-and-coming superhero. He demonstrates his powers without hurting anyone. During this interview, he tells a fabricated cover story to hide the fact that he’s the product of a government experiment destined to create a super-soldier. He says he was working as an aerospace engineer who was accidentally launched into space with a nuclear missile. The subsequent explosion gave him his powers. His powers gradually developed over the years and kept them a secret to protect his family. It wasn’t until his wife Eve told him on her deathbed that he should work as a superhero named Captain Atom to do some good in the world. All the ladies fell for Nathaniel’s charm, but the general public is unsure how to react to Captain Atom who just appeared out of nowhere.
Plastique throws a meeting with her terrorist cell, where she presents her plan to her followers. Their ultimate goal being the separation of French Canada from the rest of the country. Nathaniel Adam, working undercover for the US Air Force, under the name Cameron Scott, arrives at the meeting and is hired by one of Plastique friend, using his charm to make it look like he truly cares about her plan. At the meeting, she explains her plan to kill both the US President and the Canadian Prime Minister in the name of Quebec independence. She interrupts her passionate rally after one of her closest partner informs her that there’s someone here undercover, who works for the authorities. She runs down the list of the newly-recruited terrorist and she looks at Nathaniel. She deems him too cute and charming to be a terrorist and he’s knocked out cold by a bad guy.
When Nathaniel awakens, he finds out there’s a bomb strapped on him. Plastique stands in front of him. She says she intends to wipe out her headquarter and everything in it, including Cameron Scott (Nathaniel), but she won’t die, because of her powers. The timer on the bomb is at two seconds, when Nathaniel transforms into Captain Atom and survives the explosion, to the total shock of Plastique. He manages to grab the schematics of Plastique’s next target before her big finale.
Captain Atom flies back to the Air Force base, where he gives the plans to analysts. He’s surprised by his old friend, Jeff Goslin (Michael Beach) who is assigned to be his replacement officer. They discuss the case first and they follow with personal stuff. Their discussion ends prematurely when analysts come back with the results. She plans on bombing the Canadian Parliament building. Nathaniel transforms into Captain Atom and he flies to Ottawa.
A suicide bomber is carrying a bomb in a backpack, with Plastique’s organization logo on it. He’s about to place it where he’s supposed to, when Captain Atom arrives and grabs him by the throat. He interrogates him and he’s able to learn that he wasn’t the only suicide bomber today., another one is supposed to kill himself at the Statue of Liberty and afterwards, Plastique will follow up her plans to kill the political figures. Captain Atom lets him live and carries the backpack with him, until it explodes in the air.
Plastique walks in the streets of Washington with one her thugs holding a camera and a microphone. The arrive at the White House and are able to enter after she shows them a fake card. She smiles as she enters the Press Conference room.
Another suicide bomber walks towards to Statue of Liberty. It’s pretty crowded today there’s a lot of tourists. He sits on a bench in the middle of a crowded area. He unzips his coat and he starts expressing clear regrets of his actions and he doubts himself. He finally decides to pull the trigger. Captain Atom arrives in-extremis to absorb the explosion, but the bomber dies.
The press conference begins at the White House and both President Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Stephen Baldwin) are there, just like Plastique planned. They start to discuss a free-trade deal between the two countries, until Plastique gets up and throws an explosion at the guards at the doors. She hijacks the press conference and states her wishes. She talks about her plans to make the Province of Quebec independent and it requires the death of both Reagan and Mulroney. Both of them argue their relevance in the matter and she threatens them with tiny explosions. She announces the world watching that she’ll assassinate them live on camera. She’s about to proceed when Captain Atom arrives and absorbs the blow. He knocks Plastique down and ties her up. She’s arrested on the spot. President Reagan announces the birth of a new true American hero, Captain Atom.
Captain Atom goes back to the Air Force base, where he meets with Eiling, Allard, Goslin and Megala. They brief him on his next mission. A nuclear submarine had problems in its reactor and sunk miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The submarine is spewing deadly levels of radiation in the ocean and it requires the intervention of Captain Atom. Megala warns him that he can’t absorb all the radiation all at once, because they don’t know the limits of his quantic abilities. Nathaniel refuses the assignment, because he was supposed to see his kids after he completed his first assignment and Eiling didn’t follow up on his promise. Eiling warns him that he could have him court-martialed again, but Adam tells him that he could blow his cover up, revealing his true identity and ruining the government’s trust with the public, unless he gets to meet his kids. Eiling says he needs to think about it.
After the meeting’s over, Jeff Goslin talks to Nathaniel about his daughter Peggy. He says she’s due to arrive at Dulles International Airport. He goes there to meet her and Peggy (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) looks like an exact copy of her mother, although younger. Nathaniel is too stun to properly introduce himself to Peggy. She mistakes him for one of Eiling’s man and she angrily dismisses him after she finds out he isn’t. She says her name is Peggy Eiling and if he knew who her father was, he wouldn’t mess with her. She enters in a taxi before Nathaniel has a chance to explain to her.
Nathaniel is crushed to find out that his children have grown-up and that they are now considered Eiling’s children. He transforms into Captain Atom and he heads off to Virginia Beach, where he absorbs all the radiation at one, just like Megala told him not to do. He disappears after he absorbs it all.
First Post-Credit Scene: Plastique is being transferred to a maximum-security prison in an armed truck. It suddenly stops and a couple of Plastique’s thugs blast the doors open. They free her and they run away.
Second Post-Credit Scene: A group of beings who call themselves the Extremists stand tall after they destroyed their home world of Angor after a nuclear holocaust. Doctor Diehard (Christoph Waltz), Dreamslayer (James Remar), Gorgon (Dominic Purcell), Lord Havok (Jim Caviezel) and Tracer (Hafbor Julius Bjornsson) laugh as they watch all of Angor’s former heroes die.
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