By Jason Apuzzo. THE PITCH: Marvel Comics rolls out an old-school take on the Captain America comic book series, bringing the revered character to life by way of depicting his origins fighting Nazis in World War II … all as a set up for next summer’s mega-superhero go-round, The Avengers.
THE SKINNY: Captain America makes for reasonably pleasant, unstressful summer entertainment, but Marvel takes no chances here – literally, none whatsoever – in picking the hardy Captain’s enemies, so as to guarantee that absolutely nobody gets offended by this film … not even Germans. Although Captain America has been around for some 70 years, fighting everything from Russian communists to terrorists to mad supercomputers, Marvel has him back fighting Nazis again – technically, rogue Nazis (the usual ones weren’t good enough?) – as if America hasn’t had any new enemies since that time. Origin-story purists will be thrilled; everyone else will likely yawn.
WHAT WORKS: • From leads Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America and Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, to veteran stars like Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving and Stanley Tucci in supporting roles, the cast here creates characters who believably inhabit the World War II milieu – even if their roles rarely rise above cliché.
• The production design and visual FX are sumptuous, presenting a highly romanticized vision of the World War II era – not unlike something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Rocketeer or Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
• Much effort is taken to distinguish Captain America’s regular-guy, shrimpy-kid-from-Brooklyn origins from the usual ‘Chosen One’/supernatural boy-toy so common in comic book fare. This lends the film an unmistakably old-fashioned American vibe.
WHAT DOESN’T WORK: • One annoying sequence midway through the film features an early incarnation of Captain America being used as a hokey propaganda tool to sell war bonds. The sequence has a snarky, liberal tone, goes on too long, and feels like a cheap insurance policy against the film taking heat for ‘jingoism.’
• The film’s lack of originality – in any form – is absolute. As a result, I felt myself nodding off during several sequences, and was only revived by a nearby Diet Coke – which on reflection may not even have been my own.
• I’m not really clear why villain Hugo Weaving’s skull was red in the film, or what the secret energy source was he was drawing on for his high-tech weaponry (Kryptonite? Green Lantern’s light? BALCO steroids?), or why he was summoned to the heavens at the end of the film – like some sort of bizarre, Norse mythological rapture. It seemed like something out of a Spinal Tape stage show.
THE BOTTOM LINE: I’ve logged my fair share of criticisms on this site toward Christopher Nolan, but what he and directors like Sam Raimi and Jon Favreau have done over the years is attempt to make these comic book heroes from years past live and breathe in the world of today. It’s a more honest and ambitious effort than what’s going on here in Captain America, which might’ve felt like a fresh and retro-optimistic film as recently as during the 1980s – but in today’s world feels like a cop-out, a film that’s dodging taking a position on what constitutes ‘evil’ in today’s world. As I write this review today, for example, Norway has been struck by terrorists who bombed the capitol city of Oslo – and even murdered teenagers at a youth camp. I humbly submit that this sort of behavior is ‘evil,’ and that American filmmakers needn’t feel themselves confined to depicting evils from the past when new, vivid forms of it are confronting us each day. (See Frank Miller’s new Holy Terror trailer, incidentally, on this subject.)
The irony here is that one of the first sequences in Captain America actually features Hugo Weaving and a passel of Nazis rolling into Tønsberg, Norway and murdering townspeople. It’s all handled in a somewhat cartoonish manner – trivializing war crimes of the past, while ignoring those of the present. As we all know deep down, we’re facing the functional equivalent of Nazis today in Islamic terrorists, but the corporate masterminds behind Captain America aren’t interested in such indelicate matters, of course, with a burgeoning cinema franchise at stake. ‘Heroism’ nowadays, after all, is a ‘brand’ to be sold – not a matter of commitment to accomplish hard, unpleasant tasks.
With all this said, I wouldn’t dispute that Captain America is a diverting film in the usual summer way, and on balance a good one to send overseas in terms of how it depicts America’s fighting men, but it’s hard to get emotionally caught up in a film that so doggedly lives in the past – or that takes a powder on the tough issues it might’ve addressed. It seems that a hero who bears the name ‘Captain America’ should show more courage than that.
Posted on July 22nd, 2011 at 5:33pm.
Mr. Apuzzo: While i have not seen this film yet, I have hed out some hop for it because three of the four “Marvel Studios” films have had a rather conservative bent in their views (cannot really defend The Incredible Hulk); as opposed to a number of the actual comics. Allow me to provide an explanation (from a post on a different site) WITH SPOILERS
1. Iron Man: Patriotic, capitalist hero who fights terrorists in the middle east on more than one occasion. The American military is portrayed positively (some die trying to protect the hero, some save the hero from being lost in the desert, his best friend is an honorable Air Force colonel, there is a scene that praises the American fighter pilot that has an American flag in the background etc). The movie does not bad mouth the War on Terror or Bush (film came out in 2008). The one bad American is a rogue/traitor who has been playing the CEO (hero) of the company and the board of directors against each other for more personal reasons thatn financial ones.
2. Iron Man 2: Pro-American military (Rhodes is an honorable voice of reason who helps save the day), patriotic hero (one of his first scenes is in front of the American Flag), Pro-Capitalism (Stark Expo and “I successfully privatized world peace”) anti government intrusion (“you want my property, you can’t have it) and a small dig at leftists (Tony Stark: I’m tired of the liberal agenda. Tony also supports the boy scouts)
3. Thor :One can argue that this film works as a partial vindication of Bush (in terms of his character and policies; as well as an attack on the character and policies of Obama (though i cannot speak to the director’s intent). Based on some points that you yourself brought up in the past. For example:
—- Thor is portrayed as a head strong action taking cowboy. After an attack by an enemy force on his homeland, Thor rushes to attack the enemy without thinking things through and it does not end well. All of this could be seen as an allegory for Bush/Iraq. However, in a conservative sucker punch,despite these flaws; Thor is protrayed as well intentioned, good hearted individual who lives by a code of honor and has earned the respect of his military and those in the Earth realm ( he is able to forge a trusted alliance with Earth). In another twist, the audience finds out that while Thor’s initial attack on the enemy may not have been carried out well, his belief that the attack on his homeland was more than the act of some rogues and in fact part of a grander more insidious plot was correct.
— Loki is portrayed as a smooth talking prince/politician who “vocally” opposed Thor’s attack and claims he must now take charge and undo the damage that Thor has done. However, he is shown to be an opportunistic, manipulative backstabber. Once having taken control, Loki undermines the Asgard military (who already distrust him), starts molding Asgard into a police state/dictatorship, cozies up to the enemy (moreso than anyone thought possible), and throws many charaters that he claims as allies “under the bus” in order to further his own ambitions. GEE, WHO CAN THAT BE? (Though again i cannot speak to the director’s intent).
*** In the end, Asgard needs Thor back to stop and undo the damage that LOKI has done.
These three films (Iron Man 1&2, and Thor) seem to have right of center plots and themes that go against the prevailing winds in Hollywood and many comics and have been financially successful. So it would be dissapointing if Captain America would work to undo that.
Perhaps this was when Jason was “nodding off’ but the Red Skull’s power came from the Cosmic Cube (seen at least four times in the film), a former possession of the Norse Gods which is a weapon of unbelievable power in the Marvel universe, and a reoccurring element in several Marvel stories, something they are integrating into the films. As for his appearance, the film clearly explains his “Red Skull’ came from his hasty decision to sample Abraham Erskine’s super-soldier formula, which had not been completed yet.
Again, Islamic fundamentalists make great bad guys, but given Captain America’s origins in WWII, making the first Captain America film set in the modern world with him fighting Al Qaeda was not the way to go, perhaps in a later film. As for the film’s choice of villians, given the importance of HYDRA in the Marvel universe (a SPECTRE-like organization made up mostly of ex-Nazis) they had to be introduced at some point, and this film was the best time to do it.
Look, Hollywood is finally getting around to using the Soviets as regular bad guys, twenty years after the end of the Cold War (there were exceptions to this during the Cold War, but not too many). I wish they would be more willing (or courageous) to use Islamic terrorists as villians, but that is simply not going to happen anytime soon, not on a regular basis anyway. Heck, I am still aggravated that the Japanese are hardly ever used as villians in WWII films, from Hollywood cinema, the Pacific War is almost nonexistent.
Good analysis, Omar. You could have also pointed out that in the first Iron Man, some of the main villians are essentially the Taliban, of course, they are called the Ten Rings, but it is obvious who they really represent.
Sean, thanks for your thoughts – but the simple truth is I don’t really care very much about the ‘Marvel universe,’ nor feel that I should have to bone up on it in advance. It’s actually the obligation of the filmmaker to communicate this stuff so that it makes some sense to laymen like me, not the other way around. I have no clue what the ‘Cosmic Cube’ is, and the film makes precious little attempt to clarify that kind of thing for non-initiates like me. You need to be aware that not everybody may be as enamored with this stuff as are fans of the series.
I’m quite aware, as you say, that the Red Skull’s appearance came as a result of having been injected with a not-yet-perfected form of the same serum that ‘created’ Captain America, but that doesn’t answer why the stuff turned him red – or why he lost his nose, or is covered with scars, etc. You may find all of this more ‘logical’ than I did.
Well, of course Red Skull’s appearance is not “logical”. It is something you just have to buy into in the Marvel universe. Trying to provide a technical explanation for it would have been distracting. And believe it or not, it is more convincing than the explanation the gave in the comic books. Again, Red Skull is as essential to Captain America’s world as the Joker is to Batman or Green Goblin is for Spider Man. It is hard to see how in the first Captain America film they could have avoided using him. On the other hand, I am still waiting for the Mandarin to show in in an Iron Man film.
As for his power source, it was quite obvious it came from his glowing cube he found in Norway, although it was not called the Cosmic Cube (they prbably should have mentioned its name once). So it is not really a flaw in that film.
If want a comic book were literally nothing makes any sense, as you correctly pointed, you could look to Green Lantern. I am just thankful Captain America did not turn out like that. Hopefully, when they make a sequel, we can him fight more modern enemies in the modern world.
Thanks for your thoughts, Sean. Here’s the issue: I actually don’t go into these comic book movies as hostile as you might think, it’s more that I need things clarified for me because I didn’t grow up reading or caring about any of the source material. So what I saw in this film, for example, was the villain find a box with a glowing blue light in it that was supposed to be a ‘power source’ – but nothing about what the power source is was explained. Nor was it made apparent why the villain was able to look at it and handle it without any apparent side effects. And the very lack of an explanation of all this is what was distracting.
The problem with so many of the comic book movies is that they assume a wealth of knowledge in the audience that isn’t necessarily there, and the stories often sketch out a universe that seems more religious-mythological than techno-scientific, as in the sci-fi genre. As a result, it doesn’t always give people like me handholds by which to understand what’s going on.
That is a good point. Exactly what the Cosmic Cube was and what it could do should have been better explained. It is almost as if Marvel figured enough of the fans would tell everyone else what was going on. I suppose that is the dilemma of every comic book film, how to make it so the fans will appreciate it yet not leave everyone else completely in the dark.
Another I interesting thing about the Marvel universe is the willingness to some of the its characters to use deadly force (specifically Iron Man and Captain America), the refusal of Batman to do so in the films and (especially) the comic books have reached ludicrous heights. This is something Frank Miller has commented on frequently
Interesting. Something that has been an issue for me this summer has been the whole ‘cosmology’ associated with some of these stories, especially Thor and Green Lantern. It’s quite a bit different from the set-up stories for more terrestrial characters like Batman, or the X-Men characters. Perhaps it’s simply that I need a lot more explanation when the characters have origins that are more exotic/other-worldly in nature.
Mr. Brennan: Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. That was very kind of you; and you are correct on who the Ten Rings organization represents in Iron Man. Thank you again.
Omar, thanks for your thoughts. You might want to read my review of Thor, which I generally liked:
https://www.libertasfilmmagazine.com/by-asgards-hammer-lfm-mini-review-of-thor/
Mr. Apuzzo: Again you have taken a moment to respond to a post of mine and I am grateful. Your review of Thor was insightful. I had read it earlier and used it as inspiration to go into a little more detail (I made sure to give you credit by typing “Based on some points that you yourself brought up in the past”) As I mentioned before, you habitually take time from your schedule to respond to my posts. Once more i appreciate you being willing to do this.
My pleasure, Omar. Thank you for contributing here.
Mr. Apuzzo,
Just one note on that Norwegian terrorist incident. It wasn’t a Muslim terrorist, but rather a right-wing anti-government Muslim hater. Should Hollywood make a movie about right-wing white terrorists, you guys would be up in arms. But it’s real.
Sure it’s “real,” as is Islamic terrorism, Dan. You know what isn’t “real”? Nazi scientists with red skulls.
Yeah it’s real, Dan. It’s also like saying the Yankees and Marlins have a combined 29 World Series championships.
Consider:
– Wahhabi terrorists murdered a doctor in Afghanistan … today
– Jihadists kill two in an attack on an official convoy in Russia … today
– Muslims hacked a security guard to death and killed three others in China while shouting “Allah is the only God.” … today.
In June alone, 930 people were reported murdered my Islamic terrorism, and 1,527 critically wounded.
As for this idiot in Norway … no one can really comment on his motivations. Why did an Islamist group immediately claim responsibility for attacks. Nothing is what it seems in these stories. I learned that after I read the book “The Third Terrorist” by Jayna Davis.
“It’s also like saying the Yankees and Marlins have a combined 29 World Series championships.” That’s classic, Vince. Perfectly stated. I’d be laughing if the subject wasn’t so gruesome.
By the way, I wanted to get back about your book projects! They really sound creative – I love what you’re describing (especially the giant epic space opera)! Please feel free to post links to the book/blog whenever you’re ready for that. We want to help you out here …
The Yankees are baseball terrorists. That much is true.
Very Nice Vince!
Ha! Great point Vince, but it will be probably lost on various media talking heads.
Great review, Jason.
I mostly agree — the film was pretty milquetoast. However, I didn’t really see any lefty mischief or snarkyness in the propaganda segment. To me, it was kind of a meta-moment that, strangely enough, grounded the character a little bit for me. Captain America was created by Joe SImon and Jack Kirby to be a propaganda device, which is one of the reasons the character never really resonated with me. So, to actually work that into the character, made him a little more “real” to me.
As for the Cube, I think this film does at least assume you’ve seen “Thor”. I liked the way it was introduced through Norse mythology, and I thought it was especially a nice touch at the end when it opened up a bridge, and it looked exactly like it did in “Thor.”
After the credits in “Thor,” didn’t Fury say the Cube was “unlimited power” or something like that? I can’t remember.
Overall, I’m with you. The film didn’t have nearly enough of that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” vibe that Joe Johnston promised it would to make his approach viable. As it stands, the film would’ve made a great 15-minute opening sequence, before following on Cap getting back into things in a current war.
Perhaps I made too big of a deal out of that ‘propaganda’ sequence. I do agree with you that it grounded the character, and was necessary in the overall flow of his character development – I just thought it went on a bit too long. It was funny for about 30 seconds, then the joke went stale.
I was thinking at the time that the Cube was Thor-related, but it still seemed to me that some explanation was required. Thor itself, I thought, laid all this stuff out a little better.
One other thing: in the theater I saw the film in, people went nuts when Hemsworth showed up as Thor in the Avengers trailer. That kid has it.
Thank you very much for that offer, Jason! It is most gracious, and I welcome the help.
I have endless respect for what you and Govindini have created here. Your work has expended my views on the culture, and made me a better writer. Maybe most importantly, Libertas has fired the biggest shot in destroying the circular liberal vs. conservative paradigm, and has helped build a new narrative based on the universal fact that humans are born free. You’ve all defended that idea with courage and elegance.
It’s kind of humbling, and definitely inspiring, for people whose work I respect so much to extend their hand. I hope my work doesn’t disappoint.
Vince, that’s exceptionally kind of you. We do our best around here, given our available time and resources. I hope in days ahead to be doing even more. A big part of what goes on here, though, is the dialogue with everybody – and I want to thank you for being one of our most passionate and insightful interlocutors. It’s a pleasure having you contribute here.
Honestly, though, the people who really have the big impact in these areas are the artists, themselves – so keep being creative. Absolutely nothing makes me happier than knowing that people reading our site are taking creative inspiration from what we do. So now that you’re letting us know about your projects, I want regular updates! It will be exciting for everybody.
Quick footnote: Govindini wants me to tell you she’ll be responding to your ‘St. George and the dragon’ comment on her post later today …
Jason,
Your picture of the writers taking the safe route may well be right, but as I watched the movie, I wondered if there wasn’t instead a “head fake” going on. “Head fake” was a phrase I first heard of in Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. It essentially is indirect learning. We don’t send our kids out to play football or soccer to learn how to play that game, but to learn much more important things such as teamwork and perseverance (44 sec clip on that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8LkpKwdm7s).
(SPOILERS)
What if we weren’t watching a movie about an offshoot of Nazis fighting Capt. America? What if we were witnessing a movie about an American-led multi-national force out to stop a group with the hydra-like ability to sprout new leaders that was hell-bent on flying giant aircraft into downtown New York? Part of me was literally waiting for someone to say, “Let’s roll.”
(END SPOILERS)
I know HYDRA has been in comics for decades, but mainstream media have pounded into my head how much like the mythical hydra al-Queda is; how it’s impossible to beat them because we kill a leader and two new heads grow from the stub. In fact, I think almost that very line was in the movie too.
I don’t know if I’m right and I don’t know the writers’ politics, but they both worked on Narnia movies — and perhaps that gives us a hint?
-Eric
Eric, it’s funny you mention this because I had similar thoughts during the final sequence in which the plane was headed for New York. It’s inconceivable to me that the screenwriters weren’t mindful of 9/11 when writing that scene – and I suspect many people will make the same connection you have. And, yes, the fact that these are the guys who wrote the Narnia screenplays does seem relevant here. Thanks for bringing all this up.
You use the phrase “head fake”; many acquaintances of mine in the industry use the phrase “Trojan horse,” essentially with the same meaning. This kind of thing is actually going on all the time, and could have been a factor here. At the same time, the film’s director, Joe Johnston, has made his own liberal politics abundantly clear over the years – as well as during the run-up to this project. Also, this is the kind of project that would’ve had a thousand overseers looking at it carefully, from Stan Lee and Marvel, to Paramount, to the people doing The Avengers. So it’s hard to say.
I thought this was a thought provoking review (as evidenced by the comments) and I was really looking forward to seeing what your thoughts were on the movie. I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It did go absolute middle-of-the-road but I found that I enjoyed it far more than I did Thor (though that’s not to say I disliked the movie). Perhaps it was all influenced by my thoughts that it would be much worse than it was and I expected shots at the US left and right. I agree that the “Buy War Bonds” bit went on a bit too long, but I did like the way of weaving in the costume as well as hitting the tenor of the times where buying bonds were a big deal. ‘
The one point I was hoping you would bring up you did in your review – the Rocketeer. This is a film I failed to appreciate at the time but have loved the more I have seen of it. I think that movie had a quality, whether the subdued feeling of Americana or the fetching optimism of the USA, that just pervaded the whole film which was truly lacking in Captain America. Perhaps its some Christopher Nolan effect but the decided tone of the film was always weighted: grittiness > sunny optimism.
I’d actually love, if you had time, for you to take a bit of a review of the Rocketeer as a compare/contrast to Capt. America since I think they represent two very different takes on the same period of time.
Thanks very much for your comments, Rob, I appreciate it.
With respect to The Rocketeer, I haven’t seen the film in a long time so I would have to go back and watch it again in order to say something intelligent about it. Mainly what I remember about that film is Timothy Dalton’s pseudo-take on Errol Flynn, by which Flynn was portrayed as having Nazi sympathies – an outrageous lie that’s been debunked many times over.
With that said, the main reason I remember the film is because at the time Jennifer Connelly happened to be a classmate and acquaintance of mine at Yale (before she dropped out), and also at Stanford a few years later when she was briefly up in the Bay Area. We’d sometimes chat about the projects she was working on, and I remember her telling me she had a lot of fun on that one – although the dullness of her character was partially what pushed her toward more serious fare.
Saw Captain America with a good-sized audience, they seemed to like it. I was disappointed with transitions in the story which didn’t clarify enough but just shoved the tale predictably forward. The poor Captain seemed to not get much joy from his abilities, but just so serious all the time, reminded me of the last Superman movie: it’s a job, not an adventure.
Otherwise, a fun film to look at on a huge screen where attractive (and interesting looking) people do amazing CGI things. Wish the editing/story hadn’t been so choppy.
Hey Jason, you have got to implement a more organised commenting system on this site. It’s such a chore to have to scroll up and down to figure out who you were responding to.
Thanks for kicking my ass about that. I’m crossing my fingers here, but I think I’ve got it fixed. I believe the problem stemmed from my previous setting on the levels of threaded (nested) comments.
Jason, I wasn’t bothered by the USO-bond drive sequences at all. I thought they were well done and spot-on tonally. The transition from the Good Ole USA to an army camp in war torn Europe was handled pretty well. The film went off the rail for me when the multi-national, multi-ethnic soldiers were introduced. Who the hell were they – I don’t think they were ever named – and why the hell were they Captain America’s personal fighting squad? None of that was explained, however I imagine comic book readers knew who each character represented. Maybe Joe Johnson will release a director’s cut that does a better job of fleshing out those minor characters.
Also, the Hydra soldiers had a definite Star Wars stormtrooper quality about them. They looked bad ass, but were pretty easily defeated.
Lastly, the were some nice nods to Raiders of the Lost Arc throughout the film.
*SPOILERS*
Johan Schmidt after find the cube, says that “Hitler is running around the desert searching for trinkets.”
Also the Flying Wing and the death of one of the Hyrdratroopers was a direct ripoff.
And Red Skull’s death seemed to evoke the climax of Raiders.
Yes, the Raiders touches were quite apparent – especially the “Hitler running around the desert line.”
I didn’t go into the whole multi-national/ethnic fighting force thing because it was, as you say, so under-developed that I hardly knew what to make of it. I’m assuming that element was designed to make some sort of point about ‘freedom being for everyone,’ or something (note the conspicuous presence of the Japanese guy, with the “I’m from Fresno line”), but when none of it gets explained – and characters don’t even get named – you’re really just left guessing. I think the screenplay for this film maybe needed to go through a few more drafts, or else some material got left on the cutting room floor, or there was interference from executives.
If I could take a moment here to again pump Transformers. I caught the film again on Thursday, this time with Govindini, and one of the things I noticed was how many plot details Michael Bay is able to cram into the film so that otherwise crazy story developments actually make sense, or at least have some context. The difference between Dark of the Moon and Captain America in this regard was noticeable.
The mulit-national force was the Howling Commandos in the comics. They have been around since the 60s but are very minor characters, There “names” are pretty bad, so the less said about those, the better. The guy with the mustache was Dum Dum Dugan. One of the others was Pinky. Can you imagine if they had character movie posters?
They were actually lead by a white Nick Fury (They did a separate “universe” Nick Fury that was a clone of Sam Jackson over a decade ago) and seemed to combine the original Nicky Fury with the Bucky character (It certainly made a better Bucky).
Again, Captain America’s team was something that the film threw in for the comic book fans and could have explained a bit better, they were known as the Howling Commandoes, who fought with Captain America and Nick Fury during WWII. Another minor problem is once (SPOILERS)
Dr. Zola is captured HYDRA seems to consist just of Red Skull and his faceless Stormtroopers (as hailstate pointed out). Still, the film has proved to be a major hit so hopefully they can improve on this in the sequel.
But Captain America was a much leaner and better film than Transformers 3, that film could have lost a good thirty minutes of the meaningless filler and stupid comic relief with its human characters and provided us with much more “kill them all” Optimus Prime. Not too mention Shia LeBeouf”s character rivaled Chris O’Donnell in Batman and Robin as the whiniest, most annoying “hero” in film history. Dark of the Moon was a better film than the godawful Revenge of the Fallen, but that is not saying much.
Sean, I appreciate your contributions here but I couldn’t possibly disagree more on the subject of Transformers as against this film. Captain America is certainly ‘leaner’ in every sense – leaner on imagination, originality, clarity (as this comment thread would seem to indicate), humor, and 3-dimensional characters. I’m also surprised that you would’ve needed more action from Transformers, since the final hour of that film is essentially one gigantic action sequence on a scale roughly equivalent to Avatar‘s. I also tend to prefer Shia LaBeouf’s very fallible, human heroism in Transformers to the ‘heroism’ on display in Captain America – precisely because it’s based on something more than steroidal injections. For all Captain America‘s posturing about the ‘inner toughness’ of the hero, the bottom line is that he ends up being another superhero freak with non-human powers. He’s apparently even immortal, as we learn at the end of the film! Sorry, but I can’t relate.
I would add that Dark of the Moon is rapidly approaching the $900 million mark globally, which Captain America won’t even touch. I try not to use box office figures as a metric of whether a film is good or not, but you need to understand that you’re probably in the minority on this.
Look, I am not a Michael Bay-hater who despises everything he makes, I enjoyed The Rock, The Island, and loved the original Transformers. But part two was a bloated mess, and I concede three is an improvement, and that action climax in Chicago was spectacular, except for that ridiculous scene where Rosie Huntington-Whitely persuades Megatron to attack Sentinal Prime, obviously put in to give her something to do in finale besides avoid getting killed. We could have used more Optimus Prime halting Iran’s nuclear weapons program and less stupid scenes with John Malkovich collecting a paycheck and Ken Jeong pulling his pants down. And while Sam Witwicky in the original film works as an unconventional hero, I felt in the third he was left with little to do but complain and act like a loudmouth fool who consumed too much Red Bull.
Besides, Captain America is at the peak of human perfection, but he has no superpowers, like Batman or Iron Man (outside of his suit). Shoot him in the head or stab him in the neck and he will die. The frozen in the ice bit is a stretch to accept, but has always been part of Marvel’s comic book world, so they had to put in this film to explain why he is not a 90 year old in next summer’s Avengers film.
I am a bit biased as I was a huge fan of Captain America as a kid, and I was just thankful to see him in a solid (although not perfect) origin story. Of course the film will not be as big of a hit as Transformers (neither will any film this year besides perhaps Harry Potter), the special effects alone with draw many people in numerous times. But as you stated, box office numbers alone do not indicate film greatness, otherwise James Cameron’s insufferable Smurf fantasy would be the greatest film of all time. Besides, in terms on the film’s critical merits, I doubt I am in the minority in terms of its quality, just compare the reviews of Captain America vs. Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Anyway, keep on the great work on this site!
An excellent reply, Sean, and again many thanks for your engagement here. We have many points of agreement, in particular: Malkovich collecting a paycheck, Ken Jeong overdoing it, and Rosie H-W not really being given anything to do – which, ironically, was probably a waste because she seems up to it. Govindini in particular felt she should’ve been trying to seduce/distract Patrick Dempsey just to make things more interesting.
My criticisms aside, I basically had a good time watching Captain America – and would agree with you that it could’ve been much worse, given how the industry often handles American icons.
A serviceable but boring entry in this summers comic book movies. Better than Green Hornet by a mile but lacking completely the breaking star power of Thor’s, Chris Hemsworth. Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell are devoid of any sexual tension or attraction(throw in charisma too) despite their efforts (I wouldn’t call it best efforts). Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones deliver their usual solid performances.
I had a problem with the cartoonish depiction of war atrocities. I also physically cringed when I heard Stanley Tucci’s character mentioning bullying(so 2011) as one of his motivations for work and the liberal hokum that his serum enhances the internal character of the subject. Captain America / Steve Rogers is super good because he’s a good person and Johann Schmidt / Red Skull is super bad because he’s a bad person. I wouldn’t call this a particularly Pro- American (thankfully it also was NOT Anti-American) movie which I always thought was the point of Captain “America”….he could might as well have been Captain League of Nations or Captain United Nations or more likely Captain Benetton! A few other quibbles. First, Steve Rogers is from Brooklyn….so where’s the Hollywoodish Brooklyn accent? Heck he could have been from Topeka. Then and unfortunately(it was how things were at that time in America) the United States military in World War II was NOT a Benetton army as it was depicted in this movie. This is were I had to set the historical inaccuracy aside and remind myself that this is just a comic book and not a Frontline documentary. All in all this is not a bad movie like Green Hornet but it’s certainly not memorable.
I agree with you here, especially on the point of comparison between Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, and the dropped ball of the romantic relationship between the leads.
As others have noted, the Benetton squad was a nod to some minor but venerable Marvel comics characters, and I was delighted to see them. (I also liked the glimpse of the original android Human Torch at the World’s Fair, as Evans previously played the later version of the Human Torch.) No, a multi-hued combat force wasn’t accurate to the period, but then again there weren’t scientifically created super soldiers or scarlet-craniumed fascists during WWII either. Next we’ll surely hear complaints that there were not in fact aliens co-existing with cowboys.
Thank you Captain Obvious…I mean maatkare.
No need to be snotty.
All right people, let’s cool it.
My heart is filled with lollipops and rainbows.
I knew it all along. 😉
I commented on another site that it would have been interesting to see a Larry Kasdan-written version of this. Or maybe Rossio & Eliot (provided they aren’t completely burnt out by the Pirates franchise.) Say what you will about the bloated nature of Dead Man’s Chest, nothing in this film comes close to the water wheel sword fight setpiece in that film.
No set backs at all for Cap. Bucky’s death/disappearance haunted him for all of 2 minutes.
Boring, predictable action sequences. Punching and shooting. A yawn of a plot with little surprise.
Sexual tension? Nada. And an almost humorless tone save for some of Jones’s lines.
I loved the first 30-odd minutes. Such promise. Damn.