…is very, very good. I am not sure if it is the best of the “Avengers Generation” of Marvel movies, but I am quite sure that it is my favourite, because Joe Johnston did exactly what I wanted him to do in making a Captain America movie, which was basically take the tone of the old Republic serials, pump up the action and drama, and update it into a modern, adult film which kids can still enjoy. The fact that it ends on a melancholy note (and if you know Captain America at all, you know that his origin story has to end that way) gives it a tone that no other superhero movie really has had over the last decade.
Of note: Chris Evans is a magnificent Captain America, and I think that is high praise because we generally recognize that of all the Marvel characters, Cap is probably the hardest to play: it’s very easy to turn his idealism into self-righteousness or priggishness and make him unlikeable (I’m looking at you, Mark Millar), but Evans simply emphasizes Cap’s basic decency, which is the core of the character, and the overriding theme of Cap in the movie is “a weak but noble man becomes strong,” which is what Cap’s theme should be. The supporting cast is likewise excellent: Hugo Weaving is a predictably fantastic Red Skull, Tommy Lee Jones’ colonel gets all the good lines, the Howling Commandos don’t get much screen time but are all good (special bonuses: Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan and Kenneth Choi playing Jim Morita, which was unexpected but appreciated), Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark is a clever 40s-influenced riff on RDJ’s Tony Stark, and Stanley Tucci’s Erskine gives the film heart and purpose. The only weak link is Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, who is not bad but not on par with everybody else.
My only other note is to avoid seeing it in 3D – unlike Thor, where the 3D was unnecessary but not really an issue, Captain America is less enjoyable in 3D – not because of the 3D itself, which is again unnecessary but not bad or anything, but because wearing the glasses dims the movie. In Thor, which was loaded with bright colours and lots of light, this wasn’t so much an issue, but in Captain America, where Joe Johnston is again working with the lush, dark colour palette he’s used so often for his period work, it makes the film look drab when it is not that thing. So go 2D for this one.
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My main complaint about the movie (and given what the movie does right it is a minor one) is that movie tries to make some elements of the comic book world work and doesn’t succeed. For example, there’s an attempt to play the Hydra motto seriously, and it doesn’t quite work for me.
(There are a couple of filming decisions that don’t work for me for similar reasons, but both of them are a bit more spoilery.)
I’m very happy you liked it. I’m surprised so many people are lukewarm on this movie.
Mark Millar makes everyone unlikeable. It’s his thing.
Iron Man is still the best of the Avengers movies, but this is a close second. Because superheroes are supposed to be fun, goddammit!
“My main complaint about the movie (and given what the movie does right it is a minor one) is that movie tries to make some elements of the comic book world work and doesn’t succeed. For example, there’s an attempt to play the Hydra motto seriously, and it doesn’t quite work for me.”
Eh, I sort of bought it because they were a fanatical spinoff of the Nazis, so I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch for them to be using the Hydra motto.
At least they didn’t have the ugly green and yellow uniforms.
I loved it as well, although I’ll disagree with you on Hayley Atwell — I thought she was very good, up there with the best female counterparts in any of the recent “Marvel Movie Age” films.
A thoroughly enjoyable two-fisted Nazi-punching action fest!
I like the movie a lot. My only complaints was that it had some pacing issues towards the middle, and there needed to be more Red Skull.
I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about the ending, actually, saying it was too sudden and unexplained. I don’t agree with it, though I suppose I can sort of see where they’re coming from.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Did anyone else get a “Winter Soldier” vibe from the Bucky train scene?
I loved it. Thought it was a great, great movie.
***SPOILERS****
About the ending….
I think it’s played perfectly. The conversation between Peggy and Steve actually reminded me a lot of the opening to the new Star Trek movie, where Kirk’s mother and father are talking before his father dies. And I’ll admit that I liked them bringing him into the modern day at the end, both because it was good to see them take care of the business in the same movie, and because they were smart enough not to try to explain how he’d survived being frozen. You can make the connection thanks to an earlier scene in the movie, but they don’t bore people with “And here is why he’s not dead, technobabble technobabble.”
I was really disappointed by the Red Skull, honestly. Not Weaving’s performance, but the fact that his motivations, the specifics of his plan, and anything that would have made him something besides an evil guy who does evil things for no appreciable reason seemed to have been cut out. Unless I missed something?
Otherwise, a fantastic first half and a fun, if somewhat rote, second half.
“Did anyone else get a “Winter Soldier” vibe from the Bucky train scene?”
It crossed my mind, but not really. Though I suppose it is a potential storyline for a sequel (though I’d much rather see Zemo as the villain in Cap 2.)
I just posted my review of it, as well as a bit of a rant about the supposed “superhero fatigue” that people are talking about. Mild spoilers.
http://socialistatheistnerddude.blogspot.com/2011/07/captain-america-review-and-super-hero.html
As for the Skull, Prankster…he’s a Nazi. He wants more power. His natural evil tendencies were amplified by Dr. Erskine’s serum. That’s really reason enough for him to do evil, don’t you think?
My only complaint about the movie is that at no time does Cap ever get a chance to slug the real Hitler. 🙁
The movie reminded me that Mark Millar has actually added a lot to Cap’s mythos, including elements that have been rolled into 616-Cap; but he also made Ultimate-Cap a colossal dick, and a bit of a bully. The movie, thankfully, avoids that, and was really good.
Mark Millar. Shudder.
@benfromcanada: I’m not asking for in-depth motivation (though that never hurts), I’m asking for an actual reason for him to want to blow up half the planet. Not in a “my mommy didn’t love me” way, but in a “this is the first step of my master plan, the next step is…” kind of way. The way the movie plays out, the guy seems to be about on par with Cobra Commander. He does random evil things so that the heroes can stop him, rather than because he has any idea what he’s doing.
And the movie makes it pretty clear that he’s moved past being “just” a Nazi, and is ready to destroy Berlin along with everyone else. Which is actually one of the most potentially interesting things about him, because it hints at a larger plan, but it’s never explored.
I liked the movie, flaws and all. It ended too abruptly . . . where was the final scene with Steve tending to a bed-ridden Peggy? Or would that be for the Avengers movie or a Cap sequel? “I’m here for the date . . . but I have to tell you that I plowed your grand-niece. I mean, I really went to town with her. In fact, she’s in the bed next to yours. Turns out between the serum and spending over six decades on ice, stuff built up in my junk. Well, say hi to the boys when you get to Heaven.”
HYDRA cracked me up, in the sense that they were so hardcore, they heil-saluted (heiluted?) with both arms!! While I’m thinking of Marvel’s evil redshirts . . . who else is disappointed that the Cosmic Cube is an Asgardian relic? That means no AIM down the line, and that means no MODOK.
@Jason
AIM could steal the cube and try to reverse engineer it.
Gnosis: The writers have said that the sequel will take place partly in the 40s, so there’s plenty of room for Zemo, possibly as a legacy villian.
The more I think about it, the more I love the way each supporting character was given a mini-arc that started and ended within the scope of the movie. It was a great way to manage such a talented cast and minimize the “Oh, why didn’t they give Hugo Weaving/Stanley Tucci/Tommy Lee Jones/Dobby more to do?” whinging.
It really is the way to go, especially because if you set Zemo (both of them) up in the Cap sequel, you could then lead into a Masters of Evil/Under Siege story in the next Avengers movie.
The only reason I wouldn’t be so keen on AIM or MODOK is that their looks are part of the appeal and I’m not sure evil beekeepers and giant headed mutants on hoverchairs would translate well on film.
Glad to see this movie getting some love. First film in a long while that I walked out of and immediately wanted to see again. I had a bit of a problem with the ending, which I’ll try to express without spoilers, but you might want to skip it anyway…
The scene that they chose to end on wasn’t an issue for me, it was where they chose to end the scene. Joe Johnston is usually really good about slowing down his films when the time comes to let the character beats play out, and Captain America was no exception. Whenever Steve reaches a point where he has some personal epiphany or reaches some turning point, the scene and the editing give way to let the actors have time to emote and squeeze some juice out of the moment. By the time we get to that final final moment where he says the “I had a date.” line and the emotion and realization starts to rise up in his eyes, we expect that we’ll be allowed to experience that melancholic moment along with him…but they just cut to the credits instead. I didn’t want any extra scenes or any extra dialogue, just a couple more seconds to give the audience and the character some more emotional closure.
Other than that? It was an incredible amount of fun, and any other complaints that I have are completely petty. I will say, though, that even though I’ve speculated about it in the past this was the first time I’ve ever seriously considered that Marvel is overextending themselves on this Avengers thing. When Nick Fury shows up, as we all knew he would, a large portion of the audience started laughing. In an, “Oh god, THIS shit again?” kind of way. Not really reassuring.
The really crazy thing about the Avengers movie is that, even though they’ve effectively got, what, five movies worth of exposition going into it, and yet for all that it seems like all this buildup will be a waste for just two hours worth of movie. Is there any conceivable way we can get out of thirty minutes of expository Nick Fury assembling at the beginning, given all we’ve already seen?
My one complaint is that the score seemed a bit underwhelming. There were a couple of points, like when Steve emerges from the lab chamber or when he returns to camp the first time, when the score needed more umph. Other than that, great film. Chris Evans is excellent, spot-on as Steve Rogers.
I thought it lacked a certain tension, not enough buildup for anything (I still have no idea what Red Skull’s plane weapon was supposed to do exactly) but, on the whole, it was certainly enjoyable and I’ve no regrets paying full price to see it
@Prankster: I dunno, I don’t ever really see the Red Skull as being one of those guys who has a “motivation”, per se. He is evil, perhaps in its purest and most malevolent form anywhere in the supervillain pantheon save the Joker. He was an utter nobody, a random “Johann Schmidt” with nothing save his utter hatred for everything and everyone to lift him up above the common man…and within less than a decade, that hatred had put him at Hitler’s right hand. He wants to crush the spirit of the world, break the soul of every man, woman and child and see them brought low. I don’t think you can really find a “reason” for that, at least not in words.
@John Seavey: I kind of agree, I have to say. If I recall correctly, even the Joker wouldn’t team up with the Red Skull in the seldom spoken of crossover between the DC and Marvel Universes.. something to the tune of “I may be a villain, but I’m an [i]American[/i], damn it!”
I was very impressed with Captain America, except for on thing, which is kind of important: the action was horrible. I didn’t buy any of the hand to hand, it all felt…awkward. Like, poorly directed and poorly edited.
i still have to see it, but im avoiding 3D like the plague. me and my movie going friends have all vowed to not see 3d movies after transformers 3 raped our eyes
Agreed, and no baddies in the Marvel universe would do it either. Which was kind of fun, seeing Doom and Magneto basically saying “We don’t like each other, but we’re gonna KILL this guy” and no one else objecting.
Also, updated Zola! http://liveforfilms.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/arnim_zola.jpg
@Chris K: I think you’re on to something in that Marvel’s invested a huge amount of time and money and film into setting up an Avengers movie, and it’s only going to run 120 minutes or so. That said, I suspect it’ll almost have to be a single movie as to how they all come together while fighting the Hulk or something, and adding him to the roster (or explaining why he -isn’t- in the roster at this time). Setting the stage for Avengers 2 and 3. Hollywood loves successful franchises, and the Marvel supers are doing great right now. Hollywood’s also prone to making stupid mistakes though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Avengers 1 kills the movie franchise.
Although, to be perfectly honest, the Avengers cartoon is more than filling any interest I have in any of the characters and making me realize that there’s a lot of comic book stuff (MODOK, Masters of Evil, etc.) that simply doesn’t work well in the movie format. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s pretty dang good.
I think the Joker’s line was “I may be a criminal lunatic, but I’m and AMERICAN criminal lunatic!” and then he and the Red Skull tried to kill each other with poison gas.
That was a fun comic.
I saw this in 3D, and recommend it in that format, because that way you get to see Cap throw his shield out of the screen. Total fanboy glee moment, that. I give it five Hitler face-punches out of five.
Agreed on the Cap/Bats crossover being genius.
Well, not quite on the topic of Cap, since I haven’t seen it yet, but re: 3D, I think the format is still worthy. It’s just very a selective experience. We watched Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D (because it wasn’t available otherwise) and it actually *enhanced* the experience, we felt. Not so much the regular action, surprisingly, but it added a lot of depth to the use of shadow puppets, and some of the camera work during the hand-drawn-style 2D sequences.
I realy enjoyed the way this film did sort of put itself into the shared universe (benefitting by being made last of course). Not just the whole Howard Stark thing, but the trip to the World’s Fair, and the mention that the cosmic cube apparently came from Odin’s vault, etc.
Also, the full blown Avengers teaser trailer post-credits was fun.
@Chris K –
They do have five movies worth of exposition to deal with, which they dealt with by making five movies.
I can’t imagine why they’d spend half of their sixth movie slogging through all of that again when it seems like the whole point of the first five movies was to get to the sixth and have their movie-established characters run around beating the shit out of people (while also making hundreds of millions of dollars, in the process).
I’m not sure how to feel about this movie.
It wasn’t a bad movie and it hit a lot of the beats I expected it to but I left feeling unsatisfied for some reason. It doesn’t help any that the movie ended just when the story got interesting. The lack or closure for the WWII stuff is frustrating and the story would have been better served with a post-credits scene of Steve visiting Peggy in a nursing home than an Avengers teaser.
Still, I can’t wait for Avengers.
@dangermouse –
My concern is that they feel they have five and a half movies worth of exposition to deal with. Even five and a quarter will feel like too much, at this point – but at the same time, almost all of the “Nick Fury assembles Avengers” moments we’ve seen so far have been after the credits.
I don’t worry that they’re going to spend half of the sixth movie going over ground they’ve already covered; I just worry that they’re going to spend too much time on the exposition that remains.