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Joshua Palmatier ([personal profile] jpskewedthrone) wrote2011-07-31 12:17 pm
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Movie Review: Captain America

Fellow author Patricia Bray ([livejournal.com profile] pbray) and I went to see Captain America last weekend and I have to say that I was rather surprised. I thought it was the best superhero/comic action movie of the summer, better than Thor and certainly better than The Green Lantern (both of which I need to review here as well).

Here's why I liked it: First of all, even though the plot was a fairly standard "this is how I became the superhero" deal, the character who becomes Captain America was actually interesting and complex enough to follow. So I was invested in him as a character. I also liked the secondary characters, who were their own people and not just there as props for the superhero.

I also liked the fact that this was set (for the most part) in the 1940s, which gave it a flavor far different from most of the other comic movies out there. And I think the filmmakers captured that flavor perfectly, even while mixing in the "over the top" elements that comic books require. All of the high-tech gadgets and even the bad guy had the perfect visual touch to make it fit into the time period. And one of my main beefs with comic movies IS the "over the top" elements. They usually go too far; this movie didn't.

I also think the filmmakers captured the right feel for the tongue-in-cheek factor. I mean, a shield during WW2 as a weapon of choice just doesn't make much sense, especially with the new weapon that's introduced . . . but you can't take the shield away from Captain America without all the comic fanboys crying foul. So I think the filmmakers struck the right cord with keeping the sheild (and the outfit and such).

So, overall, I thought it was a great summer flick, with a good story behind it, and it doesn't have the ending that you'd expect. It actually has a REAL ending, in my opinion, given the situation that the filmmakers wished to set up. And if you stay to the end of the credits there's not an "egg" so much as a preview of the Avengers movie to come, basically a trailer. I'm certainly looking forward to that, even though there are certain Avengers that I'm more interested in following than others.
annathepiper: (Default)

[personal profile] annathepiper 2011-07-31 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I very much liked this movie. :) I see people snarking on goody-two-shoes Boy Scout heroes sometimes, but y'know, I like me a decent, admirable hero! (Which is totally why I've always loved Superman, too.)

Also, Tommy Lee Jones rocked, as did our heroine, who was beautifully competent with that gun of hers! (love)
Edited 2011-07-31 16:40 (UTC)

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Tommy Lee Jones was awesome!
annathepiper: (Default)

[personal profile] annathepiper 2011-08-06 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
Tommy Lee is generally ALWAYS awesome, Tommy Lee'ing the hell up. <3

[identity profile] jongibbs.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I saw it last weekend. Up until then, I'd have said the first Fantastic Four movie was my favorite superhero film, but I think Captain America might have taken its place :)

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
I never saw the first Fantastic Four movie. Perhaps I should check it out.

[identity profile] jongibbs.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
Of all the superhero movies, it's the one I've rewatched the most :)

[identity profile] mizkit.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
We just got back from it, and I were v. happy with it. :) "I'm not kissing you!"

[identity profile] wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes, the one liners from Tommy Lee Jones were awesome.}:P

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
Definitely.

[identity profile] arhyalon.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
We also really liked it. It was like a good 1940s war picture...with superheroes.;-)

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
A good description. *grin*

[identity profile] wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Caveat- I am not the comic book fan my husband is.

We saw it on Friday. I thought the first third dragged a bit, it seemed slow to take off to me.

Then the 'fight/take the Hydra bases' montage struck me as cheesy.
The last half/third was very good, picked up the action nicely and set up the ending very well, to match up with the beginning. And yes, I agree, it's not so much an easter egg as it is a traler.

The husband, on the other hand, liked it, from beginning to end. He didn't think any bit of it was cheesy, though some of the last big fight scene FX he wasn't too keen on. In his opinion, it stayed very true to the canon of the comics.

Overall, we both did enjoy it, him moreso than me. But then, my comic book chars are Wolverine and Gambit, whereas his are Batman, Iron Man, Hulk and Capt. America- among others. So. Yeah.

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Well, see, the "fight/take the Hydra bases" was SUPPOSED to be cheesy. That and his "Captain America USO Tour". I thought it was very tongue-in-cheek.

[identity profile] wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't mind the USO bit so much, that part actually moved through a lot smotther than the fight montage to me.

[identity profile] gauroth.livejournal.com 2011-08-01 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
I'll be waiting, all agog, for the dvd to come out! I love comic strip films! I don't go to the cinema any more because the sound is so loud it makes my ears hurt the next day - bad news! :( Thank goodness dvds appear quite soon after the cinema releases!

[identity profile] jpsorrow.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Definitely one to watch out for then.