Captain America - Review Thread

[Drizzt240]

I saw this motion picture.

It felt a lot like the latest Indiana Jones. Take that as you will.

[Alien]

My review pretty much is that the movie is a wee bit too long. Also the 1940 future tech looked a little to advanced for 2011 at some points. Other wise it was a good movie, not as good as Iron Man though.

[FranklinTard]

wasn't as bad as i had expected. i just don't see evans as captain america, his whole demeanor is wrong. cap is kind of a badass, i just don't see that with evans at all. the special effects were terrible in this too, and the set design was unimaginative, anytime they were indoors it was just really boring, and johnstons use of light was really annoyingly cliche, always really blatant mood lighting. and poor bucky...

6/10

[Ramplate]

I liked it.
I think it was just about what it was supposed to be. I can accept what they did with Bucky. And I understand the War Bond drive around the country - that was certainly a big part of the war effort, and often they did pull actual heroes off the line - because they felt they were more productive alive and inspiring citizens to boost morale and back the war. Cap was a big symbol for that especially in the Golden Age Comic Books.

I thought the fighting was really well done and appropriate for the character - the Nazi's were fantasy Nazi's but that is what the whole comic book was about - larger than life Cap beating down the evil Nazi's.

I gave it an 8/10


As far as the gun use goes - it was wartime, and I can see his use of them in the situations he found himself in.
I also didn't have a problem with him using a satchel full of explosives - Cap knows about demolitions.

[Alien]

Is Bucky in The Avengers at all? Or do we know if he signed on for more than one movie? I could totally see him coming back as Winter Soldier. It clearly looked like the Nazi's were trying to brain wash him at one point and we never saw the body.

[Ramplate]

Originally Posted by Alien

Is Bucky in The Avengers at all? Or do we know if he signed on for more than one movie? I could totally see him coming back as Winter Soldier. It clearly looked like the Nazi's were trying to brain wash him at one point and we never saw the body.

nope doesn't appear to be.

Winter Soldier was a Russian operative wasn't he?
Little harder to be pulled out of a mountain canyon than it is the ocean I suspect - but it is a comic book character lol

[Drizzt240]

After thinking about it for a while, I really enjoyed it.

What makes it good? The action isn't new. I think it's the fact that I can still see weakling Steven Rogers in Captain America.

[FranklinTard]

bucky was only in avengers for like an issue as a familiar face for cap after being frozen for so many years.

they added some years onto his 'hibernation' (like now its 70 some years, used to be much shorter in the comics), i wonder if they will bring back anyone from this one like agent carter or if they will just be like 'well cap shes dead'.

[Ramplate]

Well, the character of Peggy Carter Could be as young as 83, since enlistment age was 17 in WW2, so I would suspect that they could have him see her in the Avengers movie.

They probably should do that to emphasize that he is a man out of time. (but the character's name does not appear on the list - but that could be that it is just a cameo and a surprise or something)

The woman at the end in the fake hospital room resembled her - and, although unnamed in this movie she is listed in The Avengers as being Sharon Carter.

Bucky in the original run did die in 1945 (MIA) - but they brought him back years after Cap was thawed out.

[Justin]

Bland, bland, bland, bland.

Rating: C-/D+

[MovieBuff801]

A pleasant surprise. The action was good, the script had a nice dose of heart and the 1940's setting gave it a good Indiana Jones-like feel. Nothing great by any means, but still a servicable superhero flick.

***/****

[Ashift30]

Loved it! I really enjoyed the purity of the character and his allegiance to his fellow man and country. It is just a nice feel good graphic novel movie.

***1/2 / ****

[Alien]

Originally Posted by Ashift30

It is just a nice feel good graphic novel movie.

I'm not aware of any graphic novels writen about the character, it's a comic book movie. There is a difference.

[Ashift30]

Alien, it has been turned into a graphic novel collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Americ...R1D2DHHMH4LKD2

[Alien]

Originally Posted by Ashift30

Alien, it has been turned into a graphic novel collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Americ...R1D2DHHMH4LKD2

Those aren't graphic novels, those are trades. Collections of comics. A graphic novel is something that was designed only to published as a book not as single issues.

For once I agree with Alan Moore:
"I've no objection to the term 'graphic novel,' as long as what it is talking about is actually some sort of graphic work that could conceivably be described as a novel. My main objection to the term is that usually it means a collection of six issues of Spider-Man, or something that does not have the structure or any of the qualities of a novel, but is perhaps roughly the same size."

[Ramplate]

this one is called a graphic novel
http://marvel.com/comic_books/collec..._graphic_novel
And he did appear in the Emperor Doom GN
But you are correct - he has never had a GN of his own before this year

[Alien]

I'd still say he's a comic book character though. If you are going to call him a graphic novel character you may as well call him a movie character.

[Ramplate]

Most characters are comic characters before they appear in Graphic Novels

( Graphic Novel Snob - you're sounding like Drac. lol)

[Ashift30]

So, we are BOTH right! : )

[Alien]

Originally Posted by Ashift30

So, we are BOTH right! : )

I thought we had settled on it being a Comic Book movie. You are only right if you can call it a Movie Movie...

There are loads of Star Wars comics and books but Luke Skywalker is still a movie character long before you'd call him a comic book character and/or book character.

[DarthVader 2004]

If memory serves me the comics were released before the star wars movies were orginally released. Lucas I believe had comics made to get people interested in the movies. So really Star Wars comics were released before A New Hope was released in theaters.

[Justin]

I’ll come right out and say it: Captain America: The First Avenger is as bland a motion picture as they come. As you might have already guessed, for the most part it follows a formula, which might have been fine, if they had had more competent actors and a director with a personality. I hate to beat a dead horse, but comic book movies such as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Spider-Man worked because the inner-conflict within the protagonists and their outer conflicts are paid an equal amount of attention. Unfortunately, in Captain America, this does not happen. It isn’t all bad, though, there are some good things, but it all really comes together in a very, very mediocre fashion, that’s almost instantly forgettable. It’s unfortunate, since the film is well made and looks good.

We begin in the midst of WWII: the Nazis are invading Norway, led by a sadistic, power hungry general named Johann Schmidt, played well by Hugo Weaving—who, by the way, is given very little to work with. Schmidt seeks out the power of the gods and since this is Norway, he means the Nordic gods. Schmidt is not one to simply obey orders, he has other plans in mind—though he shares the same goal as just about every comic book villain: world domination. Meanwhile, a beaten up (literally and figuratively), downtrodden Steve Rogers, played by an extremely average Chris Evans, has a hunger that can only be satisfied by enlisting in the military and serving his country. Noble his intentions may be—he proudly states that he “doesn’t like bullies”—he’s been rejected five times because of his many health problems and skinny build. Of course, as luck would have it, and perhaps a little too coincidentally, he runs into a German scientist named Dr.Abraham Erskine, who is played very well by Stanley Tucci. Dr.Erskine has the instinct that he will be the perfect candidate for his government funded project.

Ironically enough, before he becomes Captain America, Steve Rogers is actually more interesting: he’s damaged, tired and hates the bullying of other countries. Why doesn’t he carry this weight throughout the film? It’s incredibly lopsided—all of the real drama is in the first half of the movie. He transforms into a superhero whose resilience and goofiness overshadows everything else—the good half, basically. Of course, it isn’t all bad; aesthetically it’s well done, Joe Johnston takes advantage of montage and colors—it truly gives the film a more authentic, comic book panel appearance. Johnston also does a nice job with the time period (which might be one of the most interesting aspects of the film). There are even some great scenes throughout, even a few of the action set pieces are wonderfully crafted. But the film fails to make much of an impression beyond the appearance. It seems like a common critique for Hollywood productions, though nevertheless a valid one. It’s just too bad there isn’t much more to say.

***/*****

[Nick1988]

Finally saw this movie, and i was bit dissapointed, i thought it was ok.

I think the main problem with this movie is pacing and i really thought the whole War Bonds segment was stupid,like someone else stated, they create this Super Soldier to kick all sorts of ass and you have him doing shows on stage for war bonds? Thought that was really odd and stupid.
I also felt the movie jumped around a bit, it's like one moment he is one place, the next moment he is on a motorcyle being chased by a group of soldiers. The romance between Rogers and Peggy Carter feels forced.

I know alot of people were saying this was non stop action and fun, well i certaintly didn't see that, the last 30 minutes of the movie were, but other than that not alot of imprresive action scenes like Iron Man rescuing the village from terrorists in IM1, or Thor taking on the Frost Giants in Thor.

I'll say this though, i think Chris Evans was a pretty good Captain America all things considered, i didn't think he was all that convincing as the skinny Rogers before he has the experiment on him(BTW i felt they made him look WAYYYY to skinnny, it look a bit wierd actually.) but he really embodied Captain America, and i think all things considered he did a great job with what he got.

And Haley Atwell is SMOKING hot, i also really liekd Hugo Weavins Red Skull.He was definetley a pretty generic villain and wasn't as dynamic as Loki, but he was really good i thought. I feel it's a shame he won't be appearing in the Avengers movies.

I think what it comes down to is that this is another Joe Johnston movie that is pretty mediocre, i don't know we should have expected anything better than that, the guy has never really a worth while movie.

[IanTheCool]

After a lull in comic book movies in 2010, this summer has seen a return with four major titles: Thor, X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, and of course, Captain America. Captain America intrigued me because of their decision to actually set the movie in the World War II time period, a decision which I did not expect but which I was happy to see.

The first third or so of the film is really quite good. We see Steve Rogers as a skinny wimp trying to make it into the army and finally recruited by a scientist played by Stanley Tucci so that he can test his Super Soldier serum on him. Tucci adds a lot of weight to the movie, at least for the first part.

But unfortunately the movie doesn't take long to settle into mediocrity. Chris Evans is alright as Cap but he doesn't bring anything special to the role, not like Downey did for Iron Man or even that Hemsworth brought to Thor. However, I quite liked Hugo Weaving as Red Skull and Peggy Atwell as the love interest.

What really disappointed me was that the action scenes had absolutely no gusto or originality. They were just really bland. They even sunk so low as to have a really cheesy montage where Captain America and his merry men (a hodge-podge of 'quirky personality" soldiers the movie certainly could have done without) become established in the war. Even the special effects were disappointing. Cap really looks quite awkward as he's jumping and running, and other effects like the Hydra train just look fake.

Its not a bad film per se, its just okay. Certainly not up the the standards Marvel has set with Iron Man and Thor. It has a lot of potential and could have been a pretty good film if it was in the hands of a more skillful director. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
6/10

[Doomsday]

I decided to watch this in preparation for The Avengers which I won't see until I catch Thor sometime this week. I remember saying when this film came out that it doesn't make sense to me that you can take a good superhero franchise (Iron Man) and 3 other superhero franchises that are seemingly mediocre (Captain America, Thor, Hulk) and somehow make some fantastic movie out of it. Well from what I hear, Avengers is great. Unfortunately that's probably no thanks to Captain America.

My thoughts on this film are few but related; everything was just mediocre. There was hardly a shred of ingenuity or attempts to break out of the mold. Everything was very predictable and run of the mill. I guess that's what to expect from Joe Johnston, a filmmaker who attempts to make films that Michael Bay would make if he had 1/10th the budget. First, considering how I have 0 knowledge of Captain America from the comics, he doesn't seem very super-heroish. His only powers are that he can run faster, jump higher, and hit harder than most guys. And he has a shield. That's really about it. He then goes to battle against the satellite Nazi organization HYDRA, a group with a secret weapon that's....not really explained too well, we just know it's 'the most powerful weapon in the wooorld!' We also know that because they're so smart they have produced weapons in 1942 that would be highly advanced by 2042 standards. But no matter, Captain America and a group of soldiers are still able to overcome the HYDRA force using their standard 1942 weapons with ease. It might be because HYDRA really isn't all that impressive. They're soldiers using leftover costumes that would be better suited for a GI Joe movie following a pretty bland leader who really isn't all that menacing, save for his weapons that look cooler than they really are.

And before I forget, there's a difference between politically correct and just knowingly being historically inaccurate. I know Hollywood has an unwritten quota for putting African American and Asian people in movies, but that doesn't really apply when it doesn't accurately pertain to the story. Like in World War II, when Army units were still highly segregated and wouldn't have 'a Japanese guy from Fresno' fighting on the front lines with the caucasian units. It was the 40s, after all. But this is a 2012 movie and it more takes place in an alternate universe rather than World War II era Europe. So having ludicrous weapons and Captain America fighting side by side with people of all ethnicities (even if the odds of the latter ever happening would be miniscule) is completely in the realm of possibility, history be damned.

This movie had some bright spots and I can't say I didn't enjoy myself throughout most of it, but it is pretty in-step with what Marvel has to offer; another medicore, forgettable comic book movie to sit alongside their other comic book movies that at best are only just pretty good. And again, this only further proves my thoughts that comic films should be left to the comic fans, the fans that will praise and worship any comic movie solely because it's a comic movie regardless of just how bland and forgettable they become. They will obediently line up for midnight showings just as long as the movies are produced and will unfortunately be unable to hear the filmmakers once again laughing all the way to the bank with their money.

C so says Doomsday