Review: Captain America

If you have been living under a rock, you might not be aware that the next in the ongoing series of Avengers prequel movies came out this weekend: Captain America follows Steve Rogers origin, and sets him up for next summer's kajillion dollar Whedonesque mega blockbuster. But how is it as a movie in its own right? Hit the link to read my 2 cents. Standard spoiler warnings apply.

Comments

Yawn.

[Viol8]

Its about time Hollywood came up with something original instead of digging ever deeper into the list of 2nd rate comic book "heroes"?

Re:Yawn.

[vlm]

I'm still not sure how much I'd enjoy 90 minutes of "Increase speed, drop down and reverse direction!".

That would be an improvement on NASCAR.

Re:Yawn.

[cocoajunkie]

Second rate is way too generous, for this overrated soulless Hollywood drivel. This is even worse than the Hulk movie. All the "right ingredients" are there, in a predetermined and marketing driven demographical exact formula. However, at the end of the day this film is just like a flashy bimbo: lots of promises, very shallow depth, all the right things at the right place, but no ideas, humor and no imagination worth speaking of save the usual tiresome plentitude of visual effects. And the basic message is what? That the biggest you are (or become) the best winner you get? That enemies are mono-dimensional villains, and just need to be exterminated. I don't know who needs or is buying this propaganda today, the message is outdated and worth a yawn. 73% on Rotten Tomatoes is even too much.

Re:Yawn.

[ultranova]

And the basic message is what?

"Steroids are awesome."

Re:Yawn.

[Slider451]

Stanley Tucci's scientist character conveyed the message: the serum only amplifies what's in your heart. Since Steve Rogers is pure of heart with an indomitable will he is one of the few who can ingest it and come out for the better. It's classic Stan Lee cliche (aka "With great power comes great responsibility"), yet I think it's done very well here.

saw it this weekend

[circletimessquare]

what makes captain america so good is that it is straightforward, honest, and unironic

it's a throwback to the pulp of the 1940s, and when i say that, i'm not talking about speech and clothing, i'm talking about worldview and attitude and theme

the world today is cynical and oh-so-knowing. the world back then was uncomplicated: good was good and evil was evil

now, pleae: don't get me wrong: abandoning modern day wordliness is not be a good idea for your ideological health

but in order to make an entertaining MOVIE, it works quite effectively

I like living under my rock

[captainpanic]

It's a good rock. Nice and cozy. It's a very selective rock. Blocks all kinds of advertisements, Hollywood spam and MTV rubbish.

I love my rock.

Re:Simply?

[PrescriptionWarning]

I concur, the movie wasn't great at all. You know its pretty bad when they use a montage for the first real action set that the Captain is in. And not a good montage in the least.

Re:Simply?

[elrous0]

You just described pretty much every superhero movie.

Dieselpunk

[tomewilson]

"The movie dripped with a cool 40s art style, with enough odd looking modernizations to make it all work. It wasn't steam punk. It wasn't art deco. It wasn't historically accurate. But it was awesome. Every aspect of the world was wonderfully realized to give us a parallel WWII that I totally bought into."

The style name your looking for is "dieselpunk."

It's like steampunk, but rooted in the years between WWI and the bombing of Hiroshima.

Re:Agreed

[basotl]

The quotes that stick out to me were more for displaying the depth of Steve Rogers character.
Jumps on a grenade and then realizes it doesn't go off:
Captain America/Steve Rogers: Is this a test?

Steve Rogers: "Why me?"
Dr. Abraham Erskine: "...because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power..."

Red Skull: What makes you so special?
Steve Rogers / Captain America: Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn.