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Title: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: InformationGeek on July 22, 2011, 10:19:57 PM So I just got back from Captain America and I must say, that was incredibly enjoyable and fun. It's the story of Steve Rogers, a little wimpy guy from Brooklyn, who becomes apart of the Super Soldier program that turns him into one of the greatest supheroes ever, Captain America. That's the abridged verison mind you, I'm not say anymore than that other than the fact that the story was great (It's not like the director hasn't done any other superhero movies set in WWII). The story also had some solid and great writing in this film, probably the best I've seen in any comic book movie recently. Tommy Lee Jones probably had some of the best lines in the film.
Starting from the top, the characters were all good and solid, allowing me to get a sense of who they are and what they are like. The acting helped as well and I am happy to say everyone turned in a great preformance. Shockingly, no bit of hammy or cheesy dialogue anywhere like I thought there would be. Set design, costumes, visuals, and much more really helped the feeling and mood of the era this was taking place in (I loved the 40's propaganda musical number they had). The use of CGI was pretty flawless in some scenes. For example, Chris Evans [Captain America] was digitally reduced in size to show the character when he first started off and it was incredible. I was looking hard at him trying to see if there was any obvious flaws with it, but I couldn't see anything. Bravo movie, bravo. Finally, the 3D. It was a post converted one, so basically the film was made first and had 3D inserted. Frankly, it was actually pretty good and help with the visuals. You don't need to see it in 3D, but you wouldn't feel disappointed if you did. Now, what about the action? This is a superhero movie after all. It was awesome and stellar. No choppy editing to ruin the pacing and no overuse of slow-mo (It was used now and then, but at the right points). The movie also had a ton of action scenes, so there was no way you were going to easily lose focus or have your mind drift off. Also, it had some great death scenes, two of which sort of remind me of Raiders of the Lost Ark. If I had to point out a flaw with the film, it's the soundtrack for me. It was good and all, but nothing feels really rememberable or really sticks with you after the film, with the except of the musical number I brought up. This was a great summer movie, comic book movie, and just a good movie in general. Probably the third best I saw this year so far and is the only one that really makes me want to buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray once it hits stores. I highly recommend this movie all of you who wants to see a really good superhero film. It's the last one for a while and probably would make up for the Green Lantern film if you didn't like it. I say check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J3HfllvXWE Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Vik on July 23, 2011, 01:12:50 PM The WWII setting appeals to me, but I really hate Chris Evans as an actor. Looks good besides that, though probably formulaic.
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: InformationGeek on July 23, 2011, 01:16:02 PM The WWII setting appeals to me, but I really hate Chris Evans as an actor. After seeing this movie, Chris Evans is a good actor. It's hard to explain, but this movie really shows how good he can be. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: WilliamWeird1313 on July 23, 2011, 06:02:45 PM The only real weaknesses I felt that stood out in this movie were: 1- It felt more like a prologue to The Avengers than an actual full-fledged movie of its own. I wish it would have been given (after the portion that covers Cap's origin story) a stronger plot and been allowed to stand on its own legs rather than acting as little more than an admittedly exceptional and entertaining lead-in to The Avengers. Thor suffered a little from this same problem, but not to the same extent. Thor had a much more complete plot and a more well thought-out narrative structure. 2- Things felt a bit rushed after Cap's origin is told. Once he's suited up proper and fighting the bad guys, I felt like his subsequent vignette-oriented missions against Hydra could've been replaced with a more dramatic, exciting, well-written linear plot progression instead of the disconnected glimpses of a larger struggle that we're afforded. 3- This ties in with both of my previous points. I felt like the conflict between Cap and the Red Skull wasn't really well-formed. Aside from Cap being the good guy and RS being the bad guy, they never really had any meaningful reasons to hate each other. And their final battle was underwhelming (at least for me), in part BECAUSE of the fact that there was little dramatic resonance between the two men clashing. Having said all that, I still feel that this has been one of the better Marvel movies of the past few years, with many positive elements (I especially dug the way they integrated the actual comic book and Cap's status as an American mascot into the story) and I, of course, eagerly await The Avengers. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: The Burgomaster on July 24, 2011, 05:31:54 PM I thought this was an average comic book movie. Better than GREEN LANTERN, not as good as THOR. Chris Evans was decent, but Tommy Lee Jones provided the stand-out performance. I'd call it CAPTAIN A-"MEH"-RICA. (By the way, I HATE when people say or type "meh," but it fits so well here). :wink:
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Hammock Rider on July 25, 2011, 12:42:43 PM I saw it yesterday and I still feel like punching some nazis. :thumbup:
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on July 25, 2011, 04:32:24 PM I love Cap, and can't wait to go see it. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: WingedSerpent on July 25, 2011, 05:11:14 PM I plan on seeing this sometime this week.
3- This ties in with both of my previous points. I felt like the conflict between Cap and the Red Skull wasn't really well-formed. Aside from Cap being the good guy and RS being the bad guy, they never really had any meaningful reasons to hate each other. And their final battle was underwhelming (at least for me), in part BECAUSE of the fact that there was little dramatic resonance between the two men clashing. In a strange way, that might almost be a plus. Yes, it might not be dramatic enough but it is a little more realistic. Not every hero has or needs some deep routed connection to the bad guy to fight. And franky, it can get cliche and I've even seen it thrown into some movies where it really made no sense. If I ever make an action movie, a scene might go a little something like this: Hero: Now I've got you. This is for KILLING MY FATHER!!! Villian: Uhhh...that wasn't me. Hero: Yes it was, You killed him 15 years ago. I've spent all that time training to get you. Villian: Was your father killed by some 14 year old kid living in St. Louis? Hero: Well. uhmm...no, not really....we were lving in Pittsburg. Villian: So yeah. Wasn't me. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Allhallowsday on July 25, 2011, 11:49:06 PM The WWII setting appeals to me, but I really hate Chris Evans as an actor. After seeing this movie, Chris Evans is a good actor. It's hard to explain, but this movie really shows how good he can be. I didn't think it was great, and could have paid less for our tix and skipped the 3D... !!! Movie kind of silly. Still, I enjoyed it; some great action sequences. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: The Burgomaster on July 26, 2011, 08:18:44 AM One thing I liked about it was it included Nick Fury's Howling Commandos (although, they didn't make a big deal about telling the audience who these guys were and people who aren't familiar with those comics wouldn't know). Dum Dum Dugan was perfect.
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: trekgeezer on July 26, 2011, 09:13:50 AM I really liked the movie. It was done in the old school style with clear cut good guys and bad guys.
I read somewhere that Evans has signed on to a 6 picture deal with Marvel, and the producers are saying Cap will be back in his own movies as well as the Avengers. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Doggett on July 26, 2011, 09:17:54 AM I liked the singing on stage with the dancing girls.
:cheers: I was rather surprised at the lack of action, but it was kinda cool and having Tony Stark's dad in it was a pretty cool touch. The whole art design of this film was great too. The bad guys were delightfully evil and and who doesn't like Toby Jones??? Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Ted C on July 28, 2011, 01:47:20 PM I felt like the conflict between Cap and the Red Skull wasn't really well-formed. Aside from Cap being the good guy and RS being the bad guy, they never really had any meaningful reasons to hate each other. And their final battle was underwhelming (at least for me), in part BECAUSE of the fact that there was little dramatic resonance between the two men clashing. They shouldn't have any more reason to hate each other. They have lived entirely separate lives up to this point. There's nothing personal about their relationship, yet. They have sharply conflicting goals and ideologies, but they don't have a "history" that makes them really hate each other yet (although the Skull is obviously getting there by the end of this movie). Too many movies want to make the relationship between the hero and the villain personal right away. One of the things I hated about Tim Burton's Batman was that they made the Joker into the guy who shot Bruce Wayne's parents. Huge mistake: the guy who shot the Waynes was supposed to be a nobody, a nameless symbol of the criminal element. Batman exists to fight crime in general, not the Joker in particular. Similarly, it was stupid to make the Sandman into the guy that shot Uncle Ben in Spiderman 3. If you attach the formative event of the hero's life to a particular person, then the demise of that person undermines the hero's motivations ever after. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Archivist on August 09, 2011, 12:31:19 AM Too many movies want to make the relationship between the hero and the villain personal right away. One of the things I hated about Tim Burton's Batman was that they made the Joker into the guy who shot Bruce Wayne's parents. Huge mistake: the guy who shot the Waynes was supposed to be a nobody, a nameless symbol of the criminal element. Batman exists to fight crime in general, not the Joker in particular. Similarly, it was stupid to make the Sandman into the guy that shot Uncle Ben in Spiderman 3. If you attach the formative event of the hero's life to a particular person, then the demise of that person undermines the hero's motivations ever after. That's one of the best observations about character motivation I've seen in ages. Good stuff. I am really looking forward to seeing this one, although my usual movie-friend is busy with restructuring at work and expecting their first child, so what's a guy going to do? Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: dean on August 09, 2011, 03:04:07 AM I found it fun but a little lacking in the plot department. Far too much of lil' Steve being a weakling, which I know is important, but too much of a focus on that meant that building the main climax suffered: the best action sequences were essentially given to us in montage form! They could have easily spent more time developing the 'hero' side of Steve in a better way, the montage, whilst looked cool, was essentially a lazy way to propel the plot forward... **Spoilers** That and Zola came across as a bit of a weak minded fool; he came across more as a scientist bullied into things by the Red Skull when his real motivations were much more sinister. Although it hints at it with the scene with Bucky tied to the chair in the lab, they could have been less subtle with the reference... **end spoilers** In any case I had fun with it, but Thor to me had a much tighter and better developed plot. This one felt more like the movie they had to make before the Avengers came out, so it's all origin story, which is all well and good, but it felt like the filmmakers were just pushing out some important plot points to help propel the story in The Avengers, rather than creating something that can stand alone. I'd give it a solid 3/5 and it had some of the better uses of 3D in film I've seen of late [great depth in the fog for example] but it's not as brilliant as I hoped it would be. Still worth a watch though, maybe I'm just being a bit too critical. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Vik on August 31, 2011, 02:37:41 AM Saw it. Thought it was decent but rather hackneyed. 3/5
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: alandhopewell on August 31, 2011, 09:41:05 AM So I just got back from Captain America and I must say, that was incredibly enjoyable and fun. It's the story of Steve Rogers, a little wimpy guy from Brooklyn, who becomes apart of the Super Soldier program that turns him into one of the greatest supheroes ever, Captain America. That's the abridged verison mind you, I'm not say anymore than that other than the fact that the story was great (It's not like the director hasn't done any other superhero movies set in WWII). The story also had some solid and great writing in this film, probably the best I've seen in any comic book movie recently. Tommy Lee Jones probably had some of the best lines in the film. Starting from the top, the characters were all good and solid, allowing me to get a sense of who they are and what they are like. The acting helped as well and I am happy to say everyone turned in a great preformance. Shockingly, no bit of hammy or cheesy dialogue anywhere like I thought there would be. Set design, costumes, visuals, and much more really helped the feeling and mood of the era this was taking place in (I loved the 40's propaganda musical number they had). The use of CGI was pretty flawless in some scenes. For example, Chris Evans [Captain America] was digitally reduced in size to show the character when he first started off and it was incredible. I was looking hard at him trying to see if there was any obvious flaws with it, but I couldn't see anything. Bravo movie, bravo. Finally, the 3D. It was a post converted one, so basically the film was made first and had 3D inserted. Frankly, it was actually pretty good and help with the visuals. You don't need to see it in 3D, but you wouldn't feel disappointed if you did. Now, what about the action? This is a superhero movie after all. It was awesome and stellar. No choppy editing to ruin the pacing and no overuse of slow-mo (It was used now and then, but at the right points). The movie also had a ton of action scenes, so there was no way you were going to easily lose focus or have your mind drift off. Also, it had some great death scenes, two of which sort of remind me of Raiders of the Lost Ark. If I had to point out a flaw with the film, it's the soundtrack for me. It was good and all, but nothing feels really rememberable or really sticks with you after the film, with the except of the musical number I brought up. This was a great summer movie, comic book movie, and just a good movie in general. Probably the third best I saw this year so far and is the only one that really makes me want to buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray once it hits stores. I highly recommend this movie all of you who wants to see a really good superhero film. It's the last one for a while and probably would make up for the Green Lantern film if you didn't like it. I say check it out. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J3HfllvXWE[/url] I saw it a couple weeks ago, and I must admit that I went in with a bone to pick, i.e. the alteration of the costume; I wanted the standard Timely/Atlas/Marvel model. (http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters/captain-america-borisfix.jpg) However, as the film progressed, I saw this as a minor quibble....this was the picture I'd waited forty years to see. It's one thing to dress an actor in a costume, and tell him, "Go play _________", and an entirely different thing to give a loving audience the hero they'd grown up with. This film does that, in spades. This is the #1 film I've seen, not just this summer, but this year. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Chainsawmidget on August 31, 2011, 11:21:59 AM Quote 3- This ties in with both of my previous points. I felt like the conflict between Cap and the Red Skull wasn't really well-formed. Aside from Cap being the good guy and RS being the bad guy, they never really had any meaningful reasons to hate each other. And their final battle was underwhelming (at least for me), in part BECAUSE of the fact that there was little dramatic resonance between the two men clashing. Red Skull is a Nazi.* hey hate everything and it's perfectly okay to want to punch them in the face.What more do you need? *At least in the comics. I have yet to see the movie, but doubt they changed that part much. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: odinn7 on August 31, 2011, 04:46:50 PM I had just decided to add this to Netflix and wait it out. While on vacation, the wife and kid were off doing something I had no interest in and the theater at the place was showing this film so I decided to kill some time. I was actually glad that I did. As it turned out, the film was way more than I expected. It wasn't the best superhero film I've ever seen but I had a great time watching it and look forward to more.
On a side note...Some people came in about 35-40 minutes into it (why would you even bother?) and obviously missed the beginning. After the movie was over, I heard them complaining that the ending was stupid and made no sense...and wasn't really needed. See what coming in late will do for you? lol Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Hammock Rider on August 31, 2011, 04:51:23 PM I liked the singing on stage with the dancing girls. :cheers: I was rather surprised at the lack of action, but it was kinda cool and having Tony Stark's dad in it was a pretty cool touch. The whole art design of this film was great too. The bad guys were delightfully evil and and who doesn't like Toby Jones??? I agree. I'd actually go see a Howard Stark movie. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: tracy on September 03, 2011, 12:40:56 PM All I can say is....I loved it! It was full of action and good old fashioned butt-kicking.
Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on October 17, 2011, 01:16:01 PM Saw it yesterday... a rell done action flick with out many gimmicks that ruin so many other movies.(I'm looking at YOU Michael Bay). I have to say I really loved it. But I love Cap... both the Marvel version and the Ultimate version. Can't wait for Avengers, and plan to get to Thor now.
I call it good High Adventure! -Ed Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: The Burgomaster on October 17, 2011, 04:55:45 PM At least the costume in this movie was better than the Reb Brown TV movie costume:
(http://www.comicsbulletin.com/foom/images/1002/captainamerica1979.jpg) WTF??????????????????? Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on October 17, 2011, 05:28:11 PM But the blastic shield that Reb used was SO much cooler... Check out Ken Begg's review from his archive site:
http://www.jabootu.com/capam.htm -Ed Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: The Burgomaster on October 18, 2011, 10:01:34 AM But the blastic shield that Reb used was SO much cooler... Check out Ken Begg's review from his archive site: [url]http://www.jabootu.com/capam.htm[/url] -Ed Maybe cooler, but not the same shield he used in the comic books! I remember when Tony Stark modified Cap's shield by adding some high-tech gadgetry to make it more accurate when Cap threw it. After awhile, Cap had Tony remove the gadgetry because it messed up the shield's balance and Cap preferred using the shield without any "add-ons." Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on October 18, 2011, 12:04:57 PM There are two shield moments I just love in the comics.
1) When Cap is trapped in the Smithsonian without any gear, and stumbles on his WWII gear and uses the steel kite shield in figh toff the bad guys. 2) One of of Bucky-Cap's first outings in the suit, he's attacked by AIM thugs, throws the shield and it goes wild, the guys start laughing and Bucky-Cap kneecaps em with his pistol. -Ed Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: tracy on October 18, 2011, 01:05:09 PM At least the costume in this movie was better than the Reb Brown TV movie costume: ([url]http://www.comicsbulletin.com/foom/images/1002/captainamerica1979.jpg[/url]) WTF??????????????????? Oh,dear....he looks like he's about to fight Speed Buggy. Title: Re: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Post by: Mr. DS on November 24, 2011, 11:35:14 AM I just got around to seeing it, I really liked it a lot. I really have nothing much more to add oddly.
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