Jason KingCaptain America: The First Avenger - A Review
July 27th 2011 08:48
:
Yay Chris Evans Ya Big Spunk :)
Category: Reviews
Thanks to Mitch for again stepping in for me to watch another great film. My new job is taking me beyond the normal hours of working and Salty writer Mitch has come through again - enjoy his review of the Captain American - can't wait to see it Mitch. Hope everyone has been well, missing my movies!!
SOME SPOILERS INCLUDED - SORRY
In a nut shel... This was one of those rare occasions where I found it
hard to suspend belief in some parts even though it wasn't necessarily
far fetched. Because they'd done a good job grounding things as close
to reality as possible, when it came time for superhero antics, it
seemed like a challenging contrast. I wanted to like the movie which I
definitely did... BUT for some reason, I still remain perplexed.
Based on the classic and exuberantly patriotic Marvel comic character,
"Captain America: The First Avenger" stars Chris Evans (Fantastic
Four) in the titular role as the perfect American hero, Steve Rogers.
Rogers begins his story in 1942 as a scrawny, malnourished looking man in New York who is filled with patriotic pride, courage, heart and
determination but riddled with health issues that automatically escort
him to the rejection line at every army enlistment tent he sneaks
into.
After witnessing such a strong desire to serve his country, German
scientist working for the U.S Government, Dr. Abraham Erskine (another
great performance from Stanley Tucci - Devil Wears Prada) recruits
Rogers into an intense training program led by both Colonel Chester
Phillips (played with an easily noticeable amount of fun by Tommy Lee
Jones) and Peggy Carter (the stunning Hayley Atwell).
This program weeds out the soldiers from the super soldiers for which
of course there can only be one. Much to Colonel Phillips' dismay,
Erskine chooses Steve Rogers after which Rogers is anxiously yet
willingly hooked up to a machine in Howard Starks (Iron Man's dad
played by Dominic Cooper) lab where he goes in scrawny and sick and
comes out at the peak of physical fitness. The experiment, while not
leaving him with necessarily "magical" superpowers, does however
evolve his body up to and far beyond the strength, smarts and
abilities of even the strongest, smartest and able person in the
world. He becomes the perfect super solider. However, due to an
incident that sees Rogers put to the test immediately, the formula is
destroyed thus making him the only super solider in the world.
After he is deemed to valuable to potentially lose on the
battlefields, his services are used to raise money and awareness of
the job that other soldiers are doing for the country. Unfulfilled,
Rogers wants more and after striking up a flirtatious relationship
with Peggy Carter who tells him he is destined for more, he takes it
upon himself to find and rescue a missing platoon. It is then that he
takes charge on another mission to stop Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving doing his best Arnold Schwarzanegger voice) who is a result of
a failed super-solider experiment which leaves him with a burned,
bloody red skull for a head. He intends to use a powerful tesseract, a
God-like cosmic cube, that he stole from the grave of a Norse warrior
("Thor" tie-in) for world domination.
"Captain America: The First Avenger" is directed by Joe Johnston who
also helmed Jurassic Park III, Jumanji and The Wolfman and written by
the writing duo behind The Chronicles of Narnia movies, Christopher
Markus and Stephen McFeely.
I liked this movie, really I did. I was merely annoyed with having to
constantly tell myself that he was a Marvel superhero and that all of
his great leaps and epic throws were part of the package. I am usually
the first to jump on peoples backs when they think super hero movies
are far-fetched (not that this is far-fetched and not that I was
scoffing at the screen), it's just, the whole set up was so grounded
in reality that when he came to doing superhero type stuff like
kicking people metres in the air and throwing them into explosions
etc... it was like a little slap in the face to wake myself up to the
fact that I was, after all, watching a superhero flick.
I'll be honest and say that I don't know a lot about Captain America.
This character, like Thor, for me has never been fully flushed out but
this story was well told and easy to follow without falling flat and
becoming repetitive and boring. There were a few moments that felt
like there was a scene or two missing though. When he finally gets his
main suit and shield and then all of a sudden there's a montage, it's
cool but it just seemed out of place.
Chris Evans is Captain America. 100%. I can only think of 2 other
people to play this role, George Clooney or Barack Obama. Purely
because they too are "every men". He embodies everything about one man that everyone, everywhere could ever like and makes the character so
likeable. Then again, I guess they wouldn't have cast him if he didn't
have this rapport with the audience.
Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black, No Country for Old Men) is a legend in this too. You easily tell he his having a ball playing the stubborn
Colonel and comes up with some cracking one liners. "If you have
something to say to me then right now would be the perfect time to
keep it to yourself."
Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) is just an
all-round awesome bad guy. He's never slipped up in that department.
He's like Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter). You can tell he had
fun hamming it up for his Red Skull role.. even if the make-up shat
me.
Hayley Atwell (The Duchess) is stunning as Peggy Carter. Her character
is hard as nut with a soft and vulnerable interior and while Atwell is
dolled up to perfectly embody the 1940's war woman, her performance
gets a little wooden at times. Kind of like the director needs to be
just off screen poking her with a stick to wake her up.
Joe Johnston, the director, has done a decent job with this movie. Not
fantastic but definitely kept it moving at least. It's not sloppily
directed, the flow is sometimes just interrupted, as I mentioned
before, by things that felt like they were either missing or where
something should've been. Maybe that's also to be attributed to the
editor but hey, as I said, it's not bad, it's just... noticeable.
Also, and this is just a personal thing but I can never suspend my
belief in movies where a character has a skull for a head. I know,
since technically every head is a skull obviously but you know what I
mean. I keep thinking, every time Red Skull opened his eyes, his
eyebrow bones moved and skulls don't move with your eyes. Nor do your lips (lips on a skull!!!) move when you talk let alone well enough to
form coherent syllables. I know, I know... it's a superhero movie and I
know I'm reeeeeaallly nit-picking now but it's one of the few things I
can never seem to let go of in movies.
However, this wasn't enough to exactly ruin the movie for me. It is a
good movie. The fight scenes are really well done and you really feel
every kick and punch. The stunts are cool. The special effects, while
they don't over indulge are great. Special mention to Chris Evans
playing both scrawny Steve and super Steve via way of grafting his
head onto the body of some poor scrawny 20 year old guy who must've
been stoked when his agent called and told him: "Congratulations,
you're going to play Steve Rogers in the upcoming Captain America
movie!! Only, no one will know it's you because your face will be
replaced with Chris Evans..."
The costumes and sets I thought were amazing. Really, really well
done. As 95% of it takes place in the 40's, achieving that overall
tone was executed impressively. Even in the HYDRA labs where if you
know Nazi's, then seeing hi-tech weaponry in such a period won't
really phase you as some of the stuff they were rumoured to have had
in their labs back then was quite insane. It makes for an interesting
contrast.
It runs for a touch over 2 hours and although in some parts it began
to feel like it was starting to get a little gluggy, it never really
actually slowed down to a point where I was getting restless.
Also, as much as it pains me to add, there's no point seeing this film
in 3D. There's no exceptional third dimensional qualities to it unless
you get a thrill watching the stars from the Paramount Pictures logo
come flying at you at the beginning of the movie, like me, then seeing
it in 2D won't hurt your chances of enjoying the film.
Be sure that you wait around till after the credits too (ending with
the very Bond-like "Captain America Will Return in The Avengers")
because in traditional Marvel fashion there is always a scene at the
very end and believe me... you do NOT want to miss this scene!!!
"Captain America: The First Avenger" is rated M and hits Aussie
cinemas on Thursday.
I happily award this movie: 7/10
SOME SPOILERS INCLUDED - SORRY
In a nut shel... This was one of those rare occasions where I found it
hard to suspend belief in some parts even though it wasn't necessarily
far fetched. Because they'd done a good job grounding things as close
to reality as possible, when it came time for superhero antics, it
seemed like a challenging contrast. I wanted to like the movie which I
definitely did... BUT for some reason, I still remain perplexed.
Based on the classic and exuberantly patriotic Marvel comic character,
"Captain America: The First Avenger" stars Chris Evans (Fantastic
Four) in the titular role as the perfect American hero, Steve Rogers.
Rogers begins his story in 1942 as a scrawny, malnourished looking man in New York who is filled with patriotic pride, courage, heart and
determination but riddled with health issues that automatically escort
him to the rejection line at every army enlistment tent he sneaks
into.
After witnessing such a strong desire to serve his country, German
scientist working for the U.S Government, Dr. Abraham Erskine (another
great performance from Stanley Tucci - Devil Wears Prada) recruits
Rogers into an intense training program led by both Colonel Chester
Phillips (played with an easily noticeable amount of fun by Tommy Lee
Jones) and Peggy Carter (the stunning Hayley Atwell).
This program weeds out the soldiers from the super soldiers for which
of course there can only be one. Much to Colonel Phillips' dismay,
Erskine chooses Steve Rogers after which Rogers is anxiously yet
willingly hooked up to a machine in Howard Starks (Iron Man's dad
played by Dominic Cooper) lab where he goes in scrawny and sick and
comes out at the peak of physical fitness. The experiment, while not
leaving him with necessarily "magical" superpowers, does however
evolve his body up to and far beyond the strength, smarts and
abilities of even the strongest, smartest and able person in the
world. He becomes the perfect super solider. However, due to an
incident that sees Rogers put to the test immediately, the formula is
destroyed thus making him the only super solider in the world.
After he is deemed to valuable to potentially lose on the
battlefields, his services are used to raise money and awareness of
the job that other soldiers are doing for the country. Unfulfilled,
Rogers wants more and after striking up a flirtatious relationship
with Peggy Carter who tells him he is destined for more, he takes it
upon himself to find and rescue a missing platoon. It is then that he
takes charge on another mission to stop Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving doing his best Arnold Schwarzanegger voice) who is a result of
a failed super-solider experiment which leaves him with a burned,
bloody red skull for a head. He intends to use a powerful tesseract, a
God-like cosmic cube, that he stole from the grave of a Norse warrior
("Thor" tie-in) for world domination.
"Captain America: The First Avenger" is directed by Joe Johnston who
also helmed Jurassic Park III, Jumanji and The Wolfman and written by
the writing duo behind The Chronicles of Narnia movies, Christopher
Markus and Stephen McFeely.
I liked this movie, really I did. I was merely annoyed with having to
constantly tell myself that he was a Marvel superhero and that all of
his great leaps and epic throws were part of the package. I am usually
the first to jump on peoples backs when they think super hero movies
are far-fetched (not that this is far-fetched and not that I was
scoffing at the screen), it's just, the whole set up was so grounded
in reality that when he came to doing superhero type stuff like
kicking people metres in the air and throwing them into explosions
etc... it was like a little slap in the face to wake myself up to the
fact that I was, after all, watching a superhero flick.
I'll be honest and say that I don't know a lot about Captain America.
This character, like Thor, for me has never been fully flushed out but
this story was well told and easy to follow without falling flat and
becoming repetitive and boring. There were a few moments that felt
like there was a scene or two missing though. When he finally gets his
main suit and shield and then all of a sudden there's a montage, it's
cool but it just seemed out of place.
Chris Evans is Captain America. 100%. I can only think of 2 other
people to play this role, George Clooney or Barack Obama. Purely
because they too are "every men". He embodies everything about one man that everyone, everywhere could ever like and makes the character so
likeable. Then again, I guess they wouldn't have cast him if he didn't
have this rapport with the audience.
Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black, No Country for Old Men) is a legend in this too. You easily tell he his having a ball playing the stubborn
Colonel and comes up with some cracking one liners. "If you have
something to say to me then right now would be the perfect time to
keep it to yourself."
Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) is just an
all-round awesome bad guy. He's never slipped up in that department.
He's like Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter). You can tell he had
fun hamming it up for his Red Skull role.. even if the make-up shat
me.
Hayley Atwell (The Duchess) is stunning as Peggy Carter. Her character
is hard as nut with a soft and vulnerable interior and while Atwell is
dolled up to perfectly embody the 1940's war woman, her performance
gets a little wooden at times. Kind of like the director needs to be
just off screen poking her with a stick to wake her up.
Joe Johnston, the director, has done a decent job with this movie. Not
fantastic but definitely kept it moving at least. It's not sloppily
directed, the flow is sometimes just interrupted, as I mentioned
before, by things that felt like they were either missing or where
something should've been. Maybe that's also to be attributed to the
editor but hey, as I said, it's not bad, it's just... noticeable.
Also, and this is just a personal thing but I can never suspend my
belief in movies where a character has a skull for a head. I know,
since technically every head is a skull obviously but you know what I
mean. I keep thinking, every time Red Skull opened his eyes, his
eyebrow bones moved and skulls don't move with your eyes. Nor do your lips (lips on a skull!!!) move when you talk let alone well enough to
form coherent syllables. I know, I know... it's a superhero movie and I
know I'm reeeeeaallly nit-picking now but it's one of the few things I
can never seem to let go of in movies.
However, this wasn't enough to exactly ruin the movie for me. It is a
good movie. The fight scenes are really well done and you really feel
every kick and punch. The stunts are cool. The special effects, while
they don't over indulge are great. Special mention to Chris Evans
playing both scrawny Steve and super Steve via way of grafting his
head onto the body of some poor scrawny 20 year old guy who must've
been stoked when his agent called and told him: "Congratulations,
you're going to play Steve Rogers in the upcoming Captain America
movie!! Only, no one will know it's you because your face will be
replaced with Chris Evans..."
The costumes and sets I thought were amazing. Really, really well
done. As 95% of it takes place in the 40's, achieving that overall
tone was executed impressively. Even in the HYDRA labs where if you
know Nazi's, then seeing hi-tech weaponry in such a period won't
really phase you as some of the stuff they were rumoured to have had
in their labs back then was quite insane. It makes for an interesting
contrast.
It runs for a touch over 2 hours and although in some parts it began
to feel like it was starting to get a little gluggy, it never really
actually slowed down to a point where I was getting restless.
Also, as much as it pains me to add, there's no point seeing this film
in 3D. There's no exceptional third dimensional qualities to it unless
you get a thrill watching the stars from the Paramount Pictures logo
come flying at you at the beginning of the movie, like me, then seeing
it in 2D won't hurt your chances of enjoying the film.
Be sure that you wait around till after the credits too (ending with
the very Bond-like "Captain America Will Return in The Avengers")
because in traditional Marvel fashion there is always a scene at the
very end and believe me... you do NOT want to miss this scene!!!
"Captain America: The First Avenger" is rated M and hits Aussie
cinemas on Thursday.
I happily award this movie: 7/10
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