"Captain America" - Directed by Joe Johnston
I vividly remember a day many years ago when my friend John and I were dropped off in Wellington to see a movie.
John's Mother took his sisters off to see "Pete's Dragon" and when our prospective films had finished we all drove home in the turquoise Hillman Avenger that was our faithful school holiday transport to movies.
John's sisters excitedly told us about the Dragon and Pete and some crap about what Dragony tomfoolery the pair of them had got up to together.
We in turn told them of a chase with a truck and a horse, a Nazi getting chopped up by an aeroplane propeller, a hero who shoots a sword wielding man in very unheroic fashion and a bunch of Nazi's getting their faces melted off.
The movie was of course "Raider's Of the Lost Ark".
The girls had seen some fluff about a cartoon dragon while we had seen a classic and one of the finest movies ever made.
So fine in fact that decades later it is still hard to make a movie about a dashing hero in World War 2 (or even outside of WW2) without being compared to it.
"Captain America" is not in the same league as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but damn is it a hell of a good time at the movies.
I hope that this movie is a sign of what is to come from Marvel Studio's because it does an awful lot of things right.
Firstly in handling one of the major Marvel character's it never forgets that that is what it is- a character.
Time is spent showing us skinny Steve Rogers and his plight to be accepted into military service. We see his strong friendship with James "Bucky" Barnes and we learn that his parents died serving their country.
We also see his courage in the face of overwhelming odds - he takes a beating rather than run from bullies.
The effects work that puts tall, bulked up Chris Evans head onto the scrawny Steve Rogers body is flawless- as it should be. You will not be taken out of the film by dodgy effects.
Evans deserves praise for his performance in both iterations- Steve Rogers and Captain America. He is a more serious character than the usual smart alec roles that Evans chooses (Fantastic 4, The Losers). I really liked his performance and he makes Steve a very sympathetic guy.
Casting all round is great.
Tommy Lee Jones is a slamdunk for Colonel Chester Phillips- he does gruff, tough and sarcastic better than anyone and he is just perfect in this role.
English actress Hayley Atwell brings exactly the right balance of va-voom and kaboom to her character Peggy Carter.
Peggy is an agent in the Strategic Scientific Reserve and also the love interest.
Atwell plays her strong, dedicated and professional without losing anything in the desirability stakes.
She's a hell of a shot too and I love that in a woman. The attraction between Steve and Peggy is really well handled. It's a fresh take on a tired staple of the genre and for once the woman is in control.
Great character played really nicely.
The always excellent Stanley Tucci is not in the movie for very long but he makes his mark providing some guidance and support that impacts on Steve Rogers as he undergoes the transformation into Captain America.
Once this has happened Cap gets his hand picked squad of rogues and they too are a wonderful bunch.
A veritable U.N of nationalities with a range of skills and character quirks, these guys are great.
I particularly liked Neal McDonough as 'Dum Dum' Dugan - excellent handlebar mustache!
I have to give special mention to Hugo Weaving who is perfectly evil as Johann Schmidt - aka 'Red Skull'. Weaving never goes overboard in portraying a Nazi scumbag as many actor's do. He is a nasty piece of work and in lesser hands the character could have been a horrible mess of cliche and overacting.
Those 'Raiders' comparisons really start to kick in as our heroes join the war effort. There is even a motorcycle chase that brings to mind the superb one in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".
Action wise there is a nice mix of shooting, shield swinging, vehicular chases and Nazi walloping.
Of course the Nazi's have all of the best toys with nifty little one man subs and fighterplanes, giant bombers, enormous tanks and disintegration guns.
There are plenty of shots of Captain America jumping through flames, leaping off giant tanks as they explode and beating the crap out of krauts. I loved the climactic aerial action sequence- the aeroplane designs are incredible.
The movie never forgets its comic book roots but is never condescending about it. The source material is respected and honoured. You would hope so given that this is a Marvel production but it is not always the case.
The production design is utterly phenomenal and the entire movie looks fantastic.
Whether you see this in standard or 3D is a line call.
The 3D is okay but I suspect that the wonderful production design will look more vivid and even better unencumbered by the darkness that the 3D glasses bring.
Either way it does such a great job of sucking you into the time period and the unfolding events and characters that even though it is a decent forty five minutes before Captain America appears you barely notice.
It's just a tremendous amount of fun.
Of course a lot of the point of "Captain America" is to bring the character into the modern age to join the rest of the Avengers for their upcoming dream team debut.
However it doesn't make the mistakes that "Iron Man 2" did in forgetting to be a great story in its own right.
On the subject of The Avengers - do NOT leave the cinema until the very end of the credits- there is a nice bonus for you.
I liked this movie a hell of a lot and it really makes me impatient for that Avengers movie.
I want to see how Captain America fits in with Iron Man and Thor and how they will use their powers together.
If this is any indication of what is to come we are in for a real treat come May next year.
"Captain America" creates a compelling world filled with truly great characters and good old fashioned action realised by the wonders of modern effects and cinematography.
Director Joe Johnston has been threatening to make a movie this good since "Rocketeer" and as much as I love that movie he has clearly made his best film with this one.
I hope that he is given more material like this to do- I am sure he has a lot more to show us.
"Captain America" should be considered the new benchmark for how to handle Marvel properties. It may not quite hit the highs of "X2: X-Men United" and "Spider-Man 2" but it is close.
It is slick, exciting, pretty as hell and a silly amount of fun. It captures a lot of the feel of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
Loved it.
Rated M because shock, horror... people get killed!
John's Mother took his sisters off to see "Pete's Dragon" and when our prospective films had finished we all drove home in the turquoise Hillman Avenger that was our faithful school holiday transport to movies.
John's sisters excitedly told us about the Dragon and Pete and some crap about what Dragony tomfoolery the pair of them had got up to together.
We in turn told them of a chase with a truck and a horse, a Nazi getting chopped up by an aeroplane propeller, a hero who shoots a sword wielding man in very unheroic fashion and a bunch of Nazi's getting their faces melted off.
The movie was of course "Raider's Of the Lost Ark".
The girls had seen some fluff about a cartoon dragon while we had seen a classic and one of the finest movies ever made.
So fine in fact that decades later it is still hard to make a movie about a dashing hero in World War 2 (or even outside of WW2) without being compared to it.
"Captain America" is not in the same league as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but damn is it a hell of a good time at the movies.
I hope that this movie is a sign of what is to come from Marvel Studio's because it does an awful lot of things right.
Time is spent showing us skinny Steve Rogers and his plight to be accepted into military service. We see his strong friendship with James "Bucky" Barnes and we learn that his parents died serving their country.
We also see his courage in the face of overwhelming odds - he takes a beating rather than run from bullies.
The effects work that puts tall, bulked up Chris Evans head onto the scrawny Steve Rogers body is flawless- as it should be. You will not be taken out of the film by dodgy effects.
Evans deserves praise for his performance in both iterations- Steve Rogers and Captain America. He is a more serious character than the usual smart alec roles that Evans chooses (Fantastic 4, The Losers). I really liked his performance and he makes Steve a very sympathetic guy.
Casting all round is great.
Tommy Lee Jones is a slamdunk for Colonel Chester Phillips- he does gruff, tough and sarcastic better than anyone and he is just perfect in this role.
English actress Hayley Atwell brings exactly the right balance of va-voom and kaboom to her character Peggy Carter.
 |
| Peggy Carter.... ka-boom..... |
Atwell plays her strong, dedicated and professional without losing anything in the desirability stakes.
She's a hell of a shot too and I love that in a woman. The attraction between Steve and Peggy is really well handled. It's a fresh take on a tired staple of the genre and for once the woman is in control.
 |
| And Va-voom! |
Once this has happened Cap gets his hand picked squad of rogues and they too are a wonderful bunch.
A veritable U.N of nationalities with a range of skills and character quirks, these guys are great.
I particularly liked Neal McDonough as 'Dum Dum' Dugan - excellent handlebar mustache!
Those 'Raiders' comparisons really start to kick in as our heroes join the war effort. There is even a motorcycle chase that brings to mind the superb one in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".
Action wise there is a nice mix of shooting, shield swinging, vehicular chases and Nazi walloping.
There are plenty of shots of Captain America jumping through flames, leaping off giant tanks as they explode and beating the crap out of krauts. I loved the climactic aerial action sequence- the aeroplane designs are incredible.
The movie never forgets its comic book roots but is never condescending about it. The source material is respected and honoured. You would hope so given that this is a Marvel production but it is not always the case.
The production design is utterly phenomenal and the entire movie looks fantastic.
Whether you see this in standard or 3D is a line call.
Either way it does such a great job of sucking you into the time period and the unfolding events and characters that even though it is a decent forty five minutes before Captain America appears you barely notice.
It's just a tremendous amount of fun.
Of course a lot of the point of "Captain America" is to bring the character into the modern age to join the rest of the Avengers for their upcoming dream team debut.
On the subject of The Avengers - do NOT leave the cinema until the very end of the credits- there is a nice bonus for you.
I liked this movie a hell of a lot and it really makes me impatient for that Avengers movie.
I want to see how Captain America fits in with Iron Man and Thor and how they will use their powers together.
If this is any indication of what is to come we are in for a real treat come May next year.
"Captain America" creates a compelling world filled with truly great characters and good old fashioned action realised by the wonders of modern effects and cinematography.
I hope that he is given more material like this to do- I am sure he has a lot more to show us.
"Captain America" should be considered the new benchmark for how to handle Marvel properties. It may not quite hit the highs of "X2: X-Men United" and "Spider-Man 2" but it is close.
It is slick, exciting, pretty as hell and a silly amount of fun. It captures a lot of the feel of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
Loved it.
Rated M because shock, horror... people get killed!
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