Captain America

Short review: I loved this movie.

Beyond here, there are probably spoilers. I'm never certain what qualifies and what doesn't.

Long review: For whatever reason, Captain America is the only superhero flick this summer I was excited about. Thor mildly intrigued at best, and Green Lantern and X-Men: First Class held almost zero interest to me. Captain America? I'd been eagerly awaiting it for months. Which made me nervous. When I went to see Iron Man, I was just hoping it wouldn't be terrible. It wasn't, I loved it, but I wondered if my worries about it's quality made it look better than it was*. Now here was a film I was really excited for. Oh, what it sucked? My hopes and expectations would be crushed.

But that didn't happen. Woohoo! I loved this movie. Even the part where Steve's being used as a ridiculous symbol to get people to buy bonds, because I felt bad for him. The movie had made it clear how badly he wanted to help, and this was all he was getting to do. It does make the scene where he decides to go into enemy territory to rescue his friend all the better, though. I was really impressed with Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. I thought Evans did a good job in the Fantastic Four movies, but Johnny Storm isn't Captain America. Still, I thought he sold Steve's desire to help, his courage, the frustration he felt before the treatment and after (when he was thinking of himself as a costumed performing monkey). Actually, I liked everyone's performances. I kind of expected Bucky to be portrayed a little sneakier. Not like he's dishonest, just clever, crafty, but the plot didn't present opportunities for that, so I'm not laying it on Sebastian Stan.

Anytime I see Hugo Weaving in a film, after he finishes a line, I add "Mr. Anderson" on to the end of it. Not out loud (at least, not out loud in public), but in my head. What? I thought he delivered those two words very well, just the right hint of condescension and contempt. That aside, I thought Weaving was an excellent Skull. I liked the accent, the way he carried himself, walking tall, looking imposing, no doubt in him. Also, I like how, before he pulls off the mask, when Steve hits him, it's slightly dislodged, so we can see that hint of what's beneath around his right eye. I mean, I knew what was there already, but it's a nice touch. I was worried the red skull would look stupid, but I thought it looked good. I'm assuming it was makeup, and not CGI, so excellent work by the makeup crew.

I saw some people question Skull's motivations, but as I understood it, he wants to rule the world, but he's going to kill lots of people first, so everyone left will lose the will to fight. His big final plan was a Death Star style intimidation tactic. Go big or go home, I guess. He already believed himself part of a master race, and the serum amplified** that belief so that now he's superior even to that master race, and he's found and harnessed a weapon of the gods, which only feeds into that belief in his superiority, which is why he turns against Germany and includes them in the list of targets for his strike***.

Other random thoughts:

- After Steve receives the treatment, as he chases the saboteur, I liked how he rounded that corner but overestimated his speed and went through the window of the bridal store. It made sense he'd have to adjust to his body's new capabilities.

- I applauded Steve's ingenuity in getting the flag down.

- The nod to Steve being an artist - or at least liking to sketch - was a nice touch. He was a comic artist when I started reading comics so I'm used to the idea that Steve likes to draw, and that he's good at it.

- When Steve rescues Barnes and all those other soldiers, the Skull starts up the self-destruct sequences. Originally I thought that was horribly inefficient, to have what, 7 or 8 different self-destruct switches to have to hit. Then I realized it was actually German practicality. If necessary, they can blow up just certain parts of the compound, instead of the whole thing.

- The part where Barnes tries to wield the shield to protect Steve reminded me of Chuck Austen's Avengers run, of all things. Kelsey Leigh using Cap's shield to defend him from Thunderball's (actually an evil Black Knight in disguise) attack. Cap can brace himself and handle that sort of thing because he's stronger than a normal person. Little different when a non-enhanced person tries it.

- I was a little disappointed I never saw him bounce the shield off multiple Hydra agent heads in one throw, but I did get excited when he used the ricochet off the tank. Well that's the sort of thing I expect to see in a Captain America movie.

- I didn't realize Steve didn't know what "fondue" meant. I thought he was reading more into sharing cheese and bread than he ought to be.

- The fights between Cap and the Skull had a solidity to them. It wasn't a bunch of high-flying stuff where neither guy is fazed when the other lands a hit. Punches and kicks hurt, they got the wind knocked out of them, needed a few seconds to recover. A lot of times they lashed out with whatever was most convenient, nothing pretty about it. That was cool, very down and dirty. I thought the part where the bomber was out of control and the were fighting while on the ceiling didn't work quite as well. It seemed awkward, but in the sense that there were wires attached rather than because they're being bounced around on the ceiling while they're still trying to kill each other.

Slightly longer short review, but not a long review: I enjoyed Captain America so much, I'm having an internal argument with myself right now about whether to go back and see it again today. I'm not sure whether I like it more than Iron Man, but it is close. It's well ahead of any of the other superhero flicks I've ever seen, at least in recent memory****. As a movie to watch to have a good time, it worked incredibly well.

I'm still leery of The Avengers film, though. Gut feeling is it's going to be a big mess.

* I don't think that was the case, but it was a concern of mine at the time.

** The idea Super-Soldier Serum amplifies a person's inherent qualities, has that always been in the origin. Or was it something added for the movie to explain how the Red Skull was even more evil than Hitler?

*** I thought it was strange how Hydra had painted the names of the cities to be destroyed by their manned missile weapons on the outside of the weapons themselves. I know pilots named their plans and had the name painted on, but it seems sort of, I don't know, jaunty, for Hydra. I guess it ensured two pilots didn't hit the same city.

**** It's been a long time since I watched any of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and I can't recall how much I liked those. Little Kid Me might argue strongly in favor of the first one, I think.