Captain America

[DanielJones]

Just got back from seeing Captan America. Wow, I think that this is the best one thus far in the Marvel Franchise introducing an Avenger. The costuming was fantastic, especially the civilian wear. The sets were outstanding. The New York Worlds Fair I thought was a nice touch too. Made me wish my Pop was here to see it to get his thoughts on it since he had gone to the New York Wolds Fair back then. Howard stark, you see a lot of Tony Stark there and now I see where he got his reactor from. Pretty cool.

Of course one of my favorite parts was the Stan Lee Cameo. Nice touch there. Also I loved the addition of Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan. I wonder if he will play a part in The Avengers next summer as agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Maybe he too will have received the Infinity Formula. Who knows.

Anyway, I can't wait for The Avengers next summer. Should be an interesting film.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[flat-top]

Oh and did anyone notice the Human Torch (not Chris Evans) was in the film for just a moment? I'm talking about the golden era version Torch, who was a synthetic human being that would catch fire when exposed to oxygen. He was visible in his glass dome just before Steve and Bucky watch Stark's presentation at the world's fair. I geeked right out.

That Human Torch also went on to fight Nazis as a member of The Invaders!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invaders_(comics)

 

[chanteuseCarey]

The Mr. and I just saw CA yesterday, and we both LOVED it!! Not much familiar with other Marvel franchise movies (other than watching the DVD of Iron Man recently, which I also liked) or the comic books, but having seen the Cap trailer months ago, and video interview teasers it was a must go see film on my list! Loved the WWII era look of the sets and contraptions, thought the actors cast for this all looked 'spot on' for the period feel. Would have liked to heard period songs used in the film though...

The Mr. grew up reading the CA comics. For years the Mr. has said that if he ever got a tattoo, it would be of Captain America. He'll never get one, but he's got a son and a daughter that are both tattoo artists, just in case.

 

[Alex]

Just saw it. Pretty good movie! Haven't really seen any of the other Avenger movies so I can't really compare.
It was exactly what I expected honestly, and I wasn't disappointed. Well I was disappointed with some of the hats shown. Lots of taper and low crowns don't really represent the early 40s from what I know. But I'm a lounger, and one that frequents the hat section, so of course I'm going to critique the hats But I'm no expert.

Overall good superhero flick! I don't think you'll be let down at all by this one.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Just saw it today and really liked it. Grew up reading most of the Marvel titles in the sixties, Cap, Fury and Howlin' Commandos, Agent of SHIELD, etc. As the earlier posts show, there is a lot of continuity questions even within the Marvel histories. Nonetheless, enjoyed the movie, and Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull was outstanding. It was odd, though, to see Truman Capote cast as Dr. Arnim Zola.

 

[Mr Vim]

I was just reading a review at Rotten Tomatoes, and one set of words really pleased me "The period setting worked..."
I wish more comic book films would be set in their original period.

 

[DanielJones]

It was odd, though, to see Truman Capote cast as Dr. Arnim Zola.

Funny thing is, Toby Jones is the actor that does the voice of Dobby the house elf in the Harry Potter films too. And recently he was in an episode of Doctor Who. So I was getting visuals, not of Truman Capote but of a little house elf. And of course he will also be in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and does a voice in The Adventures of Tin Tin. Quite a busy character actor. You never know where he'll show up next.

But yeah, he does have that Truman Capote look to him here. Sort of looks like his portrayal in Infamous.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Doctor Strange]

I saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it. My inner 13-year-old totally loved it. My adult self had a few very minor complaints. Thoughts:

Casting - Chris Evans was outstanding - who knew that he could totally turn off the snark and play it so beautfilly, old-fashionedly straight? His perfect casting made the film work - as with Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel's earlier flicks. Stanley Tucci brilliantly stole the first act and brought a boatload of emotion and intelligence in just a few minutes of screen time. Tommy Lee Jones did his usual gruff schtick effortlessly. Hugo Weaving and Toby Jones handled the villain duties with aplomb. And Hayley Atwill is a goddess! She nearly made her (realistically) extremely unlikely role believable, and looked smashing doing it...

Action - Very, very well done. They had Cap believably doing those incredible Kirby leaps, freight-train power punches, and boomerang shield-throws! No complaints in this department.

Continuity and geekery - Nice reimagining of Bucky as a buddy rather than a sidekick. And it was very clever making the Cosmic Cube an Asgardian artifact, thus tying it into Thor and (ultimately) setting up Loki as the villain in The Avengers. I loved the portrayal of young Howard Stark as very much the same kind of flashy technical genius as his son. The quick shot of the android Human Torch in his glass container at the fair was right out of Marvels. And the Red Skull's sort-of reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark (his dismissive "And Hitler digs for trinkets in the desert...") was funny. And was I the only one flashing on the Fleischer Superman cartoon "The Billion-Dollar Limited" when they were running atop the speeding train?

Stylization/production design/costumes - This was the only area where I wasn't entirely pleased. There was some good deco design work, but some of it was way off. The clothes were pretty good, with minor issues. (T-shirts weren't printed back then, even/especially with the logo of a super-secret Army project.) I much preferred Cap's cloth show-biz costume, which hewed closely to his original design: the tactical gear that he wore in the last third of the film was quite unrealistic to WWII-era military stuff. But I was most bothered by the technology...

It was simply not retro enough. Stark's equipment was good at the control panels, but far too sleekly futuristic at the serum/vita ray chamber. And even with the Cosmic Cube power source, all of Hydra's equipment was far too futuristic - even if they had death rays, they should have been housed in clunkier forties-tech rifles. I wanted to see more wood, industrial gauges, clunky cables and cords, gooseneck lamps... Even the self-destruct countdown device was wrong - it should have been nixie lights, not seventies digital clock flip-over tech. And much of the background architectural stuff - light switches and fixtures, doors - used too contemporary designs and methods. A more raygun gothic, Sky Captain-type design approach should have been used on the technology.

My only other complaint is that, like the other excellent fantasy flicks I've seen this summer (Thor and Harry Potter), it should have been 15 minutes longer!

 

[scottyrocks]

Even the self-destruct countdown device was wrong - it should have been nixie lights, not seventies digital clock flip-over tech.

Yeah, as I was looking at that, all I could think of was the B&W clock-TV my parents got me in 1973.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Did anyone else catch the Avengers trailer after the credits?

 

[scottyrocks]

Did anyone else catch the Avengers trailer after the credits?

Yes, I always stay all the way through the end credits so I saw the trailer. Didn't show much, but then it wasn't supposed to at this point. Just a little tease.

 

[Doctor Strange]

The one thing in the brief Avengers tease that made me geek-squeal was Thor's costume. It's apparently closer to the Kirby original than the one from Thor: it features bare arms with red and blue vambraces.

SPOILERS BELOW

A couple of things I've gleaned about The Avengers (or future Captain America or Thor sequels) from the TV Tropes wiki:

The female SHIELD agent playacting the nurse when Steve awakens in the present is listed as appearing in next year's film... as Sharon Carter! (Peggy's niece and Steve's girlfriend in 1960s-set Captain America and Nick Fury comics.)

Since (as I said in my review above) they cleverly treat the Cosmic Cube as an Asgardian device, am I the only one who noticed that when the Red Skull handles it during the climactic fight, he doesn't just vaporize/explode, but appears to experience a Bifrost transit? Looks like we haven't seen the last of him... though Hugo Weaving doesn't appear on the IMDB cast list for The Avengers (yet).

 

[Mr Vim]

Well IMDB is fan written, so Red Skull may sneak in there.

I think he'll return and what a great thrill that will be.

 

[DanielJones]

I think too that the Cosmic Cube was also the inspiration for Howard Starks reactor in the First Iron Man film, seeing the he was the one to recover it. At least with the blue glow it gave off it looked very similar.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Edward]

I watched it last week, and very much enjoyed it. I went into it with an open mind, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked. It was certainly a modern retelling in the handling of the propaganda world and so on; I also loved the emphasis placed on his mind, his compassion - "I don't want to kill anyone, I just hate bullies. Wherever they come from." I enjoyed that they weren't afraid to get him out there with a gun, they didn't pull any punches about this being war therefore he kills people.... Well handled. I also loved both the suits (and shields). The stage costume was a perfect realisation of how the classic, comic costume would have looked had it been actually made in the Forties (I desperately want the top half of the body section, exactly the same, but without the trousers or the 'hood', as a sweater). The combat oriented, second go at the uniform was great, really worked, and I loved the look of the round shield - very much metallic rather than plastic. Also loved the characterisation in him when his first reaction to the new shield and what it can do is "why doesn't everyone have one of these?"

Dr Strange is right that some of the tech could have been more 'period', but on the whole, very well done, Marvel.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Edward, you hit it the nail completely on the head with your review here.

I watched it last week, and very much enjoyed it. I went into it with an open mind, and was pleasantly surprise d by how well it worked. It was certainly a modern retelling in the handling of the propaganda world and so on; I also loved the emphasis placed on his mind, his compassion - "I don't want to kill anyone, I just hate bullies. Wherever they come from." I enjoyed that they weren't afraid to get him out there with a gun, they didn't pull any punches about this being war therefore he kills people.... Well handled. I also loved both the suits (and shields). The stage costume was a perfect realisation of how the classic, comic costume would have looked had it been actually made in the Forties (I desperately want the top half of the body section, exactly the same, but without the trousers or the 'hood', as a sweater). The combat oriented, second go at the uniform was great, really worked, and I loved the look of the round shield - very much metallic rather than plastic. Also loved the characterisation in him when his first reaction to the new shield and what it can do is "why doesn't everyone have one of these?"

Dr Strange is right that some of the tech could have been more 'period', but on the whole, very well done, Marvel.

 

[Chasseur]

Well said Edward. As an avid reader of the comis in the late 1980s and early 1990s I was really looking forward to this one. They also did it really well. It could have easily been VERY, VERY cheesey and bad (remember the early 1990s one....). Hugo was really a first class choice for a Red Skill, easily my favorite Marvel villian. I had doubts about Chris Evans in the lead based off his awful performances in those awful Fantastic Four movies, but he did a nice understanded approach that worked well.

Set design and the retro-futurism was generally done well. The Flying Wing and the manned Hydra rockets were great at the end. But some of the Hydra stuff lacked a Art Deco-Moderne flavor as others have mentioned. The USO stuff was great. Hayley Atwell was also good and easy on the eyes.

Just waiting for Crossbones and Diamond Back to appear in the Avengers (I know I will not hold by breath...).

 

[Doctor Strange]

Okay, I'm geeking out! Spy photos of next year's The Avengers location shooting in NYC!

http://www.superherohype.com/gallery/the-avengers

In one gallery, they're mostly in costume (including Cap!) at the Park Avenue Viaduct. In the other, they're mostly in street clothes (well, not Thor and Loki!) at Bethesda Terrace. Note Steve Rogers on a motorcycle wearing an A-2 knockoff towards the end of the longer set.

Between how well the latest crop of Marvel flicks has turned out (well, not Iron Man 2!) and my faith in Joss Whedon as a more intelligent-than-average director, I'm very psyched. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

 

[LocktownDog]

Calm down, pal. You're hyperventilating.