2011 history lesson
Rating: 15/20
Either I'm in a really good mood or Captain America: Full Sequence is the best of these pre-Avengers Marvel movies. As always, I went into this knowing nothing of the titular superhero. Like the rest of these superhero movies, this does a fine job of explaining Captain America's origins. It's a lot like the other superhero origin stories, but I really like how the protagonist becomes no more than a goofy propaganda symbol before he runs off doing remarkable things. And the makers of this really nail it with the stage shows and posters and things. They also nail 1940's America which looks stylized and cool, straight out of a comic maybe. The bad guys are the same ones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Nazis with an interest in the occult, although there could have been a better bad guy than Red Skull Man. The special effects are mostly fine although there is a scene where Captain America, right after he gets his powers and starts dressing like a flag, runs in a way that makes Superman's running in the original Christopher Reeve movie look normal. It's the newly-Superheroed Rubbery Blubbery Leg Syndrome, I guess. I don't know much about Chris Evans, the guy who plays Mr. America here, but he also played Fire Man in the Fantastic Four movie. I'll have to watch that one, I suppose, just in case they're in the Avengers movie. Speaking of those guys. Fire Man, The Rock, Ice Surfer. Who else is there? But I digress. I liked Chris Evans as the hero here. I also liked Tommy Lee Jones who seems to do his best work when grumpy. This is the type of movie that a true patriot, such as myself, would have trouble not enjoying. I mean, watching this red white and blue guy sneaking around in such a dopey superhero costume with the most conspicuous prop ever? What's not to like there? How come I didn't read about any of this in my 8th grade American history class?
I was pretty sure that this contained some inaccuracies and thought I'd do a bit of research to get things right and not offend comic book aficionados who might stumble in and read this. So I looked up the bad guy's name. Red Skull really was his name! I just have to assume I'm right about the rest of this stuff, too.
I thought this was an underrated movie, with good performances, and a real attempt to make a true to the source Captain America movie. Chris Evans is surprisingly effective as the title character, and everyone in the cast looks like they belong in the 1940's. This is the first time I have gotten the sense of loss that the good Captain would have felt being a man out of his own time. They should have just used regular Nazis instead of the odd mystic Nazis they had, but otherwise the look, and action in the movie works very well.
ReplyDeleteI give it a solid 17. Good entertainment that clearly leads into the Avengers movie.
Yeah, I did like this one. Almost gave it a 15 even but it made me think of the Avengers which made me think of Hulk and Thor movies which brought it down a notch. This is the only of these Avenger guy movies that I would want to watch again. Well, maybe Iron Man...I think I was in a terrible mood when I saw that the first time.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Evans, who made the character very sympathetic, but the whole thing had a strange feel, especially the battle scenes. There is just something weird about a superhero mixing it up with so many humans and guns. Also, I had no previous knowledge of the story, so his not getting the girl made the whole thing kind of a bummer. At least he could have hit that before she became 60 years too old. A 15, but kind of a grudging 15.
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