Lets get the good thing over first, its faster that way. Chris Evans (Captain America) is very, very good looking:
Yah, got that?
Now the bad.
No, I am serious. The chance to stare at Chris Evans in his dashing army uniform (however brief those scenes were) was probably the only redeeming quality this film has got.
Alright, maybe Stanley Tucci's performance was quite interesting. Still, too brief.
The film felt like it was a 2 part miniseries. The first half was how he got to become Captain America, with a climax scene in which he rescued his best buddy (huh? where did he come from?) from behind enemy lines. The 2nd half was...
Damn, that's how forgettable the whole excursion was.
Thing is, Captain America is one of the most...ordinary superhero that I have ever seen. He hasn't got Thor's god-like powers, Stark's smartass-ness, Black Widow's sexiness, Batman's mysteriousness, Spiderman's coolness. He's just... a guy with 4x metabolism as the normal human being. I guess the problem was it was never fully explained what were the extent of his powers before he started chasing the bad guys around.
To quote Brandon Sanderson's First Law of writing fantasy, a good fantasy has to clearly define the magical rules and boundaries within which the characters can act. Captain American was clearly shortchanged in this aspect.
After Captain America become Captain America, I am still just seeing the extra buff guy who's got ample beef. And the whole sequence on him parading as a carnival performer (to get people to buy bonds, raise morale, however funny that might be) did not help.
Strangely enough, this buff guy is able to outswim submarines, out run (1930s) cars, block bullets with a shield the size of half his chest (what about his legs?), withstand WMD charges with a flick of his arm, and FLY planes without any training whatsoever. Say what?
The villian in the film is Red Skull, played by the often reliable Hugo Weaving (LoTR, The Matrix), who's got his hands on super power mystical artefact with god-like energy powers which has enabled him to develop weapons which can vaporise a human being instantaneously and cause explosions. I assume that these are powerful enough characteristics of a weapon for America to become VERY concerned. Right.
Which leads me to the point that this is one of the lousiest villians i have ever seen. You got a mystical artefact and all you can do is vaporise human beings? The movie did not even demonstrate the extent of destructive capabilities these weapon! This guy has got no back up plans, lays out his grand plans on a map for all to see, and only knows how to yell at his minions when Captain America starts destroying his weapons factories.
After the 1 hour mark, the rest of the film truly felt like an eternity. Knowing full well that Captain America will emerge victorious (how else is he going to be in the upcoming Avengers' film?), I kept waiting for Red Skull to do something shocking that might actually make the audience care about how he was vanquished. Alas, it was too much to hope for.
In the end, it was just a meh superhero film filled with cliches. Cool graphics, hot guy + girl (whose attraction only did truly blossom after Chris Evans returned to his normal shape. Now what does that say, i wonder?), guns, explosions, uber high-tech vehicles, motivational kiss before the final showdown.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I have seen many reviews talking about the disappointing qualities of the films leading up to The Avengers (due 2012), and reviewers have expressed their hopes that they will finally do the characters justice by tying them all together in that film. As long as the Avengers isn't 5 hours long, I can't say I have got the same level of optimism.
Alright, maybe Stanley Tucci's performance was quite interesting. Still, too brief.
The film felt like it was a 2 part miniseries. The first half was how he got to become Captain America, with a climax scene in which he rescued his best buddy (huh? where did he come from?) from behind enemy lines. The 2nd half was...
Damn, that's how forgettable the whole excursion was.
Thing is, Captain America is one of the most...ordinary superhero that I have ever seen. He hasn't got Thor's god-like powers, Stark's smartass-ness, Black Widow's sexiness, Batman's mysteriousness, Spiderman's coolness. He's just... a guy with 4x metabolism as the normal human being. I guess the problem was it was never fully explained what were the extent of his powers before he started chasing the bad guys around.
To quote Brandon Sanderson's First Law of writing fantasy, a good fantasy has to clearly define the magical rules and boundaries within which the characters can act. Captain American was clearly shortchanged in this aspect.
After Captain America become Captain America, I am still just seeing the extra buff guy who's got ample beef. And the whole sequence on him parading as a carnival performer (to get people to buy bonds, raise morale, however funny that might be) did not help.
Strangely enough, this buff guy is able to outswim submarines, out run (1930s) cars, block bullets with a shield the size of half his chest (what about his legs?), withstand WMD charges with a flick of his arm, and FLY planes without any training whatsoever. Say what?
The villian in the film is Red Skull, played by the often reliable Hugo Weaving (LoTR, The Matrix), who's got his hands on super power mystical artefact with god-like energy powers which has enabled him to develop weapons which can vaporise a human being instantaneously and cause explosions. I assume that these are powerful enough characteristics of a weapon for America to become VERY concerned. Right.
Which leads me to the point that this is one of the lousiest villians i have ever seen. You got a mystical artefact and all you can do is vaporise human beings? The movie did not even demonstrate the extent of destructive capabilities these weapon! This guy has got no back up plans, lays out his grand plans on a map for all to see, and only knows how to yell at his minions when Captain America starts destroying his weapons factories.
After the 1 hour mark, the rest of the film truly felt like an eternity. Knowing full well that Captain America will emerge victorious (how else is he going to be in the upcoming Avengers' film?), I kept waiting for Red Skull to do something shocking that might actually make the audience care about how he was vanquished. Alas, it was too much to hope for.
In the end, it was just a meh superhero film filled with cliches. Cool graphics, hot guy + girl (whose attraction only did truly blossom after Chris Evans returned to his normal shape. Now what does that say, i wonder?), guns, explosions, uber high-tech vehicles, motivational kiss before the final showdown.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I have seen many reviews talking about the disappointing qualities of the films leading up to The Avengers (due 2012), and reviewers have expressed their hopes that they will finally do the characters justice by tying them all together in that film. As long as the Avengers isn't 5 hours long, I can't say I have got the same level of optimism.
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