InsaneJournal

Movie Review - Captain America
Just saw the movie today. Dragged my mom with me since the supermarket she needed to go to was right next to the theater. Verdict? I like it. I would even verge to say I loved it.

The Good: The characters. Definitely. Times 100.

Cap was spot on what he should be, which is a level of goodness and niceness you don't see much anymore in today's emo/snarkiness/cynicism overwhelmed entertainment products. He's humble, which is a lot unlike the other superegoesheroes out there. He's well adjusted...though that credit probably goes to Dr. Erskine for choosing the right person to become a hero (makes you want to ask the GL ring what the heck its criteria were, huh?). He's adorably bumbling when it comes to women. And yeah, I honestly cried in the scene where he said his goodbyes and crashed the Hydra plane (not knowing he'll be on ice for the next 75 years).

(Also, the thought occurs to me that Steve's virtues are the same that Superman/Clark Kent, the iconic character, is supposed to also have. But alas, only one of these characters actually managed to pull it off in the movies...all of their movies combined. -_-)

Peggy was probably one of the, if not the best female lead in a superhero movie so far. She kicks butt and takes names, and can probably shoot a fly at 50 paces. She dominated (and I mean that seriously) all the guys she meets. Alas, she's probably the one who got the least far with her guy as well. One kiss and a promise for a date before he crashed into the ice.

Howard Stark also made me squee... he's a lot like Tony from IM. Same flashiness when he gave his World's Fair demo (though alas I think his son got better engineering skillz), and is totally insane enough to fly behind enemy lines and still make it out alive. And the scene at the end where he's spending his millions to scour the North Sea for any sign of Cap is just heart wrenching. More since we know he died before Cap was finally recovered. *sniff*

Dr. Erskine was a character that was barely a footnote in the comics as part of Steve's background. Here, he's fleshed out in the few times he appears and is probably one of the wiser and cooler "old mentor guy" figures around.

Tomme Lee Jones Col. Phillips... I think all the reviews online have said everything better than me about how he rocked.

The Meh/Bad:

I'll agree with some reviewers that the pacing could use some work. The end where Cap wakes up in the modern world I think should be moved to the post-credits teaser, IMO. Or, at least make it shorter and vaguer. Otherwise it takes a lot out of the emotional impact of Cap's sacrifice.

Also, the unclear end of Bucky (typical stereotype of falling into the abyss...if you don't see the body then they're not dead) I think was kinda unnecessary, since I doubt they're going to do anything with the Winter Soldier storyline of comic fame. IMO it would've been better to go with the Ultimates storyline and had Bucky survive everything and be in his 90's when Steve returns, as the one last touchstone in the brand new world he's thrust into.

Making Hydra into a rogue Nazi element was kinda...odd, but I guess I could get where they're coming from. A little too hard to explain why Germany didn't win the war in the Marvel timeline with the gear Hydra had available otherwise. Still. It was kinda odd. And I still think it's a little odd that the US was on the wrong side of the tech parity with Hydra. Even with the Norse superscience that Red Skull had, wouldn't he have been limited by other raw materials and funding like the rest of Germany? Ah well, chalk it up to standard supervillainy handwaving.


Anyway, in summary: Two thumbs up for Captain America!