Speaking of Captain America, I went to see Captain America, The First Avenger tonight. I thought it worked quite well on two levels, one as a stand alone movie for those of you not familiar with the story. (Perhaps, you were in suspended animation for the last seventy years??) And second as a fairly faithful rendition of the comic book story. Nothing in this review should constitute a "spoiler", so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you should be good.
Purists might be put off a bit by the introduction of a few new characters not in the comics, or the transformation of "Bucky" Barnes from boy sidekick, to adult soldier*. Instead of Robin to Cap's Batman, Bucky is an adult, inducted into the army before 98 pound weakling Steve Rogers can get past his 4-F status.
The back story of using Rogers in a war bond tour adds some semblance of reason as to why the good Captain might end up in red, white and blue Spandex.
It takes a while to get Cap into the fight overseas, but once the action starts, it's worth the wait. The movie has all you could want in a pleasant couple of hours of entertainment: action, humor, pathos and just a hint of unrequited love.
There are, as in most comics, improbabilities of science, history and reason in order to make everything work. Captain America has enough heart for you to want to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. There is the obligatory cameo by Stan Lee, and a couple of characters show up that are immediately recognizable to long time Marvel comic readers. I won't spoil the surprise, but the term "Howling Commando" might ring a bell!
Some mention should be made of Chris Evans, who plays the Captain. As Johnny Storm, (the Human Torch, in the Fantastic Four), he was one of an ensemble, mostly used for comic relief. Here, he has to carry the entire picture and does so, if I may say so, with flying colors (pun intended)!
The closing credits are wonderfully retro. And for those with the fortitude to stick through the credits to the very end, you see a teaser for the Avengers movie coming out next May.
Those of you who have read the comics will appreciate the line "Some assembly required."
I would heartily recommend "Captain America, The First Avenger" to comic book aficionados and non-nerds alike. Go see it. Four out of five stars.
*Bucky Barnes as boy sidekick
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I never read a lot of Captain America comics when I was a kid. I was more of a DC comics fan than Marvel. But I did read some of Spiderman, Hulk, etc., and this looks like it's a fairly cool movie. I haven't been to a movie in years. And years. I might have to check this one out, most reviews I've read (all on right-leaning blogs/sites) have been positive. No doubt the leftanistas are panning it. Good enough reason to go see it.
ReplyDeleteGood review. I was cautiously optimistic when I went to see this movie last weekend, but I was not disappointed. The writers & producers gave several good winks to fanboys during the film. And now I can't wait to see The Avengers next summer!
ReplyDeleteOPD: I didn't really start reading Marvel or Captain America until I was in high school. I think the first Marvel comic I ever read was an issue of the Avengers, with Cap taking a prominent role.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I hardly ever drag myself to the movies any more, usually waiting until it comes out on DVD or Blu-ray. This is the second movie I've seen in as many weeks, so I figured I should get some blog mileage out of it!
FMP: Yeah. I was a little dubious as well, especially after I heard they might be taking the "America" part out of the title for overseas distribution, just calling it "The First Avenger". I was pleasantly surprised.