Captain America - The First Avenger (Spoilers)

[Gothamite]

Saw this last night after resisting the urge to check out the consensus around here. I thought it was bloody flippin' terrific from the very start to the very end. Chris Evans was outstanding and injected truckloads of the heart and humanity the excessively sleek Iron Man films lacked. Evans didn't even look bear a passing resemblance to Johnny Storm, such was the difference in the performance. He even sounded like he might actually have been from the '40s, (which no character in the Indy movies managed to do).

It was a bit of a shame there weren't more actual Nazis in it, but HYDRA were fun in a corny-but-it-works way. Hugo Weaving was great, but did anyone else think his German accent made him sound like Pierce Brosnan? TLJ and all of the supporters were obviously great, as was all of the USO stuff (which I believe someone said was akin to a 'Fail on Ice' at one point on these boards). Even Dum Dum Dugan was awesome.

Come to think of it, maybe the regeneration stuff was a bit rushed, but I'm inclined to think they'll revisit it in The Avengers. I'm overjoyed that I didn't know what the secret scene after the credits was and hot diggity-damn does that movie look good.

Honestly, 10/10. Up there with Thor, X-Men 1 and the first Spider-Man for me. Marvel Studios have really shut me the Hell up this Summer when it comes to their movies. Like Planet-Man, I had the exact same mistaken predictions for this Summer's superhero movies.

EDIT: I also definitely think Red Skull was transported into the future (or Asgard) at the end. It would be a shame if that was really his death. Also, on the subject of the Cosmic Cube, I know nothing about it beyond what I've seen in the Thor movie and I understood what was going on just fine. Magical Cube McGuffin.

Now I'm going to spend all night playing Ultimate Alliance.

 

[E]

Someone mentioned this on another forum, but apparently, during the World's Fair scene with Steve and Bucky, they walk by either a poster or something featuring the original Human Torch, John Hammond. Nice nod to old school Cap continuity (they were both part of the Invaders), and a nice tongue-in-cheek nod to Evan's role as the second Human Torch in the FF movies. I missed it on my first viewing, but I'm going to try to see it again this weekend.

The awesomenicity of this movie abounds.

I did catch that! Very cool.

 

[thee great one]

I seen the Human Torch but didn't make the connection.

 

[Captain Canuck]

It looked like he was teleported like the rainbow bridge thing.

yeah, exactly.

Someone mentioned this on another forum, but apparently, during the World's Fair scene with Steve and Bucky, they walk by either a poster or something featuring the original Human Torch, John Hammond. Nice nod to old school Cap continuity (they were both part of the Invaders), and a nice tongue-in-cheek nod to Evan's role as the second Human Torch in the FF movies. I missed it on my first viewing, but I'm going to try to see it again this weekend.

The awesomenicity of this movie abounds.

oh, wow. Somehow, I missed that!

 

[Iceshadow]

I just saw this tonight, I was very satisfied. I was originally worried about the sci-fi aspects of it but it worked in the context of the movie. My only complaints were that Bucky should have died on the plane (maybe by taking down one of those small missile planes) and the middle of the movie lagged a bit with the montage (however I realize that's really the only way they could have done it). Also, they never named the howling commandos, which I thought was kind of odd. Also, I really wish Zemo was in this even if he was just someone for Bucky to fight or something. However, overall I liked this movie as much as I did Thor.

A few other points:
1) I liked the World's Fair cameos by the Human Torch and the possible future Helicarrier technology.

2) Red Skull's "disintegration" looked an awful like the way Asgardians travel between worlds in "Thor", I wonder if it's the Red Skull which gets Loki interested in Earth?

 

[Gothamite]

I'll eat my own shoe if Red Skull wasn't teleported to Asgard or the future.

 

[ultimatedjf]

Hayley Atwell is my future wife.

 

[J. Agamemnon]

Omg! No me!

 

[TheManWithoutFear]

Saw it. I don't really know if I liked it better than Thor or not but it was pretty decent. Thought the WWII feel was pulled off very nicely and definitely reminded me a lot of The Rocketeer.

Some of the things I didn't like were Atwell's character. Made me want to cringe every time she was on screen. Just felt like she was a distraction and really would have rather a Gail Richards love story. Not saying her acting was bad or she isn't insanely good looking. I just didn't think she fit well.

Hated the plane going down in the artic for two reasons. 1. The Hulk Easter Egg. 2. You seriously can't find that thing with Stark's technology? Boo that.

Chris Evans didn't do the greatest job depicting the greatest hero in the world either.

Thought Weaving's Red Skull was great, Tommy Lee Jones was great, The Howling Commandos were tons of fun.

The Human Torch nod, the ties to Asgard (without a doubt Red Skull's not dead), Bucky falling off the cliff (fate left open), Howard Stark. Made the comic book fan in me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Avengers preview at the end kicked ass. Can't wait for that obviously (we all have been waiting for it).

But more so even though I thought the movie was probably a 3.5 at best I'm really looking forward to a Cap 2 set in modern times and please bring on Crossbones.

 

[Bass]

I saw CAPTAIN AMERICA today.

It was alright. Very nice beginning, and very nice ending. The 21st century and pretty much anything to do with the Red Skull sucked. Hugo Weaving was wonderful, but the Red Skull was a crappy villain. Bucky's death was pointless in every way, and the story kinda never worked; Cap's "plan" at the end is rubbish, there's little jeopardy and the tone never really comes together, and there is an entire sequence missing between him becoming Cap and the USO show montage which is where Cap is put on a mission and he ****s it up. Evans is fine, Jones is hysterical, Atwell was gorgeous, but I think a lot of it's enjoyment went when Tucci died because he was excellent as Erskine. There was a lot of nice touches, like Skull's RAIDERS reference at the opening. Really, it's as good as IRON MAN, SPIDER-MAN, or THOR, but I prefer a He-Man toy advert to WWII Action Force, and as such, I enjoyed THOR more. But CAP was fine.

THE AVENGERS teaser was fun, if only because Loki was in it.

So yeah – beginning and ending worked very, very well. The middle was kinda bull****, which is nice, because usually the ending is bull****, but Cap's death just worked. As did all the 90lb Steve Rogers stuff. If they'd fixed Red Skull it would've probably been the best of the lot.

 

[Planet-man]

Although this would've increased the budget and been a huge pain in the ass for Weaving, I think it would've been really cool and iconic if instead of the Johann Schmidt mask inexplicably looking like a completely realistic human face, Mission: Impossible-style, it had instead just been a pretty good rubber mask of Weaving, as in still clearly a mask, and you only see his real human face in the flashback. Would've been really creepy and memorable, plus more realistic.

 

[Bass]

I don't even know why he wears a mask. He not a public face, he's not trying to keep it secret, everyone who meets him knows, and when he reveals his real face, it has no impact on the story. Also, it was on the poster and in every trailer.

 

[Planet-man]

I think I liked this even more the second time around. It was cool having played the game too, which takes place during the Cap and the Howling Commandos montage and has a lot of heavy **** happen, including Zola-bots and the Sleeper.

 

[bluebeast]

Saw this a day ago and I must say I really really enjoyed every minute of it. I think the World War II sequences were well-done and I'm relieved at how good Joe Johnston made it after Wolfman had me worried. The cast was amazing with Evans, Tucci and Jones being the show-stealers. I also really like Hayley Atwell (who was gorgeouse in her 40s get-up) and I think she's been the only love-interest in these movies who's been well-utlilized (aside from Black Widow but I'm not sure if she counts).

Everything has been said pretty much but I must say that the effects were incredible. Skinny Steve was flawless and Red Skull's face was great because I couldn't tell if it was makeup or cgi throughout the movie.

I'd put it as being just as good as Thor and Iron Man and they were all so enjoyable I won't rank them. I loved the ending just for Cap's last line "I had a date..." The teaser at the end made my day.

And I must say that the funniest line they got away with was Dugan's "We're taking everybody?" "I'm from Fresno pal."

 

[Zombipanda]

So, I haven't seen this yet, and I try not to be a film snob, but....

Five stars? Really? Peak quality? Perfect film? That's a pretty bold assertion, almost half of you.

 

[DARKKNIGHT]

So, I haven't seen this yet, and I try not to be a film snob, but....

Five stars? Really? Peak quality? Perfect film? That's a pretty bold assertion, almost half of you.

I mean it's no Casablanca, but for a summer popcorn flick based off of a superhero, yeah, it's deserving of 5 stars.

And there isn't such thing as a perfect film. In my opinion at least.

 

[Zombipanda]

I mean it's no Casablanca, but for a summer popcorn flick based off of a superhero, yeah, it's deserving of 5 stars.

And there isn't such thing as a perfect film. In my opinion at least.

But couldn't you say that about anything?

"For a movie only intended to keep hold of the license, Roger Corman's Fantastic Four deserves 5 stars."

"For a terrible flick made by Uwe Boll, Bloodrayne earned its five stars."

"For pure, unadulterated what-the-****-uppery, Gummo gets a solid five stars."

 

[DARKKNIGHT]

But couldn't you say that about anything?

"For a movie only intended to keep hold of the license, Roger Corman's Fantastic Four deserves 5 stars."

"For a terrible flick made by Uwe Boll, Bloodrayne earned its five stars."


"For pure, unadulterated what-the-****-uppery, Gummo gets a solid five stars."

I'm pretty sure you know what I mean though. I judge (and expect) different things depending on the genre of movie I am going in to. For comedies I expect to laugh, for horror movies I expect to be scared, etc. When going into most summer flicks, I simply want to be entertained and to have a good time, and for the movie not to be completely mindless and stupid. Is Captain America going to go down as a classic? No. So if that is what you are looking for to give a movie a 5, then you are going to be disappointed. That said, it was everything I wanted it to be, so I gave it a 5.

Why are you criticizing grades for a movie you haven't seen anyway?

 

[Gothamite]

But couldn't you say that about anything?

"For a movie only intended to keep hold of the license, Roger Corman's Fantastic Four deserves 5 stars."

"For a terrible flick made by Uwe Boll, Bloodrayne earned its five stars."

"For pure, unadulterated what-the-****-uppery, Gummo gets a solid five stars."

That's really silly. Are you telling me everytime you see a film, you ask whether or not it stands up to The Shawshank Redemption or The Godfather Part II?

Star Wars is a five-star film. Is it really a perfect film or better than Citizen Kane?

When compared to other Marvel films and other, light superhero films, Captain America is extremely enjoyable and worth a top rating. I really couldn't find any fault in it. I don't know that much about the comics beyond what I've read in Ultimates and a dozen or so guest appearances Cap made in Spider-Man comics I own, but that really shouldn't matter. I had a splendid time at the cinema and the film ranked over most other films of its kind that I have seen.

 

[DIrishB]

So, I haven't seen this yet, and I try not to be a film snob, but....

Five stars? Really? Peak quality? Perfect film? That's a pretty bold assertion, almost half of you.

I think I gave it 4, but for what it is, a fun action-fest with a lot of heart, why not give it 5 stars? Its a film that knows what it is from the first minute, and doesn't bog itself down with unneccesarily trying to be more (I'm looking at you, Ang Lee's "Hulk") than it really is.

There's not a whole lot to think about, and thats ok. This isn't a Kubrick film, its a summer popcorn movie. And as that, yes, I think a 5 star rating is warranted.

Why are you criticizing grades for a movie you haven't seen anyway?

Its what he does.