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And finally, Captain America
Aug. 11th, 2011 12:39 pm"The First Avenger" was the last one to hit the big screen and I've been delayed in seeing it. Last night ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taura_g and I went and saw it. We had to endure the 3D, about which more in the spoilery bits.
Overall the movie gets a grudging "B-" almost exclusively on the strengths of Chris Evans' and Tommy Lee Jones' performances. Hugo Weaving does a fine job as Johann Schmidt (the Red Skull) - at least he knows how to manage a German accent to a reasonable degree - but he's not on screen enough to be able to hold this movie up. Likewise I thought Hayley Atwell did a good job as Sole Supporting Woman in a Guy Film. She's no Gwyneth Paltrow, but that's not her fault - the role just isn't that good.
At its core, the movie is about the creation of Captain America - just a kid from Brooklyn - as a person and as a legend. When Markus & McFeely's screenplay is in these elements it does well. As a superhero movie, this thing is a bust.
In a way the Captain America story is the inverse of the Thor story - one is about the scrawny punk with heart finding his strength and the other is about an overpowered god finding his heart. If the writers for "The Avengers" have any brains they'll pick up on this and we'll get an interesting team dynamic film. The set-ups are certainly there.
( and now the spoilery bits )
I find it hard to quantify what makes a good "superhero" movie, but I know it when I see it (Iron Man 1 and Spiderman 1 plus several of the Batman films) and I didn't see it here.
taura_g and I went and saw it. We had to endure the 3D, about which more in the spoilery bits.Overall the movie gets a grudging "B-" almost exclusively on the strengths of Chris Evans' and Tommy Lee Jones' performances. Hugo Weaving does a fine job as Johann Schmidt (the Red Skull) - at least he knows how to manage a German accent to a reasonable degree - but he's not on screen enough to be able to hold this movie up. Likewise I thought Hayley Atwell did a good job as Sole Supporting Woman in a Guy Film. She's no Gwyneth Paltrow, but that's not her fault - the role just isn't that good.
At its core, the movie is about the creation of Captain America - just a kid from Brooklyn - as a person and as a legend. When Markus & McFeely's screenplay is in these elements it does well. As a superhero movie, this thing is a bust.
In a way the Captain America story is the inverse of the Thor story - one is about the scrawny punk with heart finding his strength and the other is about an overpowered god finding his heart. If the writers for "The Avengers" have any brains they'll pick up on this and we'll get an interesting team dynamic film. The set-ups are certainly there.
( and now the spoilery bits )
I find it hard to quantify what makes a good "superhero" movie, but I know it when I see it (Iron Man 1 and Spiderman 1 plus several of the Batman films) and I didn't see it here.
