A comics novice at his core, JT had never seen any of the MCU movies prior to 2019, when he decided to start this Journey Through Infinity from the start. Follow along for his thoughts, rankings and more!
The Movie: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Quick Thoughts: Looking at this as an outsider, Iron Man and Thor, while tricky, had a lot of pieces in place to make the execution of those movies and concepts relatively easy. Of course, the production far out kicked the coverage and they exceeded, but still, the source material was "superhero blockbuster" friendly. Captain America is a bit different though, as he isn't an extra-terrestrial god or a super genius that can design absurd tech to help him be unstoppable. Instead, he was just a scrawny dude with passion and conviction looking to defend his country. So, we could have arrived at his powers in a goofy way or presented a dude in bright blue tights and mask as something to be laughed at, not taken seriously. Instead, they looked at this shrewdly and saw it as an attempt to create an entertaining and intricate origin (or in some case introduction) story for not only Cap, but for S.H.I.E.L.D., for the tesseract and also for this whole burgeoning MCU. Everything that we see to come all ties back to what Howard Stark and Abraham Erskine do inside that lab when they create the Super Soldier.
Setting this movie inside the war-torn 1940s and delivering it as a period piece that somehow easily slips into modern day MCU was a really nice move and as such makes it stand out as unique. The WWII propaganda and initial usage of Captain America felt accurate before they realize that they have this amazing soldier just handing out pamphlets and selling bonds when he could be tearing apart Nazi/Hydra camps. There are some qualms I have but overall I loved that they tried to be different here and gave us a full dramatic background to the character and overall universe as opposed to just a few minutes and then shuffling off into the modern day. Seeing Steve Rogers in his element and era explains so much more about the characters' tics and machinations in the years (and decades) to come.
Best Non Captain America Character: I thought the supporting cast was strong in this one, but Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Phillips was my favorite overall. It was perfect casting and he was really suited for the ornery old school military veteran that was open minded and accepted the new technology to help him to victory. It was a nice change from what would have been the usual trope here with the old dude rejecting anything new.
Worst Non Captain America Character: Again, the casting here was all pretty strong, but I guess Red Skull Schmidt could have used a bit more background to him. He came across as a generic bad guy at times and it also seemed a bit weird that everyone just accepted that this war officer walks around with a red skull for a head. It also didn't help that he looked like Dre from The League.
That said, he was still very good and sometimes all you need is a deranged madman that is willing to tear a hole in the universe to get what he wants to get you to where you need to be.
Best Scene: I am not sure I have received any more enjoyment from any scene in any MCU movie than I have when that fucking U-Boat rose out of the river for Kruger to try to escape. It was such a perfect mix of exciting and god damn absurd that I popped big time. A U-Boat in a river abutting a well populated area? Amazing.
Also, a shout out to Tommy Lee firing u the jet fuel boosters on his 1940s car when they were chasing down Red Skull on the runway.
Why it Was Awesome: I loved all the tie-ins to the MCU, Starks and tesseracts here. They had a nice chance to set us up with some background for multiple things and took full advantage. I really liked the period piece of it all, they did a good job of taking us to the 40s with the jingoism, propaganda pieces and cheesy humor. That was excellently done.
It was interesting to see Cap not give a shit about killing people at this point. I guess it is the soldier in him, but it definitely goes against superheroes in general, most of home always try to save any lives at all costs. I enjoyed it and it brought in a reminder that this dude is more human than the rest (well, except Tony Stark I guess) and a soldier with a mission at heart. For now, anyway.
I really liked that there was no heel turns in this movie. Everyone had clearly defined lines and stayed aligned the whole time. It was a nice break from a genre that constantly has a swerve somewhere along the way.
And while I do take issue with parts of the movie and how we get from Point A to Point Z below, I do really love Captain America the character. Chris Evans was great, the character is well defined and easy to root for. He is the first avenger and the true role model superhero that was intended all those decades ago.
Why it Sucked: I mean, kudos for the technology but I ended up spending the entire last 3/4 of the movie trying to figure out how they shrunk Chris Evans for pre-experiment Steve Rogers. Jumping to the end, I also wish we got a little more clarity on how long Rogers was in the ice and how long he was in that New York City apartment. I guess it is kind of explaining in the opening credit scene but wasn't clear enough for someone not knowing what was coming here.
OK, finally, I illustrated this in full detail on the podcast linked below, but my biggest issue with this movie is the lack of extra exposition centered around Steve Rogers learning to be Captain America. I am not saying I needed a Rocky IV montage or anything, but give me something. This goes beyond just his amped up abilities like running insanely fast and basically flying... but, like, when did he learn to fly giant planes? Give me something that shows how he got there or even a throwaway line from Stark or Erskine along the lines of "along with this power comes the innate ability of a super soldier and all the training and knowledge one would gather from decades of service". Boom, that is all I need. For a franchise, and movie, that excels at the little things, this one felt glaring to me.
Final Grade (1-10): 7.75/10
The MCU Movie Rankings:
1) Iron Man 2 (2010)
2) Iron Man (2008)
3) Thor (2011)
4) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
5) The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Superhero Rankings:
1) Iron Man
2) Captain America
3) Thor
4) The Incredible Hulk
Listen to me talk more about Thor on this podcast right here!
The Movie: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Quick Thoughts: Looking at this as an outsider, Iron Man and Thor, while tricky, had a lot of pieces in place to make the execution of those movies and concepts relatively easy. Of course, the production far out kicked the coverage and they exceeded, but still, the source material was "superhero blockbuster" friendly. Captain America is a bit different though, as he isn't an extra-terrestrial god or a super genius that can design absurd tech to help him be unstoppable. Instead, he was just a scrawny dude with passion and conviction looking to defend his country. So, we could have arrived at his powers in a goofy way or presented a dude in bright blue tights and mask as something to be laughed at, not taken seriously. Instead, they looked at this shrewdly and saw it as an attempt to create an entertaining and intricate origin (or in some case introduction) story for not only Cap, but for S.H.I.E.L.D., for the tesseract and also for this whole burgeoning MCU. Everything that we see to come all ties back to what Howard Stark and Abraham Erskine do inside that lab when they create the Super Soldier.
Setting this movie inside the war-torn 1940s and delivering it as a period piece that somehow easily slips into modern day MCU was a really nice move and as such makes it stand out as unique. The WWII propaganda and initial usage of Captain America felt accurate before they realize that they have this amazing soldier just handing out pamphlets and selling bonds when he could be tearing apart Nazi/Hydra camps. There are some qualms I have but overall I loved that they tried to be different here and gave us a full dramatic background to the character and overall universe as opposed to just a few minutes and then shuffling off into the modern day. Seeing Steve Rogers in his element and era explains so much more about the characters' tics and machinations in the years (and decades) to come.
Best Non Captain America Character: I thought the supporting cast was strong in this one, but Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Phillips was my favorite overall. It was perfect casting and he was really suited for the ornery old school military veteran that was open minded and accepted the new technology to help him to victory. It was a nice change from what would have been the usual trope here with the old dude rejecting anything new.
Worst Non Captain America Character: Again, the casting here was all pretty strong, but I guess Red Skull Schmidt could have used a bit more background to him. He came across as a generic bad guy at times and it also seemed a bit weird that everyone just accepted that this war officer walks around with a red skull for a head. It also didn't help that he looked like Dre from The League.
That said, he was still very good and sometimes all you need is a deranged madman that is willing to tear a hole in the universe to get what he wants to get you to where you need to be.
Best Scene: I am not sure I have received any more enjoyment from any scene in any MCU movie than I have when that fucking U-Boat rose out of the river for Kruger to try to escape. It was such a perfect mix of exciting and god damn absurd that I popped big time. A U-Boat in a river abutting a well populated area? Amazing.
Also, a shout out to Tommy Lee firing u the jet fuel boosters on his 1940s car when they were chasing down Red Skull on the runway.
Why it Was Awesome: I loved all the tie-ins to the MCU, Starks and tesseracts here. They had a nice chance to set us up with some background for multiple things and took full advantage. I really liked the period piece of it all, they did a good job of taking us to the 40s with the jingoism, propaganda pieces and cheesy humor. That was excellently done.
It was interesting to see Cap not give a shit about killing people at this point. I guess it is the soldier in him, but it definitely goes against superheroes in general, most of home always try to save any lives at all costs. I enjoyed it and it brought in a reminder that this dude is more human than the rest (well, except Tony Stark I guess) and a soldier with a mission at heart. For now, anyway.
I really liked that there was no heel turns in this movie. Everyone had clearly defined lines and stayed aligned the whole time. It was a nice break from a genre that constantly has a swerve somewhere along the way.
And while I do take issue with parts of the movie and how we get from Point A to Point Z below, I do really love Captain America the character. Chris Evans was great, the character is well defined and easy to root for. He is the first avenger and the true role model superhero that was intended all those decades ago.
Why it Sucked: I mean, kudos for the technology but I ended up spending the entire last 3/4 of the movie trying to figure out how they shrunk Chris Evans for pre-experiment Steve Rogers. Jumping to the end, I also wish we got a little more clarity on how long Rogers was in the ice and how long he was in that New York City apartment. I guess it is kind of explaining in the opening credit scene but wasn't clear enough for someone not knowing what was coming here.
OK, finally, I illustrated this in full detail on the podcast linked below, but my biggest issue with this movie is the lack of extra exposition centered around Steve Rogers learning to be Captain America. I am not saying I needed a Rocky IV montage or anything, but give me something. This goes beyond just his amped up abilities like running insanely fast and basically flying... but, like, when did he learn to fly giant planes? Give me something that shows how he got there or even a throwaway line from Stark or Erskine along the lines of "along with this power comes the innate ability of a super soldier and all the training and knowledge one would gather from decades of service". Boom, that is all I need. For a franchise, and movie, that excels at the little things, this one felt glaring to me.
Final Grade (1-10): 7.75/10
The MCU Movie Rankings:
1) Iron Man 2 (2010)
2) Iron Man (2008)
3) Thor (2011)
4) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
5) The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Superhero Rankings:
1) Iron Man
2) Captain America
3) Thor
4) The Incredible Hulk
Listen to me talk more about Thor on this podcast right here!
Comments
Post a Comment