Movie Review – Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger

Directed by Joe Johnston

Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, and Stanley Tucci.

Backstory

Much like Green Lantern, Captain America is a superhero I’ve always had a soft spot for, and it all goes back to having the action figure when I was a kid. It was a very beloved action figure and my constant companion for a summer. When serious talk began of making a Captain America movie, I’d always hoped that it would be a rollicking World War II adventure, because superhero period pieces are something I’m fascinated with. And when Joe Johnston, director of one of the best superhero period pieces, The Rocketeer, was signed on to direct, I got excited. Would that excitement carry over into the film?

Plot

The year is 1942. Steve Rogers wants to do his part and join the Army and stand up to the bullies that are threatening the world, but he’s a literal 90-pound weakling. That, coupled with a variety of medical ailments, constantly has him turned down for enlistment. However, a scientist by the name of Dr. Erskine sees something in Rogers that makes him the perfect candidate for a top secret program. Rogers is soon put through a treatment that makes him the peak of physical perfection. However, before the process can be used to create more super soldiers, the whole operation is destroyed by Nazi spies. Now, Steve Rogers becomes Captain America, a top American agent fighting the Axis powers. But, Rogers soon encounters a threat more dangerous than the Nazis: HYDRA, a Nazi splinter group led by the villainous Red Skull. Can Captain America defeat the Red Skull and help bring an end to World War II?

What I Liked

This movie is just fun. It’s not a gritty reboot, it’s not a grim anti-hero, it’s not an ambitious villain…we’ve just got good guys stopping evildoers from conquering the world. It’s a nice, simple superhero tale. The special effects that turn Evans into a 90-pound weakling are amazing, and we really do get to feel for Rogers. Tommy Lee Jones is also pretty good as Captain America’s CO, Col. Phillips, who delivers some wry one liners at the concept of a “super-soldier.” And the ending is a tad heartbreaking.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the supporting cast gets short shrift. Captain America’s platoon is comic’s legendary “Howling Commandos” and we really don’t get to know them. And it still does fall prey to some of the cliches of the superhero genre.

Final Assessment

A fun, enjoyable, superhero romp. I liked it.

3 Nibs

Movie Review – Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Tranformers: Dark of the Moon

Directed by Michael Bay

Starring Shia LeBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong and the voices of Peter Cullen, Leonard Nimoy, and Hugo Weaving.

Backstory

A third live-action Transformers movie. If my 10 year old self knew this day would come, he would have an aneurysm. I thoroughly enjoyed the first film, as my childhood nostalgia was able to blind me to that film’s many flaws. The second was the first film that made me so angry I wanted to throw things at the screen. With the second film, I finally understood the phrase “raped my childhood.” But still, it made huge money at the box office, meaning that the third was inevitable. But hey, after the second one, there was no place to go but up, right?

Plot

We catch up with our hero, Sam Witwicky, just graduated from college, and looking for his first job. He encounters all kinds of wacky hijinks until a jittery co-worker at his new job hands him a cryptic message about “the aliens” and “the dark of the moon” and then the Decepticon Lazerbeak shows up to shoot up the office. With this information, Sam is once agian drawn into the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons, as ancient Cybertronian technology is uncovered on the Moon that could finally end the centuries-old war. Among the wreckage is Optimus Prime’s old mentor, Sentinel Prime. Can the war finally be ended? Will Sam ever find a job? And where do Sentinel Prime’s loyalties lie?

What I Liked

Leonard Nimoy does an outstanding job voicing Sentinel Prime. He actually lets loose with a killer Star Trek reference. I think, in the whole of the Transformers franchise, we’d never seen a full-scale Decepticon invasion of Earth, so that was a nice, new story worth mining. And the stupid comedy that dominated the second film has been greatly toned down this time out. Oh, and as always, ILM and Digital Domain brought their A-game in bringing the Autobots and the Decepticons to life. Being of the generation that grew up with Transformers, the scenes where it’s nothing but Transformers on screen and attempts at developing them as characters really made me smile.

What I Didn’t Like

These Transformers films are really starting to remind me of Godzilla movies: they really drag when the humans are on screen. I mean, we have this fantastic scene between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime, only to have it cut short so we can get back to another wacky Sam job interview. Highly annoying and distracting. The stupid comedy is still there, but again, thank Primus there’s significantly less of it. And again, my same complaint as with the second film: we spend very little time with the Transformers themselves and let them develop as characters.

Final Assessment

On the whole, this film reminded my a lot of Terminator 3. It was fun, I had a good time, but really, it brought nothing new to the table.

3 Nibs