Special Edition Podcast
Show Notes
With San Diego Comic-Con behind them, Josh Flanagan, Conor Kilpatrick, and Ron Richards gather to reminisce about seeing Captain America: The First Avenger in San Diego and break down what they liked and didn’t like about the most patriotic movie released in years.
Running Time: 00:28:14
First, there was Iron Man. Then, there was The Hulk. Then, there was Iron Man again. Then, earlier this summer, there was Thor. And now it’s time for the star spangled Avenger to make his way onto cinema screens… and hopefully into your hearts!
Today, Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger hits screens in North America and while audiences embraced the gregarious Asgardian with the big hammer, will they also love the honorable World War II veteran who throws a red, white, and blue shield at Nazis? We will find out soon enough.
This is the last solo film before all these legendary comic book characters come together in The Avengers, which I still can’t believe is actually happening.
Want to read Conor’s spoiler free review of Captain America: The First Avenger? You can find it here.
Are you going to see Captain America: The First Avenger? Of course you are! So let’s talk about it!
If you haven’t seen the movie yet be forewarned — there be SPOILERS ahoy! So don’t scroll down any further if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.
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I just saw the movie it was good, but I was a little underwhelmed. The Avengers teaser looks awesome though.
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. How totally average. 5/10
Oh it looks good!
As awesome as Captain America was, and it was, the Avengers teaser trailer after the credits made me scrunch up in awesome overload.
Liked it, but I had the feeling it was intended to be much longer and they chopped it down. I still think IRON MAN is the best of the pre-Avengers movies.
For me it’s Iron man, Thor, Cap, Iron Man 2, Hulk. The Avengers trailer had me flipping out.
Solid movie and a good time . 3 out of 4 stars.
Two complaints; wanted Bucky’s death to have a little more gravitas and wanted more adventures with the Howlin Commandos in Europe.
Great prequel though. Thats what it felt like.
Just when I thought the UK had finally caught up with the US cinematically, I find out we’re not getting Cap until next week! See you in a week!
*deactivates internet*
I really enjoyed it. Weaving nailed Red Skull. The howling commandoes were great, Tommy Lee Jones was great, the british girl was great and the action was top notch. I worried that nobody would really be able to pull Cap off outside the pages of a comic or a cartoon, but I thought Evans did a really nice job.
I liked it, but I wanted to love it.
I think if they didn’t open with the unearthing scene the stakes would have been higher (even though I already know the story) for the crash. Then they could’ve done the time lapse into a white out and then do the unearthing. Nitpicky, but I just wasn’t as emotionally invested at that point as I should’ve been otherwise.
The stage show was almost exactly like that Great Moments in Comic History panel Conor put up! Amazing!
I thought it was great. One of the better Marvel movies this year at least. Characterization was very strong. I liked practically everyone. The comaraderie between the soldiers and the romantic elements were both handled far better than in “Green Lantern” and “Thor” respectively. I felt a genuine connection between these people and loved hanging out with them for the precious amount of time they were given. It didn’t feel like a ton of wasted potential left behind. Most everyone was well used.
There were some awkward bits. Bucky’s “death” could have had more impact. Both during and after. But otherwise, I was pleased. The classic spirit of Captain America and his ideals came through, and it left me with a good feeling. Chris Evans pulls it off pretty damn well.
And the after-credits sequence… EPIC.
Pretty amazing flick. Definitely up there with Iron Man. Not a single weak link in the cast, and I was thrilled that we got that much Tommy Lee Jones. The trailers had me thinking he was barely in it.
I was really worried that they wouldn’t be able to make skinny Steve Rogers and Super Soldier Steve seem like the same person, but Chris Evans did a great job acting through the digital effects in the first part of the movie, making it totally believable.
Red Skull was awesome, and scary as hell. Big ups to Hugo Weaving. And in the big showdown scene towards the end he was definitely channeling a little “Middle-Management-Red Skull” with those suspenders. His accent did slip into Chekov here and there, switching out ‘V’s with ‘W’s, but he did a great job acting through the makeup/effects too. Didn’t gesture too much to compensate for the limited facial expressions like Green Goblin did in Spider-Man.
3 1/2 Stars out of 4. Maybe 3 3/4. Nearly perfect.
Saw this Thursday in San Diego. Love the retro poster they gave out. Very stylish!
Lots of fun. I’d put this just a smidge under Iron Man.
Liked it, didn’t love it. Full review’s on my site.
http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-seattle/review-captain-america-the-first-avenger
I have noticed a real divide on the ending though, with the modern day stuff. What’s everyone else feeling on it? I didn’t mind it myself.
@ActualButt I found Red Skull pretty underwhelming and given so little to do he barely made a dent.
@ShowMeYourWits I think they had to open with the unearthing scene in order for the closing scene to work with general audiences. Of course, we all know that Cap plays a role in the modern day, but general audiences – going off the film’s marketing – might think they’re just getting into a WWII super-hero movie that maybe kinda ties into the other Marvel movies.
If you don’t give them that opening scene, the ending reveal is likely to be an extremely confusing WTF moment that might really turn off the uninitiated viewer. But since it’s there in the beginning, they have time to forget about it right up to the point when Cap crashes the plane. That’s when they go “Oh yeah…”
And while I agree with the others that wanted to see more of the Howling Commandos, I think they actually did a smart thing by presenting that as a montage. Even though Cap is now in the 21st century to fight with the Avengers, the filmmakers used that montage to make it seem like he spent quite a while fighting in WWII, leaving opportunities for Captain America sequels to go in either direction — WWII adventures or modern day agent of SHIELD action-espionage stories. I’d love more of both, to be honest!
HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was an amazing movie. I absolutely loved it. I went in expecting it to be good but left blown away. Great action, convincing love story, great humor. This is my favorite movie of the year so far. (I haven’t seen Super 8 yet…). Bring on The Avengers!
I loved the movie and the Avengers trailer game me chills up my spine.
The Original Human Torch was in the movie! There are two Human Torches in this movie!
As a tie-in to the other movies “Cap” did a great job of setting up to relationships: the cosmic cube ties into “Thor” and its magic-science. Howard Stark was used well through out the movie: you could elements of him in Tony, his company name was all over the gauges and other technology, and of course there is his Expo. (would have been cool to see a young “Thunderbolt” Ross to tie-in to “The Hulk”).
@Brandino And don’t forget that Howard Stark recovered the Cosmic Cube. Does anyone else think Tony’sl repulsor tech is somehow linked to the Cube? Nice bit of synchronicity if it is. I always kind of thought the “new element” he creates in IM2 is supposed to be vibranium, but now I’m thinking it’ll have something to do with the Asgardians. I like the idea of the Big Three all being linked like that!
Best of all the superhero movies this summer by a long way.
SPOILER
I think they should have just shit-canned the entire USO bit, and gone right to him in action at the Norwegian(?) base. Other than that I thought it was great.
The USO song was great! It was like the birthday scene in Citizen Kane!
@KenOchalek You’re right, I assumed Tony created vibranium also. But of course it already exists as Cap’s shield chronologically. I assume now that Howard played around with the Cosmic Cube-enhanced crystal and managed to come up with theory of an atomic structure for a similar type energy source, though he wasn’t able to actually create it himself.
The arc reactor was the work of Howard and Anton Vanko, probably trying to duplicate the Red Skull’s crystals using elements that already existed. Tony was able to miniaturize the arc reactor and use it to power his suit, including his repulser rays. Meaning that Asgardian technology is the sole reason Iron Man exists in the movies!
Tony doesn’t invent vibranium in Iron Man 2, he uses the plan for the world expo thing that he dad makes, he analyzed it (he said the shield was the entirety of the amount they had and it is lost in the arctic) and tried to synthesize it but failed to remember?
P.S. I thnk Evans’ performance was really spot on; he wasn’t a doofus and he didn’t smirk his way through the movie like most modern superhereos. Ironically (yuk yuk) it felt very fresh to have an actually heroic hero who was the opposite of the reluctant champion that has become such a trope of modern cinema and comics.
@ResurrectionFlan Better than First Class or Thor? No way in hell.
The movie was OK. Not great, but not terrible. The major gripe I have is that Cap never felt like Cap to me. He is never put in a leadership role. I expected at least one scene where he rallies the troops or a scene where it is mentioned that people will follow him through anything. Not Chris Evans’ fault, the script never gave him a chance.
Did not feel at the end of the movie that this guy is the unquestioned field commander of the Avengers. Cap gives battle orders to gods and egomaniacs in armor and they are followed. Forgive me for using this term, but Cap lacked any gravitas. The Avengers stuff at the end looked awesome.
Also, was it ever mentioned that Erskine memorized the formula and it died with him, which is why there is only one Cap? I didn’t remember hearing that.
I loved it. I thought Evans was spot on as Cap. At the moment its tied with Thor for best comic movie this year, IMO.
Liked it a lot. My favorite this year fo sho. Touching, action packed, and funny. It had it all. I’d watch it again in a heartbeat. Which is more than I can say for any other superhero flick this summer. I enjoyed Thor and First Class. But this was miles ahead of those IMO.
I find myself excited for The Avengers for the wrong reason: Just so these godawful attempts at movie continuity can cease. This film made the best effort so far, but I was over it a long time ago. Is Sgt. Jackson gonna say a snappy one-liner off screen before he enters every scene in the Avengers flick? Jesus I’m sick of seein this guy. And we’re not even there yet!
@Flounder You and I have a very different interpretation of the movie, it seems. To me, it looked like Cap was put into a leadership position for dozens of missions throughout the war. He personally hand-picked his own team, and he basically said “eff you” to anyone that tried to stop him from doing what he felt was the right thing. He practically leads his own superiors in this movie. When he gets to present day, I think we can allow him a little time to feel disoriented before he instantly springs into action as the leader of a team that doesn’t exist yet…
@WheelHands I think the only time the interconnected feel of the Marvel movies has bothered me is with “Iron Man 2,” where they seemed to go out of their way to pimp the idea of “something greater” happening. Whole enormous scenes that slowed the movie down just so Fury could trailerize the future of the franchise to Stark. That was bad. In comparison, all his other appearances (and all the other great nods, like Howard Stark and Agent Coulson) have been nothing but gravy for me.
Human Torch. Cap punching Hitler. Kirby and Simons first Cap cover. Wings on the mask. Invaders mention. Dum Dum Dugan and Howling Commando’s. Stark Expo. Asgard tie in. Avengers preview. Awesome movie, could have been longer. I really enjoyed this movie better than Thor and Green Junker. Didnt see Xmen cause mutants arent my bag. I thought Evans did a great job.
I absolutely loved this movie…. it was by far the best of the comic book movies this summer in my opinion. The cast was amazing and I feel like the movie (and Evans) nailed Stever Rogers, which for me was one of the most important things.
good, but the spiderman trailer was wow…
This was my favorite Marvel movie so far. Evans was awesome as Cap, Weaving was good as Red Skull and Hayley Atwell is my newest crush. I mean wow at the scene in the bar when she’s in that red dress.
Best part for me was after the Avengers trailer walking out and these two young boys talking about it and one going; “Was that Green Arrow?” and the other one going “No No that was Hawkeye, Green Arrow is DC.” It was kinda cool to see for some reason. I’ll definately have to go see it again.
Just got back and I loved it. 5/5 in my book. It lived up to my expectations but still surprised me at times. The cast was awesome – not a bad on in the bunch. Evans really sold it. Weaving was great as always. This ties with Iron Man as my favorite Marvel movie. A great time, definitely the best superhero movie of the summer. I think Potter and Super 8 were better, but it was up there for sure.
Did anyone catch the Zola foreshadowing when they showed his face in the little screen? As well as the surveilance camera that looked like the robotic Zola’s head?
Everything was perfectly executed but it was basically one big flashback instead of something firmly grounded in WW2. Nothing gets resolved, all the pieces just get moved off the board by the end. The love story is a great suprise and added alot of tragedy in the end.
And I geeked out over the John Hammond Human Torch cameo
Holy crap, I missed this whole Human Torch bit. dangit. There’s an excuse to see it again. Aw, shucks. I frickin’ loved every minute of this movie. I loved the nods to the robot version of Arnim Zola, and Bucky Cap. This was better than Thor. Everyone absolutely killed it. Tommy Lee Jones was GREAT! I will probably see it again in theaters. I just wish I knew more about the Howling Commandos, but thats my fault. So much fan service in this movie, but it by no means alienates the non comic reading public. So. F’ing. Good.
The only superhero film that is better than “Captain America” is “The Dark Knight,” and that’s because Chris Nolan is a rare writing and directing genius. Joe Johnston is not at the same level, but he is a fine craftsman. And this film is very well crafted, with great attention to detail. The movie really immerses the audience in the WW II era. I imagine that “Cap” may actually get some Oscar nominations for costume design, set design and even best song! This movie could have become sentimental and shmaltzy at several points, but the dialogue was sharp enough to avoid that while actually giving us some nice character moments. I’m thinking in particular of the scenes between Evans and Atwell in the car in Brooklyn, and the scenes between Evans and Tucci. The acting is uniformly good, but the real revelation is Chris Evans. I thought Evans was an adequate actor, and that he looked the part, but Evans proves that he is capable of subtley as an actor. Johnson was very wise to cast Chris Evans.
I’ve waited over forty five years to see this Captain America movie (not the ones that came before). Very satisfying. 5/5
Just about my whole theater waited after the credits and there was nothing… BOO! I don’t know if it’s because it was a 2D theater or because we’re in Canada but everyone was pissed. Guess I’ll have to wait till Marvel officially releases it on line.
@ sirdave101
That sucks, man. It must be just your theatre, because I saw it in 2D in Canada and I saw the post credit teaser for The Avengers. Just out of curiosity, what theatre did you go to?
Just glancing over the comments. Did anyone else notice the real Human Torch at the Fair?
I enjoyed it. I thought Evans was very good, and the look of the movie was spot on. My only gripes would be that the missions to take out the Skull’s bases were reduced to a montage and that Red Skull himself didn’t seem to be a big enough threat to Cap. I was kinda hoping for old school cosmic cube wielding. I will admit I squealed a little bit the first time the shield clanged off bad guys, been waiting a long time for that.
Saw it in the old-fashioned way last night. I was pretty impressed overall. I thought the nailed the characterization, minus the bit where he sneaks a quick snog with the grateful american woman. I groaned a little bit with some of the dialogue, notably the over use of the dance partner metaphor. I loved the sound of the shield bouncing. I didn’t understand the usefulness of ‘killing’ Bucky (who’s new origin I loved), but I guess that’s what sequels are for, or (I just did it) that’s the winter soldier origin. The only thing that I wished they would have done is something with old Peggy. That might have nailed it as opposed to the nebulous ending.
can someone fill me in on the torch cameo, i completely missed it.
@ed209AF: It didn’t occur to me as I was watching it, but while they are panning the grounds at the fair, you see a red figure in a glass box. That is evidently Jim Hammond before he ignites.
@ed209AF The Torch Suit was in a case during the Stark Expo. It can be easy to miss
I think Cap was a great film that brilliantly portrayed the WWII patriotism and cheesiness of the early Cap Era. But it also managed to mix in the awesome Brubaker-esque WWII scenes. Every single character was portrayed convincingly and I have to hand it to Chris Evans and Hugo Weaving for going all out with the characters. My favorite scene was the end, when he runs out into modern day New York, paralelling his chase scene earlier in 1940s New York. It gave me a sense that the world changed dramatically in the last 70 years and Cap is like a fish out of water. Evans gives a good performance pre-serum and post serum by playing them differently but not drastically. He made me believe that he was the Red, White and Blue boy scout. One last praise goes to Stanley Tucci as Eskrine, who gave depth to the character as well as his views on right and wrong. He was not played as a doomed character, he was played as central figure in Cap’s history, as he is.
The Avengers teaser was enough to make me scream with joy. Up until yesterday, I still had a hard time accepting the fact that this is happening. A major milestone in movie history, never before have so many characters from so many different movies been combined into one movie. And obviously, this is a huge turning point in comic book movie history, where the unthinkable is actually being done. The teaser also did a great job of setting a tone. It gave me a sense of an urgency and a sense of an epic scale.
Overall, I feel that Marvel Studios has done it. They have made a film based on a character with an argueably difficult sense of realism. They made the plot, costume, characters and world seem believeable. And now, we are going to get the grandaddy of the all, and Summer 2012 can not come soon enough
@Flounder the formula dying with the scientist has been a major part of why there were no other super soldiers created (not counting the black cap retcon).
I saw it awsome
@KenOchalek The sound of the Hydra weapons in Cap was exactly the same sound as the Repulsor tech going off in Iron Man.
Just got back from it, and overall I really liked it. A lot.
The big thing I didn’t like was Bucky’s death. Seemed more like a footnote, like, “Oh, guess we gotta kill this guy.”
I loved it! Was it just me, or was the Red Skull’s line about “Der Fuhrer digging for relics in the desert” a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark?
@jghuschke Sure. Though, it’s also based on historical fact.
I think it’s more fun to take it as a “Raiders” reference.
Am I crazy to think that Red Skull actually got transported to Asgard or one of the other realms. The “death” effect looked suspiciously like the Bifrost effect from Thor.
I loved it. It was great. Well worth the wait, the price of admission and any continuity quibbles I might have had. 5 out of 5.
Eh I never wanted to be this guy but…I hated this movie. At the risk of sounding like a troll, it sucked don’t watch it. Oh well I’ll always have my Brubaker Cap Omnibus.
Also what the hell is this i hear about an Avengers trailer. I waited until after the credits and nothing!
@CronyC: Sorry you didn’t dig it. I was a huge fan back in the Bronze Age, and the Brubaker run has brought the character back to greatness. I really enjoyed it, but then, I really wanted to.
And yeah, people told me there was no scene after the credits, but there was definitely an Avengers movie trailer after the credits at the showing I went to today. A pretty cool one, actually. Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Black Widow and Hawkeye. I even heard some people say that they saw evidence of The Hulk,and the possibility of Agent 13. Could be great.
@player1 No worries man, I’ll get over it. I was just a bit salty cuz I also really wanted to enjoy it. Looks like im in the minority anyways. I’m glad you and most people seem to like it. I hope they make a sequel and someone else takes a crack at the script because I do love the character.
As for The Avengers trailer the showing I went to didnt include it for some reason. The majority of the audience stayed until after the credits but it was a no show. Maybe it was only for the 3D screenings? Anyways a friend send me a link to a decent quality youtube video. Looks rad from what I saw.
@rockleerules It was the kirkland colisee in Montreal. Im surprised they wouldn’t show it since it’s one of the mega theaters here
Man, that was fun! My only beef is that, like Thor, it doesn’t have an ending. I don’t care what you’re building up towards (even though I desperately do!), a movie’s usually better with one of those.
The ending is Cap crashing the plane/saving the day.
Waking up in present-day NY is postscript/epilogue.
Pretty damn fantastic. I actually gasped when I saw the Human Torch. The Avengers trailer was exciting as well but is there something weird with Thor’s look, my dad asked me if he had been recasted?
A great sucess and if there had been an enlistment booth outside the theater I may have signed up.
This was pretty good. I would say the 3rd best Marvel Studios films after Iron Man & Thor.
This was a pretty cool retelling of Star Wars. This isn’t Thor or Iron Man’s level, but it was a great introduction to the character.
And I think Evans and Hemsworth are on the Barry Bonds diet…just sayin’.
I really liked Captain America. Kind of wish it was a little less comicbook-y, but if you can ignore that and buy into the world, it’s fun. I kind of wish he was just fighting the Nazis and there wasnt all the crazy super tech and Batman-y gadgets. Would’ve worked better as just a regular war movie. But I can forgive that & it worked when I just went with it & bought into the crazy tech. Liked Thor better than this though. Also: HOT DAMN that Avengers trailer looked awesome! Can’t wait for that movie!
I thought this movie was pretty good, but the final act really fell flat for me. The origin story was handled really well, but I thought the film really lost momentum after that.
My main issue was that Red Skull never seemed that threatening. He never presented any threat to the hero: his plans fell apart bit by bit without much difficulty. Even at the end, the stakes didn’t feel all that high. Bucky was killed by a henchman, rather than a proper villian (why not have Red Skull kill him?). Then, at the end, we all knew Cap would crash the plane into the ice, but why did he need to? The clearly labelled bombs weren’t a problem any more, and Cap seemed to have control of the plane, so why not just fly it to the states and try to land it?
Ah well. It was not a bad movie by any stretch – the first two thirds were a lot of fun – but I think a few simple fixes would have made it much better.
I don’t know much about German airplane equipment, but why were the controls of the German plane in English?
Watched Captain America. About a B-/C+ film – vastly superior to Thor, not nearly as good as the first Iron Man, the first 2 Spiderman movies or the first 2 X-Men movies or even First Class. These Marvel Studio films attempt to evoke a Silver Age aesthetic. Black and white. Good and evil. No questioning of motive or social consequence. Worst of all, bland humor that dried up 30 years ago.
I don’t think you know what aesthetic means.
The Avenger’s trailer is on YouTube at http://youtu.be/wqtQOXt7u-g
I really liked the movie a lot. Might be in the running for the best of the summer for me. My only complaint was that the USO stuff was way too campy and way too long. I don’t mind it being there because it made sense in the story, but it felt like that part of the movie was an hour. I felt like they were beating me over the head with it.
One of my favorite aspects was his use of the shield. He used exactly how you would imagine it in motion. It was so natural and not awkward at all.
I was talking with one of my buddies, and we thought the Winter Soldier storyline would the a natural fit for the future of the franchise. It can take place in modern day, and with Bucky’s return, they could build that relationship more with flashbacks. Maybe have Zemo and Zola as Winter Soldier’s creators? That would be awesome.
The whole sang and dance thing sucked the movie downward!! It made a nice recovery however; this was too long and just really annoying. The movie was great and recovered from that crap.
Just sayin,
K
Im not optimistic about how this film is going to play out in the overseas market. From the look of my showing just up in Canada, the theatre wasn’t nearly a full as it should be for an opening weekend superhero movie. I’d say there were only about 50 people in the theatre, maybe less. I’ll be really interested to see the box office take broken down regionally for this film
@mikegraham6 Im not surprised, I doubt I’d rush in to go see Captain Canuck if it came out in theatres.
Hate to rain on the parade, but this was easily the worst marvel movie since x-men last stand. Cap was goofy, red skull was not terrifying at all, the plot was absent, action scenes boring, the motorcylce bit was complete shit, what the hell was up with the ending, the skull magically got beamed up by the cosmic cube? The whole time I was watching the movie it felt like an over-long first half because anyone that reads comics know that cap is all about after the freeze. If they were going for the simple lustre of a golden age comic they fucking blew it. Honestly, cap flew a plane thats a bomb at the same time-this movie was a waste of time. Can’t say anything about the acting when there wasn’t any good material for them to work with. Stark was great, and the general was funny but the other characters were shoved aside for the action. The first ten minutes were awesome and then before he gets the serum were pretty good but then the movie started to blow chunks.
Really hated the Uso part, when he saves the howling commando’s it more than made up for it. Tommy Lee Jones was the best performance,Evans did a wonderful job as well. First 3rd of the movie not as engaging as I wanted
@gwiz – Don’t worry, sir. My parade remains dry and Cap-tastic! Sorry you didn’t enjoy…
@syngar98 I’d rush to see Alpha Flight or Captain Britain/Excalibur movies. 🙂 (That said, I do agree with your point. 😉
I loved the flick. There certainly could have been changes:
– I’d have opted for Less USO in favor of more Cap being shown as a leader, not just in montages.
– I wish Bucky’s death had been differrent. I’m actually glad he wasn’t killed by Red Skull though. To do so could have made the Cap vs Red Skull thing about revenge, rather than heroics. (He already had a bit of a revenge motive with regards to Dr. Erzine.)
…that’s about it though.
I thought the acting was great. For example: the converstaion between Dr. Erzine and Rogers the day before the serum… It was low key, heartfelt and a little funny. I thought Weaving as the Red Skull was good. I actually enjoyed it a little more before the mask came off when you could see him futzing with it.
The fight scenes with the shield were spot on. Cap got to do what most of the super-heroes in the other movies haven’t recently, beat up a ton of minions before fighting the big baddie.
I totally missed the Human Torch bit. 🙁
Who else thinks that the woman (played by Amanda Righetti) that’s there when Cap wakes up is Sharon Carter? (IMDB has Righetti listed as being in the Avengers.)
@r3v My immediate reaction was that she was Sharon Carter given how much she looked like Peggy so you’re probably right.
I think, like everyone’s been saying, the USO stuff could have been cut for a more complete view of the Howling Commandos. Otherwise, I thought this was good stuff. Definately better than Green Lantern and better than Thor.
I just posted my review, it can be found here:
http://joawmeens.hubpages.com/hub/Captain-America-The-First-Avenger-movie-review?done
Movie was horrible, sorry, just dumb storytelling.
I have a blog now, and I just reviewed the film:
http://mike-nagle.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-captain-america.html
Overall I enjoyed the film even though there was some tiny nitpicks to make it not perfect. Still debating whether it’s better then Thor or not though. Can’t wait for Avengers!
well, I will definitely make that my homepage
@syngar98 I knew that the formula would die with Erskine, I just missed the mention of it in the movie. Second time I saw it, I heard it.
was great, but needed more nazis
I thought it was fantastic. Loads of fun and I really liked the way they captured the 1940s period. Seeing it again on Thursday.
I very much enjoyed it. My full review here:
http://blatherful.wordpress.com/
The second time thru watching Cap, I realized that the Howling Commandos reminded me of the resistance fighters from Val Kilmer’s Top Secret… Escpecially that french guy.
“Looks Good!”
@365Dom Ha!
I think some people’s problem with the movie was that they didn’t artificially rust everything up like most period pieces do. They had the newly made weapons look like newly made weapons and people aren’t used to that.
Best comic movie this year! @r3v @Tork I thought the exact same thing. I wish she would have introduced herself as Sharon.
I loved it. Then again, I’m a sucker for retro-tech and any knob/dial based technologies. Also, I thought Hugo Weaving really nailed the Red Skull. I could watch him and Toby Jones’ Arnim Zola go at it all day.
Watched this movie in South Korea where it is simply titled “First Avenger” with no Captain America in the title… and… it wasn’t released here until yesterday, the 28th so maybe that explains why it doesn’t appear to be selling as many tickets internationally, if it is being released a week later in other countries as well.
Saw it yesterday, I really enjoyed it, the Stageshow stuff did feel like it went on FOREVER, but it really didn’t, and I liked all the little unnamed cameo’s, although, would have really enjoyed a mini-young nick fury shot or even have him in the Howling Commando’s, and I really hope they get Neal McDonough back as Dum Dum in the Avengers movie. The only things I didn’t really like were the fight scenes, really wanted some 300esk style slow-mo shots, have cap take down half the room in the time it takes the howling commandos to fire their first rounds would have been neat, but the way they shot all that I just didn’t find interesting enough :/
I enjoyed it about as much as I did Thor, not as much as Iron Man 1….. I think, that’s actually a tought one though, I almost believe we’re seeing/ remembering Iron Man 1 through rose coloured glasses in some cases, even when we re-watch it, the fond memories of walking out thinking “THEY GOT IT RIGHT!” is just overpowering the quality of these movies. I’ll definately be buying the blu-ray for this one. 4/5.
Great discussion guys. I think I liked the film even more than you guys. I thought it was the best of the four superhero films this year. That’s saying a lot but it really was fun.
I didn’t like how it needed to go into the acting part.
Nitpick: He was asleep for 70 years, NOT FROZEN, his hair didn’t grow, no dextrose?
Although, I love how Marvel Studios has the balls to make full-length films only to set-up a character.
I thought the cast did a great job. I thought the movie was a lot of fun. Still there were plenty of flaws.
-Red Skull was reduced to a one note character.
-The pacing of the second half of the film was a mess. Once the origin was out of the way, they seemed like they were trying to rush into the Avengers film. I feel these Avengers ties hurt the quality of these movies individually, but it helps to build the hype.
-It made sense in the context of the film, but the Hydra weapons and armor took me out of the WWII era.
This was a very good film, but it was frustrating because it could’ve been great if it took a few chances rather than stay true to formula.
@mikegraham6 especially consiering that it has ONLY just come out in Australia, and presumably other countries as well.
Not sure why Captain America is considered a risk.
I’d think a film about space aliens/Norse Gods would be a more tough sell then a patriotic superhero.
I thought it was good, but it didn’t blow me away. My biggest problem was that Steve didn’t do anything clever after he became Cap. That brilliant flagpole scene sets up how smart he is, but they did nothing with that. Otherwise, highly enjoyable. Loved Red Skull.
OH! I almost forgot! You wanna talk about Easter eggs? The Norwegian village from the start of this movie (Tonsberg) is the same one from the start of THOR. Guess Odin must have dropped that Cosmic Cube there.
I am not a Marvel person. You guys talked me into checking out Ultimate Spiderman trades, but that’s it. I have enjoyed the latest Superman and Batman movies, but this summer Marvel is kickin’ butt all over the place. Xmen, Thor, and now Captain America have been completely engaging. I’m coming to these characters basically fresh with just a very fundamental idea of who they are. Xmen – mutants, Thor – some fallen god??, Capt. American – a superman-like character?? Truly, I had no clue. This movie is the first one that inspires me to go check out some trades. Xmen feels overwhelming, like I’ll never catch up with the story, Thor just doesn’t interest me, but Capt. America looks like something I could really get into. So, Marvel did their job. They made a great movie that I will see multiple times in the theater and they sold a least a couple trade paperbacks.
RE: Johansson and Renner – I’d bet nobody in The Avengers will be a spare wheel, everyone will have their “moment” and justify their presence.
Liked Cap a lot, but was missing an undefinable something…it wasn’t as good as Thor.
UK screening was empty on opening night earlier (we got pushed back a week for some reason).
Just back – loved it!
(from the UK if anyone’s keeping track.)
@Ron He played the role you’re referring to in ‘The Fugitive”. I’m not sure if that’s what you were aiming at though.
My gf picked up on the Thor – Cube reference. And how the Red Skull’s Cube was from Asgard. But she also made another conclusion that I thought was interesting.
She said the Cube is blue like Tony Stark’s heart and at the end of Captain America Stark’s dad has the Cube. So Stark’s armor might be powered by the Cube.
This makes sense, but it kind makes Stark a fraud … also he did not have the cube in his cave. But maybe he had some of the stored cube energy, and maybe whiplash had some too.
Who knows? Anyone care to speculate… ?
@Ron nevermind. You said it.
@spiderphilman actually the suits aren’t powered by the cube but the giant round batteries that Steve finds when looking for Bucky are definitly meant to remind us of the arc generator Tony creates in the middle east. The idea seems to be that Howard Stark tries to replicate the Cube energy and creates the giant Arc Converter seen in Iron Man 1 with the technology of that time and Tony is able to minaturize it and put it in his suit.
So Tony managed to create godlike limitless power source?
loved it loved it loved it!
As to the comment about the Takings, at the time of the podcast it was only released in 4 countries, need to check again in the 2nd week in August to get a proper view
Saw it with some friends tonight. There was nothing bad about it, but it wasn’t very exciting or interesting, which seems to be the case with most Marvel produced movies.
My review: the guy sitting next to me smelled horrible
Upon further consideration, I think this is my favorite comic movie of the year, just edging out First Class. When I think back on FC, the fantasticness is still there, but the flaws become prevelant as well. Maybe I’m just still basking in the afterglow, but Cap was so much fun and so well executed that the flaws sort of melt away. For me, anyhow.
Also, after thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense for them to kill Bucky before the end of the movie, in order to avoid a super-duper downer ending. Steve had time to process his friend’s death and move forward with his job, whereas if Bucky’s died right before he was frozen, we’d get super depressed Cap in the future instead of delightfully confused Cap. Not as dramatic, I agree, but I can see the logic and the necessity.
Its obvious that readers are not likeing the way that Barnes died. Just wanted to remind you that in the movie when Barnes fell, he hit the water. The climate was Snow, the water probbably freezing. This fits into how Barnes was kileld in an explosion and the Russians recoverd him. Barnes was fit with a bionic arm and was sent to recover the “Cosmic Cube”. Think about it, Avengers need a team to go against, and what more could throw Cap off his game then see Barnes as the Winter Soldier 🙂
I loved the crap out of this! Yeah, it would have been nice to see Bucky’s death given a bigger ‘moment’ and the double Hydra salute was a little silly, but I still loved it more than anything I’ve seen in a while! So much fun!
I have been trying to find out how well this has done In the UK (and, I guess, worldwide outside of the US) but I can’t seem to find anything…anyone have any idea?
This would be a good place to keep an eye out.