• Movie Review: Captain America

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    Published on 09-23-2011 04:35 AM  Number of Views: 286  
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    SFreader Captain America Movie ReviewCaptain America: The First Avenger (2011) Rated PG-13
    Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving
    Directed by Joe Johnston
    Reviewed by Joshua Palmatier
    Rating: (4/5)

    Fellow author Patricia Bray () and I went to see Captain America last weekend and I have to say that I was rather surprised. I thought it was the best superhero/comic action movie of the summer, better than Thor and certainly better than The Green Lantern (both of which I need to review here as well).

    Here's why I liked it: First of all, even though the plot was a fairly standard "this is how I became the superhero" deal, the character who becomes Captain America was actually interesting and complex enough to follow. So I was invested in him as a character. I also liked the secondary characters, who were their own people and not just there as props for the superhero.

    I also liked the fact that this was set (for the most part) in the 1940s, which gave it a flavor far different from most of the other comic movies out there. And I think the filmmakers captured that flavor perfectly, even while mixing in the "over the top" elements that comic books require. All of the high-tech gadgets and even the bad guy had the perfect visual touch to make it fit into the time period. And one of my main beefs with comic movies IS the "over the top" elements. They usually go too far; this movie didn't.

    I also think the filmmakers captured the right feel for the tongue-in-cheek factor. I mean, a shield during WW2 as a weapon of choice just doesn't make much sense, especially with the new weapon that's introduced . . . but you can't take the shield away from Captain America without all the comic fanboys crying foul. So I think the filmmakers struck the right cord with keeping the shield (and the outfit and such).

    So, overall, I thought it was a great summer flick, with a good story behind it, and it doesn't have the ending that you'd expect. It actually has a REAL ending, in my opinion, given the situation that the filmmakers wished to set up. And if you stay to the end of the credits there's not an "egg" so much as a preview of the Avengers movie to come, basically a trailer. I'm certainly looking forward to that, even though there are certain Avengers that I'm more interested in following than others.

    Categories:
    1. Superhero
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 4.0 Stars
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