Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel, DVD

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Captain Craig, Jul 18, 2011.

?

How do you rate Captain America: The First Avenger?

Poll closed Feb 28, 2012.
  1. A+

    34 vote(s)
    19.2%
  2. A

    51 vote(s)
    28.8%
  3. A-

    34 vote(s)
    19.2%
  4. B+

    27 vote(s)
    15.3%
  5. B

    15 vote(s)
    8.5%
  6. B-

    5 vote(s)
    2.8%
  7. C+

    5 vote(s)
    2.8%
  8. C

    4 vote(s)
    2.3%
  9. C-

    1 vote(s)
    0.6%
  10. D+

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  11. D

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  12. D-

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  13. F

    1 vote(s)
    0.6%
  1. DarthPipes

    DarthPipes Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2006
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    I definitely would have liked to have seen Cap fighting alongside Namor and The Human Torch against real Nazis.

    I did like the re-invention of Bucky here though. It was a lot more logical than him being an underaged teen.
     
  2. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Location:
    everywhere
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Bucky fell into the river. you shuold've seen the splash. there was definitely a splash.
     
  3. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2001
    Location:
    Sac, Ca
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Hmm. I finally got to see this again, and while I was hoping my issues with the dull music score and lifeless action would disappear, it turns out they felt even MORE pronounced.

    I realize I seem to be the only one having a problem with this, but the generic score REALLY hurts the movie for me. The action just lies there and never really takes off and becomes truly thrilling and exciting like I want it to.

    Which is a shame, because the story and Evan's performance seem so strong otherwise.
     
  4. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    My eyes ain't that good. :rommie:

    I found my attention wandering a bit during the action scenes, but I attributed that to the fact that Cap's arc had already been completed, when he went from 99 lb weakling to USO clown to finally achieving what he wanted to, when he rescued the Howling Commandos et al.

    After that, the movie was all about satisfying conventions of an action movie by showing more action leading to the defeat of the villain du jour, so it was bound to be pretty pointless up till Cap's final act of sacrifice when he crashed the Hydra plane into an iceberg. Any action scenes, good, bad or indifferent, would have been superfluous to the theme, between the original rescue and the crash (Bucky's rescue and "death" being a plot point set up for a future movie but not an extension of the theme.)

    And that's why they can't do another WWII era movie. As it was, the movie had to contain a fair bit of padding that was irrelevant to Cap's arc. Another WWII movie would be 100% padding. But transport him to the 21st C, where he is once again the underdog, because initially he won't understand this new world and how he fits in, and the arc continues from where it left off.

    Up to this point, Cap was a hero but also an obedient follower. He has no need to question the war, why they're fighting, or really to think for himself. So the next step in his evolution is to truly become a leader, adapt to his new time, and realize that being a man out of time doesn't put him at a disadvantage to the others. In fact, it gives him a better, wiser perspective.

    Cap should come into some conflict with some of the Avengers, maybe not in the first Avengers movie, but in the second anyway, and realize that he needs to stop being the follower and actually step forward as a leader, in a way that has nothing to do with throwing a punch or flinging his shield around. His arc should lead to the realization that he must step up as the Avengers' leader because they need him to.

    If Marvel does all that with the Avengers movies, it hardly matters what else they contain or what else the characters do (with the caveat that Iron Man in particular could play a key role in Cap's story as his foil). They will have a great story.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2011
  5. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2008
    Location:
    Oregon
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Okay. :p
     
  6. DWF

    DWF Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 19, 2001
    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    They can do whatever they want to and I wouldn't mind seeing an Invaders movie. An Invaders movie would need to include Namor so are you sure you want to see any more WWII adventures?
     
  7. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    WWII adventures aren't my first priority but I have no objection to movies made in addition to with the 21st C Avengers plotline. If any given movie doesn't sound interesting, I'll just do like I did with Thor and ignore it.
     
  8. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Cap is doing just fine overseas.

    Not surprising. I never thought the subject matter would make any difference. The foreign market gobbles up all sorts of Hollywood movies, and I've never noticed that topic or even quality makes a bit of difference.

    But now that I've seen the movie, I know its biggest achilles heel overseas - the first half is a character-based story, heavy on backstory and historical context, light on action. And while the action was serviceable, it wasn't the best I've ever seen. That's what's going to temper its overseas BO. It won't be catastrophic by any means, but there will be some impact. Also, the lack of a big Hollywood star (a Cruise, not an Evans) impacts movies more in foreign BO than domestic.

    (Please note that I'm not saying this should have been an action-fest starring Tom Cruise! :rommie: Just that these are the elements that tamp down foreign BO. I'm sure the producers realized this would happen and went ahead anyway, and bless them for it. Somebody's got to take this approach or every Hollywood movie would be a Michael Bay movie.)

    Boxofficemojo reports 58/42 domestic/foreign so far. Cap seems like the kind of movie that settles in with about 55/45 or 50/50 when everything is totaled up, slotting in between all-action/no-story Transformers (33/67) and story- and character-heavy Star Trek XI (67/33) - love that mirror image effect.
     
  9. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2011
  10. G2309

    G2309 Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2009
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Oh I wonder if there a reason for this. Maybe so hes not so disorientated in this time. When the movie comes along.
     
  11. Duncan MacLeod

    Duncan MacLeod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2002
    Location:
    New England
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    No, he doesn't. He says Steve's been asleep for 70 years, but he doesn't mention any dates.
     
  12. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2001
    Location:
    AI Generated Madness
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Of ocurse he is. He's been in the Invaders, the All-Winners Squad, the Defenders, The Avengers and as mentioned the X-Men. :p
     
  13. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2003
    Location:
    Tacoma, Washington
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    ^And he is a mutant. Often inaccurately described as "the first mutant". The ankle-wings are a mutation possessed by neither of his parents' species. Though, in truth, Namor's participation with the X-Men is based largely on the mutual protection benefits shared between Utopia and New Atlantis and his lust for Emma Frost more than anything else.
     
  14. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2002
    Location:
    Gotham
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    ^ Indeed. Namor is possibly the only mutant character owned by Marvel Studios.
     
  15. Chris3123

    Chris3123 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2001
    Location:
    Pensacola, FL
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Just saw it today. I agree with what most here have said, great movie. I gave it a solid B+.

    Loved seeing Dum-Dum and the others. I completely forgot they were going to be there.

    While I knew Howard Stark was going to be in the movie, I had no idea he was going to be so integral to, well, everything. :lol:

    And I honestly had no idea they were going to stick an actual teaser trailer for The Avengers at the end. A very pleasant surprise indeed! :techman:

    Ah, that's what it was supposed to be. As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be a reference to something, I just couldn't figure out what.

    Indeed. Speaking of, I think it we should recognize the efforts of actor Leander Deeny, who, despite the fact that you probably never heard of him, was as integral to bringing Skinny Steve to life as Chris Evans was.

    Uncovered: 'Captain America's' Skinny Steve Rogers -- Leander Deeny


    Hats off to Leander Deeny, the other Steve Rogers:

    [​IMG]
     
  16. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Location:
    everywhere
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    they could do an Invaders story without Namor.

    Union Jack, Spitfire, Major Mapleleaf, Blonde Phantom, Miss America, Whizzer and Blazing Skull could be the line up.
     
  17. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    Cap's team in this movie is called the Invaders. The comics Invaders don't fit very well into this setup; it's not a problem in a sprawling comics universe, but in he comparatively contained cinematic one I don't think it's a good idea to introduce a bunch of other superheroes into World War II while making such a big deal about Captain America.
     
  18. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 1999
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    That's funny, I read somewhere they did NOT use body doubles and stick his head on someone else's body because it was going to look fake, instead they just digitally shrunk his body and shot an empty plate with no actor for the background.
     
  19. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    ^^^^^
    You didn't imagine it.
    They digitally "shrunk" Chris Evans body.

    They did indeed TRY this route first but it just wasn't working. It was so well publicized that it's no surprise people just didn't hear how they ended up going the above route. At best this actor was used as a fallback a "just in case" as the article says.
     
  20. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Location:
    everywhere
    Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,

    the team in the movie is the Howling Commandos. they're just never actually called the Howling Commandos.