Re: Captain America: The First Avenger-Review, Discuss, Grade, Sequel,
I never saw this in the theaters in my part of the world because they only showed the 3-D version (and yes that is happening more and more - this past weekend I could have gone see the 2-D version of Puss n' Boots if I wanted to but only the 3-D version of The Three Musketeers is being shown in my city of a million people). But now I'm getting caught up with the 2-D blu-ray I thought it was quite a good film. Some of the points that appealed to me:
- I punched the air when I saw they incorporated the Howling Commandos into the story, though they missed a bit by not including Nick Fury's dad (though already having Stark Sr. that might have been pushing things a bit).
- I liked the interconnection being set up between the movies with the "Repo Man"-style magic package. I've yet to see Thor but I hope they included a similar connection in that film too.
- Two words: Hayley Atwell. I've been a fan of hers since she romanced No. 6 in the Prisoner remake, and she also has additional respect for being a recurring voice artist for Big Finish's Doctor Who series (apparently recording a new one shortly before Captain America was released). And man, she rocks a red dress (if she and Christina Hendricks from Mad Men ever showed up at a party wearing such an outfit they'd have to unpack the defibrillators).
- I was a little less enthused about the violence - I'm in the "superheroes don't kill" camp and am still upset over what David Kelley had Wonder Woman doing in the busted pilot earlier this year - but at the same time this is actually consistent with the early days of Captain America. All those comic book issues in which Cap was indeed shown fighting Nazis in the 1940s, he wasn't using harsh language.
- The world's fair sequence near the beginning was utterly beautiful. Completely unrealistic (in the era of blackouts you didn't do fireworks displays) but beautiful all the same. Sort of makes me sorry the story had to move away from all that. Hopefully someone comes up with a Stark Sr. movie idea that focuses on this "futuristic-retro" aspect.
- Did I mention Hayley Atwell already?
- Hugo Weaving rocked as the Red Skull. I was just reading an interview and it appears that was actually a mask - not some CG trick like they did with Voldemort in the Harry Potter films.
I really wish I'd been able to see this in the theaters, and I would have had they brought in a 2-D version. The studio still got its pound of flesh, and then some - after all, buying a Blu-ray costs more than a movie ticket - but I do bemoan the fact I never got to see "that dress" on the big screen!
Alex