I may break the mold with my opinion on this film, but I’m gonna say my two cents about it anyway. I don’t speak for all “The Gorgeous Geeks” because Katrina praised the movie and fought against every criticism that I possibly had and Gina loved it as well. We all agree that it’s a great film, but I cannot agree that it was “perfect”. If you’d like to see the argument, please watch the video below. But here’s my (Christina) thoughts.
Now one thing that they decided to capture was Steve’s goodness. Doing right just for right’s sake is Steve’s thing and it was portrayed in this film probably the best out of all the comic book films. Chris did a great job! He was kind, brave, and honorable. These qualities were excellently executed. It was simple, like the innocence of a child that some other actors might have struggled with. Now what did they miss out on? Remember reading
The Ultimates and Cap was told by the villain to surrender and the thought of it infuriated him and he said “You think this letter on my head stands for France?” Or what about when Hawkeye had a flashback after Cap’s death of him breaking his bow and beating him up just to demonstrate that he was in charge? Or how about that pumped feeling every time Cap yells “Avengers Assemble!” Obviously, this isn’t an Avengers movie, but they didn’t show his hardcore, super manly, leader side. I mean, I don’t remember Steve even getting angry in this movie or even raising his voice. I highly understand that he earned A LOT of respect after one particular mission, but there was never a moment when he just rallied everyone with his words or even a look. When it’s time for war, there’s no time for nonsense with Steve. He was a great man, a good friend, and a good solider. Did he display great leadership? Not compared to comic book Steve, in my opinion. Kindhearted, optimist is Superman’s MO. Cap wasn’t the hardcore warrior. He was a solider, but he was supposed to be a “super solider”.
Now as a stand alone film with no knowledge of Captain America, perhaps this was an excellent movie and maybe I would have felt different if I wasn’t a huge Captain America fan, but he’s one of my favorites, and Ultimate Cap is especially sweet. I’m not saying Chris Evan’s can’t pull that side of Cap’s personality off, but they simply didn’t write it in the film. Hopefully,
The Avengers will correct this and frankly, they have to in order for me to believe he can control a hotheaded bunch of guys like Tony Stark, Thor, and Hawkeye.
I’m also gonna say that I thought Bucky was really underused as well. When you read a 616 universe recent comic book that has Bucky in a flashback, he is downright hardcore. I won’t give any details away, but there was nothing spectacular enough that would justify Bucky being taken by the Russians and being turned into Winter Solider. I got that he was Cap’s buddy, but he wasn’t impressive as he should have been as Cap’s partner. That’s a shame, because Sebastian Stan is an impressive actor, especially if you’ve seen
Kings.
The action didn’t really do it for me either. If you remember
The Incredible Hulk, Tim Roth’s character Emil Blonsky, did some cool stunts prior to becoming Abomination. This made me really excited for Captain America. Unfortunately, nothing that Steve did visually impressed me. I hate to compare this film to other action scenes from other comic book films, but it’s hard not to when people say “it’s the best of all time”. I was never wowed. If Cap would have had a longer or more serious fight with The Red Skull at the end, I think it would have made a big difference, but the last fight was a little anticlimactic.
I also disagree with the statement “this was just like a war movie” comment. Maybe something lighter like
Sargent York, but it doesn’t compare to something as serious or emotionally riveting as
Saving Private Ryan or
The Patriot.
But I thought the casting was great, even though I didn’t always buy Hugo Weavng’s German accent. But I do believe other comic book villains of the summer were captured better than The Red Skull. Tommy Lee Jones was funny as the crabby drill sergeant. Hayley Atwell as Peggy and Chris had some of my sisters crying at the end, but I’m not the type of person to cry at those sort of things. I enjoyed Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, especially since he wasn’t copying Robert Downy Jr. yet you could see that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.
I did appreciate the Howling Commandos, especially Dum Dum Dugan. I liked the nods, like to the original Human Torch and the original Cap costume. I think there was a lot of comic book history that they crammed into the movie and the pacing was pretty good considering, but it did leave me desiring a little bit more, not in the sense of a sequel, but perhaps another WWII era film would have suited it better. I would have liked to feel out some of the battles rather than it switching from location to location to location. I didn't like the action editing or choreography. But, Marvel wants to hurry and get to
The Avengers. I understand.
I get the nostalgia for the WWII era or those simple values that our society is seriously lacking. I really wished that I would have loved this movie, but it didn’t really hit the spot for me. Was it a good movie? Of course! Perfect? No. But it certainly could have been.
I still think the writing was great, the continuity is refreshing and surprisingly not overpowering, and for the side of Cap’s personality that they decided to portray, it was done beautifully. However, the movie didn’t make me feel...inspired? I wish it did. I really, really wish that it did. It’s not my favorite comic book movie of the summer, but hopefully Cap’s dominant personality will be portrayed in
The Avengers.