My bro-in-law was in need of a cinema-buddy, and I'm always happy to oblige. Trouble is, I said I'd post a review for every film I saw in the cinema this year, including repeat viewings.
You can read my first, second and third-pass reviews on their respective pages.
The only thing I have to add this time around:
Johann Schmidt's car. The Hydra badge has 6 tentacles.
The bonnet of the car has 6 steel handles.
The car has 6 headlights.
It's the little details like that which keep me coming back to this film. Lovely.
[EDIT:] Oh, and hang on - if Cap's shield is made from Vibranium and absorbs vibration (hence it taking bullet/energy shots etc), how come it spangs back to him after he twats people with it? Surely it shouldn't bounce off anything?
Just a thought.
[/EDIT]
Anyway, it's finished at our local flicks now, so my next viewing will be on DVD.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
C/A is the first film this year to get me to the flicks three times to see it.
I don't have much more to say about it, so I made you a picture instead. Is that okay?
I also had some thoughts about that scene near the end of the movie...
INT. THE RED SKULL'S JET FIGHTER. DAY.
ROGERS: Agent Carter? Is that you?
CARTER: Yes, Steve are you okay?
ROGERS: Schmidt's dead.
CARTER: ...and the plane?
ROGERS: That's not quite as simple. I'm going to have to bring her down in the sea.
CARTER: No! Steve, there's got to be another way!
ROGERS: Not with the amount of ordnance I've got on board. I'm headed straight for New York, and at the speed I'm going, there's not much time...
CARTER: Why are you headed for New York?
ROGERS: Because that's what the plane's navigational system tells me...
CARTER: But there were three big flying bombs in the hold of the plane, and one of those had "New York" painted on in big white letters, remember? If Schmidt was going to detonate that in New York, why would he fly his jet there at the same time? There'd be nothing but rubble at best, and lethal radiation at worst. Given that his jet's going to be faster than the propeller-bombs, he'd probably get there before the bomb, just in time to get blown up. And where's he going to land in New York? He's already proved that his super-jet needs a runway.
If anything, it'd make more sense for him to go to Washington, the seat of government, and try to strongarm a negotiation with the president, surely?
ROGERS: Look, never mind that, I'm putting the plane down in the sea-
CARTER: Anyway, why are you still headed to New York? Why don't you just turn the autopilot off?
ROGERS: ...the auto-
CARTER: Yes. The old-fashioned flick-switch clearly marked "Autopilot". The one that Schmidt flicked when you were having that zero-g fistfight earler. There was a close-up shot and everything.
ROGERS: Well, obviously I'm taking the jet off autopilot in order to bring it down early. Do you think I'm stupid or something?
CARTER: If the autopilot's off, then why can't you just take the plane a bit further? Go past New York and down into the midwest where it's all farmland and that.
ROGERS: Statistically, I'm still more likely to kill some people by doing that. And I'm more likely to be able to get a soft-landing by skimming into the sea, I think.
CARTER: Fair point. And you're definitely taking it down into the sea, yes?
ROGERS: Well, now you mention it, there are some ice floes directly underneath me. I might try and land on one of those?
CARTER: Looking at my map, and bearing in mind you're flying from the Austrian Alps to the West Coast of America, I'd imagine that's Canada. Although from the scene at the start of the film, I was led to believe it was the Arctic Circle. Either way, you should have plenty of time to think of another course of action.
ROGERS: Not... at... the speed... I'm... going!
CARTER: Well, that would certainly explain why a transatlantic flight seems to have taken you about eight minutes, given that we've been with you from the moment of take-off. In fact, now I mention it, where's this control-base I'm sitting in? Is it the Hydra base? Because eight-minutes ago I was in a car hanging off the edge of a runway in the Austrian Alps, and now I'm at a control console which I'm surprisingly familiar with.
ROGERS: Well if it's the Hydra base, where are all those troops that were giving it the Hi-De-Di with the Red Skull earlier? There were thousands, and only about four made it into this jet.
CARTER: Yeah, convenient isn't it? If I am at the Hydra base, it would explain why I'm able to have a radio conversation with the jet. Although it wouldn't explain why I can't track your movements and pass the co-ordinates on to Howard Stark, who'll be unable to find you when you crash.
ROGERS: Fuck it.
CARTER: Don't say 'fuck', it's a certificate 12A!
ROGERS: Erm... as I recall, Super 8's a 12A, and that's got a fuck-word in it. Just the one mind. We've had three now. Fuck. Four.
CARTER: It's all got a bit meta hasn't it? Do you think people are still keeping up?
ROGERS: I wouldn't worry about it too much, this bit won't make the final cut.
CARTER: What about the blog readers?
ROGERS: It's okay, they probably stopped back at the bit about the autopilot.
CARTER: I know I did.
ROGERS: So if I crash and freeze in the ice, am I going to see you in the future, as a teary 90yr old woman?
CARTER: I doubt it. It'd be a bit 'Goodnight Sweetheart', and we're running at 2hrs as it is.
ROGERS: Oh, okay. Anyway, I'm superhuman, and I'll almost certainly be able to survive a plane crash at this velocity. I don't even know the meaning of the word 'hubris'.
CARTER: Hmmm. So I'll see you at the Lamb & Flag, a week on Saturday, yeah?
ROGERS: Okay, then. But I'll warn you now, I can't dance when I'm sober, and I'm not going to drink the---
Static issues from the radio. Agent Carter begins to cry.
Fade to black.
...what?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
A second time viewing for The Captain, and not much to add from my previous review. I found myself missing the 3D, knowing that those moments where the shield comes flying at the screen aren't quite as effective as before.
Regarding the geography, it was a little clearer the second time around since I wasn't (as) distracted by all the shouting and explosions. The to-ing and fro-ing between the military camp in Italy and the East End of London doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but hey.
Also, could someone with flight-navigational experience help me out please? If you were flying from Switzerland to New York, would it be quicker to go over the Arctic Circle? I know that the curvature of the Earth means this kind of thing is frequently the case, I just don't know if it applies for this actual journey. That's the only reason I can see for The Cap crashing the Red Skull's stealth-jet where he does.
Oh, and bird-strike. I'm reliably informed that this is still an issue to this day, where a pigeon etc is drawn into a propeller and causes massive prop-damage, potential engine-damage, and in extreme cases can even bring down the craft. The Red Skull's flying bombs have a prop (and drive-shaft) so powerful if can vaporise a human, including his badass leather outfit completely, without missing a rotation. This wouldn't be an issue if The Cap didn't then fly the same craft back into the stealth-jet's damaged hull, where the props snap off and the craft came to a standstill with a minimum of fuss/destruction. It's not a biggie, I'm just saying.
As before...
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
This review is relatively spoiler-free, but you kind of know how the plot is going to play out anyway, don't you? Yeah? Good. Read on…
Marvel keep up their excellent form this year with Captain America: The First Avenger, the pre-cursor to next year's Avengers team-up movie, which has been steadily building momentum since Sam Jackson appeared at the end of 2008's Iron Man*1.
To take us directly into 2012's superhero supergroup, we travel back to 1942. The Second World War is in full swing, and the inadvertent rise of a second megalomaniac paves the way for a new type of all-American hero…
The Good: Pretty much everything. It's structured exactly as you'd expect, but given the nature of the origins-tale, it works very, very well. The plot's fairly clearly defined, Steve Rogers is an aspirational model for geek-boys everywhere, the Red Skull's face is revealed teasingly, and there's a semi-macguffin in the form of the Cosmic Cube. Considering that the film is set in the Second World War, and the Nazis (and indeed Hitler) are alluded to frequently, I was also impressed that there are only two swastikas appearing (that I counted). That was always going to be awkward to get around, bearing in mind the movie was to be distributed in Europe. It's a little hooray for the good guys, boo for the bad guys, but they're likeable/despicable enough to carry this off. Also worth mentioning, the 3D's pretty good in this. Well executed and very effective in places. A welcome surprise, that. When Marvel get this stuff right, it's like this. Their whole Avengers-canon has been pretty much on fire, and Captain America is no exception.
The Bad: I was a little unsure of some of the geography used in the film. We get title-cards for Norway and New York, but there are very few after that. I'm assuming the scenes with the Red Skull take place in Norway/Germany? The frequent journey-time between America and Europe seems very short. And I couldn't work out where that pub they're drinking in is located. It looks like a traditional English pub, but it might have been in Brooklyn and just given that theme by the owners. But then it gets bombed, so you think it might have been in the East End of London after all? Oh, and can someone explain to me how Captain America is flying the Red Skull's jet, on a pre-programmed course from (somewhere in) Europe to New York, he decides that crashing is the only solution, and ends up in the arctic circle? That's a hell of a detour.
The Ugly: Hugo Weaving's German accent. How difficult can it be? He's great in every other aspect except the voice (unless it turns out, of course, that he had grandparents who lived in Germany, and that's exactly how they spoke, and if anything it'd be insulting to do the stereotypical accent we've heard in the media for the last sixy-odd years, and did you ever think about that eh?). Whatever, his accent's awful.
After the Credits: A short scene with Steve Rogers and Nick Fury slides into a teaser for The Avengers movie. That's worth hanging around for.
All in all: Sure, it's two hours of pro-American propaganda, but if you don't expect that from a film called Captain America then you haven't really been paying attention. This is a great movie. Solidly entertaining from start to finish.
And who knew that the kid out of Mamma Mia! was Iron Man's dad, eh?
A very respectable 6.
*1 …so the Fantastic Four aren't going to figure in the Avengers movie at all, then? I didn't think they were, necessarily, but it'd be embarrassing for Iron Man to be asking why Captain America and The Human Torch look like twins. No matter.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
