Pretty hard hitting movie for some, as it can and probably has hit home to thousands upon thousands of Americans the past few years. I enjoyed this drama as it had good acting, good script, and a pretty good storyline.
This one doesn't have any replay value, as it is somewhat depressing, unless you're a Ben Affleck fan. But nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable movie.
Captain America is not the first Avenger. Iron Man is. Minor fanboy quibble aside, I was blown away by the movie. I expected it to be moderately good, but I was cautiously optimistic. I didn't have enough faith in it to hype the movie up to friends and family, but part of me wanted it to be that good. Being a huge Marvel fan, I was obliged to see it no matter how good or bad critics said it was. Surprisingly, it turned out to be just what Joe Johnston's credentials promised. It was a good old fashioned throwback action adventure movie that's fun (for the family, but with a few shockingly violent moments), humorous, and surprisingly, emotionally resonant. I thought it was better than Thor, which I also like. Johnston's last few films (The Wolfman, Jurassic Park III and Hidalgo -- two of which I actually like) didn't have great receptions, so it was understandable for most to be weary of him directing, but I think he did a damn good job with material that could have turned out to be very stupid. The character, Captain America, is one of those characters that everyone knows of, but not many people care about. He just comes across as a boring character, with his overly American costume, simplistic superpowers, and the shield? The shield just seems stupid.
I'm very happy to say that this movie is none of the above, and neither are most of Cap's latest publishings, to be honest. There are inherently cheesy moments throughout the film, but what do you expect from an apparent propaganda piece about a soldier with an American flag costume and a big shield? I actually loved the cheese factor. It went quite well with the 40's WWII atmosphere, and the film as a whole. Like I mentioned before, this film was a throwback to the old fashioned action adventure movies like Indiana Jones and The Rocketeer (another Johnston film). There's an automatic cheese factor that goes with the territory. Early flags were raised by internet dwellers about Chris Evans not being right for the role. I never bought into those complaints. I mean, have you guys seen him? Blonde hair, blue eyes, quirky innocence, toned body, and actual acting abilities (if you've seen him in anything besides Fantastic Four -- which he was actually one of the best aspects of). What the hell else did we need for him to be right for the role? I don't know, but I had faith in him and he delivered. Some people have said that he was bland and just a good guy with no internal conflict, and for the most part, I agree. That's who he is supposed to be though. His character was developed as he grew up, due to him being weak and bullied. That was the very reason why Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) recruited him.
I loved Evans as Steve Rogers, and even more as Cap. He just flat out kicked ass. He went against what we've become accustomed to in superhero movies, and it worked well.
[Show spoiler]When Cap threw the Hydra agent into the propeller of his aircraft
, my jaw dropped. Then soon after he threw two other Hydra agents right out of a larger plane. I was not expecting that in a comic book movie where us older fans have come to expect major toning down for young children. I mean, he is a soldier. This is a war. It would be stupid for him to go through all of that trouble trying to enlist and getting turned down, only to go overseas and just knock his enemies out. Killing is what war is about, so hats off to Johnston and his writers, as well as Marvel Studios and Paramount for having the balls to let that happen in this movie. Another surprisingly violent moment was when
[Show spoiler]the older woman in the hidden base got shot and we actually saw the impact. Well, she did have a machine gun,
but even so, I applaud them again for letting that happen in a Summer family blockbuster. It added to the seriousness of the situation. The audience should take from that, that the Nazi spy who gunned down the older women needed to be taken down as soon as possible. While I did appreciate the mature sparks of violence, there were also other stupid tone downs that conflicted with them.
Now I'll admit that this is just me nitpicking, but that's what reviews are for, right? Similar to the Decepticon guns in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, I have to say that I was distracted by the way that Hydra's advanced weapons turned the victims into dust (or altogether disappeared -- I can't remember exactly which) instead of actually showing the devastation of the weapons. I'm not saying that it was necessary to show blood splatter when the cosmic blasts impacted. I understand the ratings system, but what they chose to do was pushing it, even for science fiction. [And speaking of those weapons, they seemed more appropriate for a film set in the future, more so than one set in the 1940's. Not only that, but they were developed too fast, and came out of seemingly nowhere.] I've heard this complaint a couple of times now, and I want to retort. That was the whole point.
[Show spoiler]That's the main reason why Johann Schmidt/Red Skull wanted the cosmic cube so badly. Because he knew it would give him the power to build advanced weapons like those, that no one else on the planet was close to.
Again, that first part was just me nitpicking, but I would have been more accepting had the results been a little more realistic. Speaking of Red Skull, I have to say I loved him in this movie. He wasn't as menacing as he should have been, but, I'll be damned if he wasn't one of the coolest villains I've seen in a while.
Hugo Weaving should just play villains in everything for the rest of his career. He does it too well. After seeing his performance, I cannot think of another actor who I would have chosen over him. I'm glad to have him in the Marvel Universe now, and I hope he returns for the sequel. That's right people, he definitely is not dead. Teleported to another dimension, maybe, but dead? I seriously doubt it. Actually, I think the whole cast was great. Haley Atwell was probably the best of the Marvel Studios (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and now Captain America) love interests, which is surprising given she's the least recognizable. If I were to rank them, I'd do it as follows: Atwell, Paltrow, Portman, and Tyler. As for Atwell's character, Peggy Carter,
[Show spoiler]I loved how they chose to keep her sexiness hidden until she appeared in that stunning red dress.
Her character was introduced as a tough one, but she showed compassion towards Steve. She was a very well developed character,
[Show spoiler]and I'll be sorely disappointed if this is the last we see of her. The moment she and Steve shared before he crashed into the ice was moving, and as I was feeling for them,
I was quite surprised that this kind of film could elicit such an emotional response. They did such a great job at developing that relationship.
[Show spoiler]Sadly, I'm pretty sure this is her only outing.
There were quite a few moments when I sincerely cared for the fate of the characters. Not only Steve and Peggy, but Bucky (Sebastian Stan) as well.
[Show spoiler]He has one of the saddest, most surprising moments in the film. Even as a fan of the comics, who knew what would happen to Bucky (and who he becomes later), I have to admit that that scene got me.
I mentioned Stanley Tucci briefly before, but I didn't say that I enjoyed his performance as the doctor responsible for Steve's transformation. I thought Tucci did a pretty good job with the minimal screentime he had. And who can deny Tommy Lee Jones? The guy was funny. He owned every scene he was in. Now all of this praise is not to say that I don't think the film is flawed. It's far from perfect, and many people will most likely have issues with the overall cheesiness of the plot and stereotypical portrayals of the characters, but I enjoyed it very much. I don't think it was the two hour Avengers preview that some have made it out to be. Yes, we were once again reminded of the Avengers Initiative, but I don't think it took precedence over anything in Cap's origin story. The build up for The Avengers has been an exciting one to experience. Each link in the chain is solid, with some obviously being stronger than others. I think Captain America: The First Avenger is the second best movie in the series, after the first Iron Man. I look forward to seeing what Joss Whedon does with all of these dynamic characters next May. As for Captain America, I highly recommend it.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
3.75 (4)/5
Last edited by Mandalorian; 07-26-2011 at 04:04 AM.
Reason: Added Spoiler Tags...
I'm not really sure if miniserieses should be posted here or in the TV show thread. For now, I'll stick it here and call it a 3-hour movie.
Next greatest miniseries seen on TV: “The Witches of Oz.”
Seems like a swell idea to update a classic fantasy with modern-day settings, right? “Tin Man” was one attempt to transform “The Wizard of Oz” story into something with a greater edge and a more fantastic steampunk aesthetic. “The Witches of Oz” starts off the same way, but goes on to bring the conflict to modern-day New York, where witches and flying monkeys wreak havoc on the hapless city. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, despite the adequate pacing and occasional bursts of action and cheesy humor, the story for this is not particularly inviting. Much of it is predictable. It gets a little too repetitive with one-too-many flashbacks (of the same scene nonetheless). It gets way too tiresome as the characters act ditzy, indecisive, or lame (especially Dorothy, who really pushed our patience by whining “I can’t take this anymore!” over and over again. Come on, Judy Garland and Zooey Deschanel kick way more butt than this chick ). The plot is solid overall, with one or two decent ideas, but reeks of stupidity and poor execution.
Worst of all, it shows poor craftsmanship. Photography and editing are weak, making some scenes difficult to make out, and most scenes annoyingly cheap. Acting is quite a mixed bag; I wanted to like Paulie Rojas as Dorothy Gale, but despite her looks, her character is a little too dumb to really relate to. I did enjoy Sarah Lieving playing the wicked witch. Billy Boyd probably puts on the best performance, striking a balance between being funny and earnest. Sean Astin didn’t have much to work with here (so that’s 2 out of 4 hobbits eeking out a paycheck here ). Jeffrey Combs’ brief role is probably the most earnest of the lot. Lance Henriksen is still the man. And I enjoyed Christopher Lloyd as the wizard, but it’s unfortunate that his role was all too brief. Every other actor here sucks royally. Writing is iffy at best. Production value looks good in concept, but features too many cheap sets, props, costumes, and horrid special effects. Music sucks too.
2/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 2/5, film: 1/5)
Recommendation: I’d recommend you run into an F5 tornado before I’d recommend this crud. Watch “Tin Man” or the original “Wizard of Oz” instead.
Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright
gonna keep this short because i wasn't too thrilled with how Source Code turned out.
Jake G was solid, as he pretty much always is.
Michelle Monaghan was okay, but her character was dumb as rocks and written as so. i mean, in one scene
[Show spoiler]Sean gets shot. she's RIGHT THERE
and she just kind of looks around like, "huh? what was that?" and doesn't even scream!
the story was written by Ben Ripley who, upon seeing his "credentials" has done nothing and Source Code is easily his best writing, but the writing is still pretty bland and stiff.
sadly, there weren't any interesting characters or situations, which, you would think a movie about going back 8 minutes to find a bomb / bomber would be interesting, but this ain't no Speed or anything. none of the random passengers were interesting and the love story was "blah" at best.
i did find the scene where
[Show spoiler]Sean calls "his" "dad"
to be very well done and the music in the closing scene or two was MUCH better than anything before it, but still didn't make up for the casual "who cares?" i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none
luckily it was only 10 bucks for me, and i'm sure i'll watch it from time to time. and of course, there was the "huh? wait... what?" ending that i was expecting from Jones, but overall Source Code lacked and fell behind in A LOT of areas and never exceeded in any area which left me greatly disappointed.
[Show spoiler]Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright
gonna keep this short because i wasn't too thrilled with how Source Code turned out.
Jake G was solid, as he pretty much always is.
Michelle Monaghan was okay, but her character was dumb as rocks and written as so. i mean, in one scene
[Show spoiler]Sean gets shot. she's RIGHT THERE
and she just kind of looks around like, "huh? what was that?" and doesn't even scream!
the story was written by Ben Ripley who, upon seeing his "credentials" has done nothing and Source Code is easily his best writing, but the writing is still pretty bland and stiff.
sadly, there weren't any interesting characters or situations, which, you would think a movie about going back 8 minutes to find a bomb / bomber would be interesting, but this ain't no Speed or anything. none of the random passengers were interesting and the love story was "blah" at best.
i did find the scene where
[Show spoiler]Sean calls "his" "dad"
to be very well done and the music in the closing scene or two was MUCH better than anything before it, but still didn't make up for the casual "who cares?" i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none
luckily it was only 10 bucks for me, and i'm sure i'll watch it from time to time. and of course, there was the "huh? wait... what?" ending that i was expecting from Jones, but overall Source Code lacked and fell behind in A LOT of areas and never exceeded in any area which left me greatly disappointed.
Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright
[Show spoiler]gonna keep this short because i wasn't too thrilled with how Source Code turned out.
Jake G was solid, as he pretty much always is.
Michelle Monaghan was okay, but her character was dumb as rocks and written as so. i mean, in one scene
[Show spoiler]Sean gets shot. she's RIGHT THERE
and she just kind of looks around like, "huh? what was that?" and doesn't even scream!
the story was written by Ben Ripley who, upon seeing his "credentials" has done nothing and Source Code is easily his best writing, but the writing is still pretty bland and stiff.
sadly, there weren't any interesting characters or situations, which, you would think a movie about going back 8 minutes to find a bomb / bomber would be interesting, but this ain't no Speed or anything. none of the random passengers were interesting and the love story was "blah" at best.
i did find the scene where
[Show spoiler]Sean calls "his" "dad"
to be very well done and the music in the closing scene or two was MUCH better than anything before it, but still didn't make up for the casual "who cares?" i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none
luckily it was only 10 bucks for me, and i'm sure i'll watch it from time to time. and of course, there was the "huh? wait... what?" ending that i was expecting from Jones, but overall Source Code lacked and fell behind in A LOT of areas and never exceeded in any area which left me greatly disappointed.
PQ: 4/5
AQ: 4/5
The Film: 3/5
I found it entertaining enough, but by the time it ended, I was also disappointed a bit because I felt that Jones was getting at something for a moment there. He made it into a Groundhog Day thriller, and while there's nothing wrong about that, it's been done several times before, and he decided to end the story when it actually started to get intriguing just for the sake of a happy ending. I found
[Show spoiler]Colter ending up with Christina without her knowing that Sean is no longer Sean as the more interesting subject matter. Assuming they spent their life together, does it mean that Colter pretended to be Sean for the rest of his life? I don't think he'll explain the truth to her because she'll just think he's nuts. The same goes for Sean's family, friends, and colleagues. It's the sort of morally ambiguous matter that Jones should have taken advantage of
. It's a shame that he took the safe, mainstream route rather than the road less traveled.
I watched the Wizard of Oz last night. I'm trading it in tomorrow
Hideous nonsense and a complete waste of time.
What rating would it deserve if it were released today?
Can't be any worse than the "Witches of Oz," which I reviewed above. At least the original "Wizard of Oz" doesn't take itself seriously.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
Source Code
[Show spoiler]
Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright
gonna keep this short because i wasn't too thrilled with how Source Code turned out.
Jake G was solid, as he pretty much always is.
Michelle Monaghan was okay, but her character was dumb as rocks and written as so. i mean, in one scene
[Show spoiler]Sean gets shot. she's RIGHT THERE
and she just kind of looks around like, "huh? what was that?" and doesn't even scream!
the story was written by Ben Ripley who, upon seeing his "credentials" has done nothing and Source Code is easily his best writing, but the writing is still pretty bland and stiff.
sadly, there weren't any interesting characters or situations, which, you would think a movie about going back 8 minutes to find a bomb / bomber would be interesting, but this ain't no Speed or anything. none of the random passengers were interesting and the love story was "blah" at best.
[Show spoiler]
i did find the scene where
[Show spoiler]Sean calls "his" "dad"
to be very well done and the music in the closing scene or two was MUCH better than anything before it, but still didn't make up for the casual "who cares?" i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none
luckily it was only 10 bucks for me, and i'm sure i'll watch it from time to time. and of course, there was the "huh? wait... what?" ending that i was expecting from Jones, but overall Source Code lacked and fell behind in A LOT of areas and never exceeded in any area which left me greatly disappointed.
PQ: 4/5
AQ: 4/5
The Film: 3/5
Can't say that I agree, but to each their own.
Chances are that my own score for this movie might decrease, but I'll have to get it on disc first and see.
enjoy! i like both, but i'm not a huge fan of them like some people. both get a 4/5 from me.
I love The Thing and I really like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for it's sheer lunacy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve46
I watched the Wizard of Oz last night. I'm trading it in tomorrow
Hideous nonsense and a complete waste of time.
What rating would it deserve if it were released today?
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
Source Code
Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & Jeffrey Wright
[Show spoiler]gonna keep this short because i wasn't too thrilled with how Source Code turned out.
Jake G was solid, as he pretty much always is.
Michelle Monaghan was okay, but her character was dumb as rocks and written as so. i mean, in one scene
[Show spoiler]Sean gets shot. she's RIGHT THERE
and she just kind of looks around like, "huh? what was that?" and doesn't even scream!
the story was written by Ben Ripley who, upon seeing his "credentials" has done nothing and Source Code is easily his best writing, but the writing is still pretty bland and stiff.
sadly, there weren't any interesting characters or situations, which, you would think a movie about going back 8 minutes to find a bomb / bomber would be interesting, but this ain't no Speed or anything. none of the random passengers were interesting and the love story was "blah" at best.
i did find the scene where
[Show spoiler]Sean calls "his" "dad"
to be very well done and the music in the closing scene or two was MUCH better than anything before it, but still didn't make up for the casual "who cares?" i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none
luckily it was only 10 bucks for me, and i'm sure i'll watch it from time to time. and of course, there was the "huh? wait... what?" ending that i was expecting from Jones, but overall Source Code lacked and fell behind in A LOT of areas and never exceeded in any area which left me greatly disappointed.
PQ: 4/5
AQ: 4/5
The Film: 3/5
Your review gets a from me
Seriously the most thrilling film I've seen this year, I can't think of anything that got me on the edge of my seat like this one Yet again I'm not overly impressed with what I've seen this year
Quote:
Originally Posted by jvince
I haven't seen Fear and Loathing yet, but The Thing is amazing. It'll make you wonder why filmmakers use CGI instead of practical effects.
I agree, The Thing is just amazing for it's special effects (excluding the stop motion monster at the end), I know the prequel has gone the route of practical effects so that does give me hope for the film, but nothing has got me hyped up for it.
As for Fear and Loathing, I'm not sure if you'd like it, it's not the sort of film I can really recommend to anyone, because of how visually insane and how the narrative detached and broken, it's worth watching easily, but I'm not sure if I could predict is anyone would really like it.
Watching Harry Potter:Part 2 again today, and I might go watch Horrible Bosses as well, but I doubt that I will
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). The plot is solid overall, with one or two decent ideas, but reeks of stupidity and poor execution.
). Jeffrey Combs’ brief role is probably the most earnest of the lot. Lance Henriksen is still the man. And I enjoyed Christopher Lloyd as the wizard, but it’s unfortunate that his role was all too brief. Every other actor here sucks royally. Writing is iffy at best. Production value looks good in concept, but features too many cheap sets, props, costumes, and horrid special effects. Music sucks too.
i felt during the rest of the film. which sucks since Jones' previous film, Moon (which he wrote by the way) carried much heavier tones and emotional impact. Source Code could have and probably should have, but didn't. almost none 
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