Captain America Movie Comments

Well I realize I am a little late with these comments. I finally saw Captain America: The First Avenger last night and my initial response to the film is that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I realize that some aspects of the film are not true to Captain America comic book canon so let me first say to all those who are going to cry and moan over that fact to just get over it. Never has a comic book movie ever been exactly as the comic book story originally was written. In fact, mainstream comic companies like DC and Marvel have a difficult time holding to their own universal story lines. When this happens we, as readers, viewers, and fans have to just step back and ask ourselves if the story is well written, are the visual interpretations well presented, and do we feel entertained when we reach the conclusion. When I apply this to Captain America I have to say that I enjoyed the film.

One aspect I enjoyed more than most is the visual representation of the Red Skull's scientific equipment and flying ships. They had that futuristic design popular in the 1940's comics. Those designs, when combined with the literal era pieces, gave it a nice comic book feel without becoming too campy. I also felt that the simplistic visual effects for the Red Skull were believable as opposed to just looking like a stupid mask or bad makeup.

In regards to Cap's uniform I must admit that I had concerns upon my initial viewing of the trailer, but after watching the film I felt like it was more appropriate to the era and the story. Presenting a cheap campy version during his entertainment tour of duty lent to a more appropriate battle version that was more in line with the World War II era. It reflected well the time period and what one might expect. My hope is that in the upcoming Avengers film that his costume will be more appropriate to the modern era.

My one complaint about the film was that there was not enough of action with Steve as Captain America highlighting him as a hero. The majority of his action shots were in the campy uniform covered by a leather jacket, and the scenes with him in his official uniform were too few and short for my taste. I also felt that the movie could have gone another 15 or 20 minutes and still not have been too long. However, taking the time to develop Steve Roger's pre-Captain character was essential to appreciating him as a humble man and why he would appreciate the gift provided him. This development will hopefully fuel his character in a greater way when he makes a powerful appearance in The Avengers. The contrasting characters of Tony and Steve will be fun to watch.

Overall, I will say I am pleased with what Marvel Studios did with Captain America: The First Avenger. I could watch it several more times and be happy with it.

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Captain America's Greatest Foe: Film or the Red Skull?

In 1944, film company Republic, produced its most expensive serial film ever and its last superhero film.  What was it?  Captain America.  Sadly this 15 film series was not in harmony with the comic book version of Captain America.  It featured District Attroney, Grant Gardner, as Captain America rather than US Private Steve Rogers.  Republic's version of Cap had not shield and he wielded a regular gun.  Rather than fight the Nazi's, as Captain America did in the comics, he fought against Dr. Cyrus Maldor, a museum curator whose secret villain identity was The Scarab.  The costume had no wings on his head, no chainmail and no pirate's boots.  Rather the costume was cloth, with high shoes and was black and white because it showed up better on film.  Captain America was played by Dick Purcell.

It would be over 30 years late before another Captain America film would be produced.  In fact, it was 2 made for television films in 1979, starring Reb Brown as Captain America.  In these films, Steve Rogers is not a US Private from the 1940's.  He is a contemporary artist whose father fought in World War II and was so patriotic that he is given the nickname Captain America.  Steve finds himself in an accident and receives a secret chemical called FLAG-Full Latent Ability Gain- which enhances him physically.  He "supes" up his van, drives a modified motorcycle and dawns a costume adopting the name Captain America.  It is not the comic book version and his shield is a removable transparent windshield off of the motorcycle.  The second film, Captain America: Death Too Soon, features a costume that more resembles the comic book version but the overall movie is just bad.  The only possible redeeming aspect is that the villain, General Miguel, is played by actor Christopher Lee.  Other than that there are not too many factors they make it any good.  Both films are low budget B Rated movies and they have that appeal that makes us want to watch them just to see how bad they really were.

The sad part is that it only gets worse.  In 1992, Matt Salinger, son of  Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, starred as Captain America in a movie by the same name.  It was just bad.  Yet, like the others, you cannot help but watch it. It has that "bad movie" attraction about it that just grabs you.  You can not watch it on Hulu for free.  I have embedded it here if you care to watch it.  Try and see how long it takes before you stop watching.

Our only hope is that The First Avenger: Captain America will be well produced and directed.  At this rate, anything will be better than what has come before.