Random couple of thoughts about Captain America:
. This script [which is from the dudes who adapted the Narnia books to the big screen] has an earnestness to it, and a hefty amount of silliness wrapped in sadness, that is very reminding of oldschool Spielberg, or Robert Zemeckis. Which I guess explains why Joe Johnston was picked to direct it.
. It also explains the whole Raiders of the Lost Ark vibe the movie has all the way through. I don't know if that was originally scripted, or added once Johnston was hired, but I thought it was a really funny in-joke [as in Johnston used to work for Industrial Light & Magic, and did special FXs for Raiders, and was involved in Young Indiana Jones as well].
. My main worry before watching this as was -- how the hell were they gonna make the *literal* Poster Boy for American Imperialism not look and sound like a complete douche to non-USAers like moi. Well, cue in the earnestness and the silliness wrapped in sadness. The whole Poster Boy thing is dealt with brilliantly -- the idea of "Captain America" as a joke to his peers, and to himself, and it's funny BECAUSE it's so sad.
. Plus, CGI!tiny!Steve is relatable because he's the little guy being bullied by the world, so he's pretty much sympathetic to everyone ever. And when he gets big and pretty he still can't talk to girls and he cries when he loses his best friend, and when push came to shove he sacrificed himself for the greater good. He's not cool [nope, that's Bucky], and he's not slick [that's Daddy Stark], and he's not snarky [that's Colonel Tommy Lee Jones], and even when he looks like real!Chris Evans he's just a guy trying to stop bullies. The fact that the movie -- and Evans -- managed to portray this without provoking as many eye-rollings as I feared it would is probably the very best thing about it.
. And then there's Peggy Carter, who's beautiful and kickass and funny and impetuous and the best shot ever and adds quite nicely to the list of Awesome Characters Named Carter that I keep.
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Hilarious and extremely to the point review of the movie, from Hey, Don't Judge Me.
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Dear Joss, if you screw-up The Avengers I'm gonna hunt you down and force you to watch that other Avengers movie with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman non-stop FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH NO BATHROOM BREAKS.
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Thor notwithstanding [I kinda thought it sucked], I get the feeling that while DC is trying to make superhero movies, Marvel is just trying to make movies. And that small difference shows in the details, like the art direction choices, and the casting choices, and the not-dumbing-down-the-storyline-for-the-sake-of-a-younger-and-stupider-audience choices.
*picks totally random and completely unrelated icon*