Thoughts on the Captain America film
I watched the recent Captain America film with my son and nephew while on vacation - which touches on an old post I did on Films adapted from comics. It does fit some of the formula I disliked, the revisited origin story that puts the hero in the real world. However, there were some differences. In the end, I liked the first half of the film and thought it set up a very interesting story - but I felt that the action-filled second half was a letdown as far as the story is concerned.
Compared to the comics, the two main changes were that "Bucky" Barnes was an adult friend of Steve Rogers from early childhood, rather than a child sidekick who happened onto Rogers' secret. Given the controversiality of child soldiers, I think this is fine. The more interesting twist is that for several months Rogers worked first with USO performances in the U.S. - which apparently was a way of explaining his over-the-top patriotic suit.
I thought the first half of the film did a great job of portraying Rogers pre-transformation, with fine subtle special effects. The center of the story was scientist Erskine's insistence on having this frail washout be in the program. He tells Rogers that it was important that the person who is chosen should not be a bully, but rather than being a good soldier should be a good human being.
I felt that the second half of the film, though, did not follow this up. It was basically a straight shoot-the-Nazis. From the point that Rogers leaves the USO, it seems that the only thing that he needed to be was a loyal soldier good at fighting. As it turned out, one of Rogers' key abilities besides fighting was piloting an airplane.
Compared to the comics, the two main changes were that "Bucky" Barnes was an adult friend of Steve Rogers from early childhood, rather than a child sidekick who happened onto Rogers' secret. Given the controversiality of child soldiers, I think this is fine. The more interesting twist is that for several months Rogers worked first with USO performances in the U.S. - which apparently was a way of explaining his over-the-top patriotic suit.
I thought the first half of the film did a great job of portraying Rogers pre-transformation, with fine subtle special effects. The center of the story was scientist Erskine's insistence on having this frail washout be in the program. He tells Rogers that it was important that the person who is chosen should not be a bully, but rather than being a good soldier should be a good human being.
I felt that the second half of the film, though, did not follow this up. It was basically a straight shoot-the-Nazis. From the point that Rogers leaves the USO, it seems that the only thing that he needed to be was a loyal soldier good at fighting. As it turned out, one of Rogers' key abilities besides fighting was piloting an airplane.