I'm just not being diligent in my reviews, am I?
Well, I haven't really been watching that much, to tell the truth. I liked the set design on the Divergent movie, but continued to be meh on the story. Didn't like the follow up to the great cliffhanger on Once Upon A Time. I've been reading some forgettable stuff, though I enjoyed a re-read of My Name Is Asher Lev.
But I totally missed Captain America this summer. I was planning to see it. Really. I liked the first one (it's actually my favorite of the origin movies), I liked The Avengers, and, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I like superhero movies. The more leaked out about it, though, the less interested I was, and the more I just shrugged off going.
Still, it's streaming on Amazon now. I figured I'd put up the five bucks and give it a go.
Verdict: Neither as bad as I feared, nor as good as I hoped.
Setting:
Not a major point here. In and around D.C., with the Smithsonian having a good sentimental role. We re-visit Cap's training camp, and even have a brief Brooklyn flashback. Honestly, it could take place on Mars without changing anything but the back story.
Even the question of the temporal setting, which by all rights should have been a major issue, is inexplicably ignored.
Theme:
Freedom is expensive, and you have to be willing to pay the price -- the real price, not the false price. Also, it's bad to want to be free of freedom. Simple stuff, but there's nothing wrong with a simple theme. Many of life's most important themes are the simplest. The problem is this is all wound up in a big conspiracy theory and "Trust no one" motif that... it just irks me. If it had been the first time I'd seen such a thing, maybe it would be interesting, but now, it seems like the first trick grabbed out of the hat by lazy storymakers who can't think of anything else. Maybe it was fresh once. It's not anymore. The first movie was much fresher.
Plot:
Captain America is trying to adjust to life in the 21st century. Nick Fury and SHIELD are his major touchstones, but CAN THEY BE TRUSTED??????? (See above for answer, though Nick ultimately comes around.) Peggy is still alive, though old, and thinks they need to start over. Lots of people bring up the idea of creative destruction. Black Widow is Cap's wingman, and she's awesome. (I want a Black Widow movie. ScarJo can handle the lead, people.) After an attempt on Fury's life, Cap and Natasha learn that HYDRA (the Nazi corollary of SHIELD) infiltrated SHIELD at the beginning and have been running history since WWII. Because reasons. (Okay, their stated reason is that they want to free people from freedom, because free people make bad choices and aren't easy to control.) The good SHIELD people now must fight the bad SHIELD people, so that they can put up military secrets on the internet. Yes, it's as anvilicious as it sounds, and no, they do not go for subtlety in their commentary on current events. Ultimately, they become a rogue group up against the...
Oh, I'm sorry. Caught me napping. Conspiracy theories do that to me, when they're not causing actual muscle strain from all the eye rolling.
Character:
Easily, the strongest part of this movie is the character work.
When this movie was first being advertised, and I saw they were dealing with the Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier arc, I figured this would be the heart of things. It's a strong heart, and when the movie does go into this plotline, it's absolutely at its best. For me, the best scene was Bucky starting to remember who he was -- sitting there, frightened and confused, tied down by the people controlling him, just saying, "I know that man." Steve understanding that he might have to fight his friend, but wanting, more than anything, to save him. This is how you do drama, and both actors nailed it. Pleasingly, Black Widow got a mirrored storyline, where she is also dealing with her past with the bad guys, and the frightening thought that she's traded one bad guy league for another. (Honey, no, you know perfectly well that you've saved the world several times. That there are evil moles in the organization doesn't mean that what you've done for it is evil.) There's also some ship-teasing with Cap, and it works surprisingly well. I don't generally ship, but I could go for Cap/Nat. (The comics version where she had a thing with Bucky is completely binned.)
Style:
The filmmakers were going for a 70s spy movie feel, and I guess they got it, but I don't know why they'd want it. Whatever.
Boy howdy, can you tell that The Avengers' Joss Whedon wasn't part of the team. Golden jokes go uncracked. Steve's personality is all over the place. And when Natasha, after having kissed him for a cover, suggests that he hasn't been kissed since 1945, he doesn't blow it off and then say, "Actually, it was 1943." Which I literally spent the whole movie waiting for, right up until the credits rolled.
Basically, stylistically, I think they blew what was interesting in the set-up in favor of something generic and kind of dull.
So, I'll see what happens in Age of Ultron, but between this and Dark World and Agents of SHIELD, I'm not convinced that I like where the 'verse is going.
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