You knew this was coming...
A weak young man determined to join the Army gets a chance…and
a universe changes forever.
I have this on Blu-ray.
Starring:
Chris Evans…from some other failed Marvel franchise attempt, and
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Hayley Atwell…from nothing I’ve seen.
Sebastian Stan…from Once
Upon a Time and…Hot Tub Time Machine?
Hugo Weaving…from The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and some flick about little
people – and a ring.
Toby Jones…from Ever After
and an episode of Doctor Who.
Tommy Lee Jones…from The
Fugitive and Black Moon Rising.
Dominic Cooper…from From
Hell and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire
Hunter.
Neal McDonough…from Star
Trek: First Contact and an episode of Quantum
Leap.
Derek Luke…also from nothing I’ve seen.
and
Stanley
Tucci…from Big Night, Road to Perdition, and far too many
other fine films to mention here.
Notes of Interest:
1) Captain America:
The First Avenger was released on July 22, 2011…one week after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,
one week before Cowboys and Aliens,
two weeks before Rise of the Planet of
the Apes, three weeks before Final
Destination 5 and The Help, and
four weeks before Conan the Barbarian,
Fright Night, and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World.
2) It wound up being the twelfth top grossing film of the
year, making more than The Help and
less than Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
3) Captain America:
The First Avenger‘s estimated budget was $140 million, and earned it back
about two and a half weeks later (August 7th).
4) When this film was released:
Chris Evans was 30
Hayley Atwell was 29
Sebastian Stan was 28
Hugo Weaving was 51
Toby Jones was 43
Tommy Lee Jones was 64
Dominic Cooper was 33
Neal McDonough was 45
Derek Luke was 37
Stanley Tucci was 50
and
Director Joe Johnston was 61
5) The composer of this soundtrack was Alan Silvestri…who
also composed the music for Back to the
Future (1985). It’s one of those things that you wouldn’t notice if you
didn’t know, yet can’t help but
notice once you do. Also, the music for “Star Spangled Man” was written by Alan
Menken – same composer for Disney’s Beauty
and the Beast (1991).
WTF? Moment:
Okay. Let’s talk about the draw of this film…
…actually, there are several.
First there’s Red Skull’s real name. Some of the younger
people I work with thought it was funny that I share the villain’s surname.
Then there’s the fact that my boss kinda-sorta looks like
Arnim Zola.
Next is the Skull’s car. I want this car. The only other car
I’ve ever seen in a film that I’ve wanted this badly is Sylvester Stallone’s
ride from Cobra. Hat’s off to Lead
Vehicle Designer Daniel Simon. Schmidt’s got a damn fine car.
Then there’s the special effect of “Skinny-Steve”. Holy
crap. Adorkette and I watched the Blu-ray recently and she asked me “How’d they
make him so big?”
Speaking of special effects, I really like Red Skull’s
make-up. Say what you will about The Mask.
I don’t care.
How about Bucky’s slow build-up to become Winter Soldier?
Let’s not forget Stark’s shield presentation. Relays indeed…
And the scene where Zola separates the bridge and the gap
between Cap and Skull widens? Brilliance.
Then there’s the vessel Skull uses to leave the exploding
Hydra Base. Tell me that doesn’t look like the FF’s Pogo-plane.
How about that Raiders
of the Lost Ark reference?
Then there are the “Marvel Moments”.
Marvel Studios does a great job in every movie they make to
give each character a “Marvel Moment” - a scene that defines them Such as…
…when Steve jumps onto the grenade.
…when Bucky looks through the rifle sight before pulling the
trigger.
…when Johann’s standing on the bridge as it separates from
Steve.
…when Arnim’s face appears in the lens.
Finally, there’s the fact that Marvel Studios considers this
film to be the beginning of the Marvel Movie Universe. The Timely Movie Universe however…
WTF? Moment #2: ...speaking of which: That’s bold. Damn
bold.
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, or haven’t grasped
the multi-layered significance of seeing Professor Horton’s creation in the
film, check out Marvel: Five Fabulous
Decades Of The World’s Greatest Comics by Les Daniels.
I’ll wait.
WTF? Moment #3:
Another cool little egg is the schematic Zola grabs as he’s leaving the
exploding Hydra Base. It shows the camera-headed android body he has in the
comics.
WTF? Moment #4: Now
come the nitpicks. First is the Howling Commandos. These guys were great. I
understand why they couldn’t get more screen time here, but darn it they need
their own film. I’m glad they put a gap between Cap’s disappearance and the end
of the war though. More Commandos Please.
WTF? Moment #5: I
also didn’t know Peter’s Aunt May worked for the Army during World War II.
WTF? Moment #6: Where
the heck was Coulson? I mean, I didn’t expect him to show up during the war and
I understand why he wasn’t with the retrieval team in the Arctic,
but couldn’t he have been one of the agents trying to stop Steve from leaving
the building, or one of the agents holding the public back while Fury talked to
Steve? My guess is that he was scouring the streets of New York filling holes in his card
collection. That takes time…I should know.
WTF? Moment #7: As
for flubs, I couldn’t find any. This film was well thought out, fast-paced,
action-packed, had the required Stan Lee cameo…
…
There are several Marvel movies that do not have that sweet
Stan Lee appearance - the Blade
films, the Punisher films, the Ghost Rider films and Elektra. The lack of “Stan Lee-ness” in
these films is easy to explain:
He didn’t create the characters.
Blade was created by Marv Wolfman, Punisher was created by
Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, Ghost Rider (the Johnny Blaze version) by Gary
Friedrich and Mike Ploog, and Elektra was created by Frank Miller.
There’s no question that Stan brought Cap into the
Silver/Marvel Age of comics in Avengers
#4 (March 1964), but he didn’t create the character. Captain America was
created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon back in Captain
America Comics #1 (March, 1941).
So why is Stan in this film? Most likely because Stan’s
first published work was a text-only story in Captain America #3 (May, 1941).
WTF? Moment #8: As
for the Blu-ray, the first thing you see as the disc loads is light shining off
of Cap’s shield. It is beautiful. If
only that could be used as a screensaver…
I liked A Funny Thing
Happened On the Way to Thor’s Hammer, but it’s not as good as the other
One-Shots. Yeah, Coulson kicks some ass, but there’s nothing there to relate it
to Cap – and that’s what’s wrong about it. The argument can be made that this
is where Coulson was when Cap was found and revived, but in The Avengers Coulson tells Cap that he
was there “watching him as he slept”. So to me, this means that Coulson’s
events in Thor take place before
Cap’s body was brought back to New York, and
Coulson returned to New York
prior to Steve waking up.
A Funny Thing Happened
would have been better if Coulson was off somewhere else in New York (a collectible card shop
perhaps?) and thieves came in for him to stop. The Roxxon touch was nice
though…
I also liked the commentary by Joe Johnston, Shelly Johnson
and Jeffrey Ford and the special feature nod to Joe Simon, but a separate
commentary by Joe Simon would have
been cooler.
WTF? Moment #9: About
that guy standing next to Steve at the Army base when we meet Colonel
Phillips…was he a transfer from Ft.
Kent? Nah, that’d be
too…Super…to believe.
