Tonight my wife and I settled in for the highly anticipated Captain America: The First Avenger – and on opening weekend, no less! The trailers for this movie have looked awesome. Did the movie do as well?

Yes and no. Visually, I really think they nailed it. The costumes, the set designs, . . . → Read More: Review: Captain America]]> (Man, I’m actually burning through my movie picks this year. This is awesome – big thank you to my parents for babysitting.)

Tonight my wife and I settled in for the highly anticipated Captain America: The First Avenger – and on opening weekend, no less! The trailers for this movie have looked awesome. Did the movie do as well?

Yes and no. Visually, I really think they nailed it. The costumes, the set designs, the effects… all excellent. It was set in a romanticized 1940′s and featured enhanced humans, cartoonish disfiguration, futuristic weaponry, and a goody-two-shoes hero. By all rights this thing should fail miserably, but it works. I liked the main characters and acting (especially Stanley Tucci – he created the most human character in that movie). Red Skull was really done well, visually. The set pieces were cool. It was fun to watch.

Unfortunately, it was also predictable and spent significant time setting up the Avengers movie instead of simply telling a Captain America story. I’m not sure it works as well as a stand-alone film as it does a part of a larger story. A lot of the “surprises” in the film are given away in the trailer. There were two major montages, both of which should probably have been shorter, or in the case of the action montage, replaced completely by something better. It was cool to watch, but felt more like an assembly of action shots they wanted to fit into the movie but didn’t have time to get to otherwise.

There are really quite a few ways for me to nit-pick this thing to death, if I’m honest, but that would depress me, so I’m not going to do it. In the end, it was a fun movie and I’m glad I saw it. It looked great and I had a good time watching it. (Can you tell I’m really tired, and my energy for writing this has petered out? Sorry. Maybe I’ll revisit it later – but maybe not.)

So… Thor.

Let me tell you… my back was so Thor after I spent all that time sitting in the theater.

Thank you! Tip your waiters!

Okay, seriously. I saw Thor tonight. And it scared me.

No, it’s not a scary movie. I’m not sure I even jumped once, except in excitement at how cool what was going on looked. There was a lot of work put into the visuals of this film. A . . . → Read More: Review: Thor]]> Thor.

So… Thor.

Let me tell you… my back was so Thor after I spent all that time sitting in the theater.

Thank you! Tip your waiters!

Okay, seriously. I saw Thor tonight. And it scared me.

No, it’s not a scary movie. I’m not sure I even jumped once, except in excitement at how cool what was going on looked. There was a lot of work put into the visuals of this film. A LOT. Some of those big action scenes should, by all rights, have looked totally cheesy – and for the most part, they didn’t. That’s impressive. (The standout exception, IMO, was Thor creating the tornado, which didn’t look right to me.) As someone who has never read a single Thor comic, and has rarely seen Thor portrayed as a guest in any animation, I think they nailed the look of this thing.

The battle with the Frost Giants at the beginning – pure awesomeness. I could have watched that part three times through. Collossally cool “finality” with the big beast at the end of it, too. The entire audience went “WHOA!” and justifiably so.

(As an aside, I have to say that I really enjoyed seeing this with a holiday audience. Everyone was there for fun and was respectful of others, and responded well to the film, laughing at the right spots, cheering when appropriate, and quiet otherwise. Completely reminded me why I love the theater experience. I did, however, miss my wife being there (I went alone this time).)

Anyway… it looked great. I also liked the cameos. J. Michael Straczynski got one as the guy to discover the hammer, and Stan Lee of course showed up as well – and got a good line, to boot. All good fun.

But then we get to the story. The strongest part was that involving Asgard and the Frost Giants, and the establishment of that universe. I was honestly intrigued by all that – though really I’m a little disappointed that even there details are glossed over (but I understand we have time constraints and need to move forward). Then we got to Earth. And really… aside from some humor and a couple of decent action scenes, I wasn’t all that impressed. Thor was supposed to “become worthy” by learning humility and leadership on Earth, and he was apparently learning it from, and through caring for, Natalie Portman’s character (Jane? For all the screen time they gave her she didn’t seem to do a lot of any importance). But I didn’t feel it – and that’s something this movie really needed… for me to feel it. I didn’t feel the love, I didn’t feel the hate, I didn’t feel the jeopardy (except during the Frost Giant bit at the beginning)… it was just a fun, cool enough movie to watch. Visually stunning, definitely, but not truly engaging.

And that’s where I really started getting scared. I wasn’t engaged with this. And the character for whom I most wanted to be engaged and wasn’t, was Loki. The bad guy. And that’s a really bad thing, because he’s the guy that’s [SPOILER ALERT] going to be the bad guy in The Avengers movie.

It’s been said that superheroes are only as good as their nemesis. If that’s true, The Avengers is destined to fail – at least for me. It’s already saddled with trying to engage a large number of superheroes in a short time (we all know how well that works with multiple super-villains, right?). Now it’s got to contend with a villain I don’t really care about?

It’s possible that the core of my feelings are similar to Dan’s on this one – in that I think we’re just supposed to accept the “god-like magic” of Loki, more so than any other character, and I dislike that. Everyone else at least has some kind of talisman or tool – most notably Thor’s hammer – that is a “powered” object that character can use. I didn’t really see that with Loki. What is his method of doing what he does? It seems to just come from within him… to be part of his nature. There were a few other little things along those lines, but it seemed more important to me in relation to Loki for some reason.

And what the heck was with that Destroyer robot/entity/thingy? Looked cool and kind of formidable, but big nasty major power? nah. Plus it was remote-controlled by stereotypical-villain-guy. No threat.

So, the villain didn’t work for me, the love story seemed virtually non-existent to me, and overall the story was a bit choppy. But guess what? I still enjoyed it. Not as much as Iron Man, Nolan’s Batman films, or Spider-man 1 or 2, but I thought it was worth seeing in the theater. Those effects were very cool, and there were some genuinely funny and exciting moments.

I’m going for the exceptionally rare 3-1/4 stars out of 5 for this one.

The next Stargate SG-1 film titled Stargate: Continuum now has a July 29 DVD release date.

Marvel has announced that Iron Man 2 has been confirmed for release in 2010, in addition to a movie about Thor. Also reported: the Avengers and Captain America (with Matthew McConaughey as the lead?) in 2011.

Also . . . → Read More: Movie news roundup – Sci-Fi and comics lovers, rejoice!]]> Lots of news and some rumors hitting the net lately… here are the best of the bunch for Sci-Fi and comics lovers:

The next Stargate SG-1 film titled Stargate: Continuum now has a July 29 DVD release date.

Marvel has announced that Iron Man 2 has been confirmed for release in 2010, in addition to a movie about Thor. Also reported: the Avengers and Captain America (with Matthew McConaughey as the lead?) in 2011.

Also announced by Marvel: an Ant Man movie, though the timeline for the film is unknown. (This is where they start to lose me… Ant Man? Seriously? I think they’re stretching to reach a mainstream audience with that one. My guess is his popularity in the Avengers movie will determine if this one really gets made.)

Iron Man, Tony Stark, will make a cameo in The Incredible Hulk.

Superman: Man of Steel will now not be delayed due to the “Justice League of America” film but is geared up for a 2009 release with Brandon Routh back as Superman.

Both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight will run over 140 minutes. In fact, The Dark Knight may run close to three hours.

Speaking of The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan has signed on for a third Batman feature, and Christian Bale has expressed interest as well. Details of plot are even starting to circulate – apparently the film will focus on Two-Face and may introduce Robin, following the plot of the graphic novels “The Long Halloween” and “Dark Victory” for a rough outline.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying this was the best superhero movie . . . → Read More: Review: Iron Man]]> Robert Downey Jr. has been touted as the perfect choice to play Tony Stark. When I first saw the trailer I was doubtful about that choice. I always pictured Stark as taller, and with a deeper voice. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m over that. He did a great job, and I really can’t think of any better choice. Excellent casting.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying this was the best superhero movie ever. Before I saw the movie, I doubted that would be true, though I figured it would make a good shot at the title. Turns out I was right on that one. This took a heck of a shot, but it doesn’t, in my opinion, take down the reigning king, Spiderman. Here’s why: I left both of the first two Spiderman films elated and breathless; Iron Man had me happy and pumped. Great reactions to both franchises, but it’s a matter of degrees — Spidey gave me the extra effort.

To be fair, going in to it I prefer Spidey over Iron Man. I’ve always been intrigued by Iron Man, but never captivated. So I guess I’m not impartial. I do think it’s possible to make an argument that the Spidey films are objectively superior, primarily on the strength of the story coming through on a more personal, rather than global level. But let’s get back to concentrating on the current movie for itself.

First of all, the eye-candy level is impressive. Lots and lots of nice shots. The suit looks and works great. But that’s not the focus of the movie. As with all the best special effects movies, the effects are there merely to support the story. It’s a very good story, too. The uncaring head of the world’s leading weapons manufacturer comes face-to-face with the reality of his own inventions and realizes that he has to undo the damage he has done. It’s a big task, on a global level. The movie keeps it manageable and the bad guys are terrorists, not governments, which ensures we’re rooting for the hero without damaging the movie’s marketability.

There are a lot of nods in there for comic fans, too, which is nice. Supporting character Rhodey gets to telegraph his eventual role as Iron Man’s partner, War Machine. S.H.I.E.L.D gets a huge nod (though I won’t comment on the rumored presence or absence of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury). There is a definite setup for an Avengers flick, and an obvious potential for a whole series of Iron Man movies.

My vote for best moment in the entire movie – the moment that made me actually loudly exclaim “Oh, Yeah!!” before the rest of the audience reacted, was actually a moment that was partially played for subtle comic effect, as well as dramatic. The way he took out the terrorists holding hostages in the town was just too cool, and I didn’t see it coming. Absolutely perfect.

But now I have to come back to something that didn’t work as well for me. And the problem I have is that I don’t know who to pin it on. This could be the way the character is in the comics (I really haven’t read much Iron Man), or it could be the way he is written for the movie, or it could be the director’s choices, or it could be on Downey Jr.’s shoulders: aside from early on, about midway through the cave sequence in the beginning, I don’t ever get much in the way of emotion or conflict – there were opportunities for that to come through, I think, but it didn’t – unless you count innuendo. Very little in the way of vulnerability. I do recognize that that was a conscious choice, I just think it could have been loosened up a bit – at least for a scene or two. It kept me from being as emotionally invested in the character as I could have been.

Maybe that’s always been present in the character. That could explain why I never got fully caught up in the series. I just don’t relate to him as well as to some other superhero characters (specifically, Spiderman, Superman, and Batman come to mind).

Anyway… despite the flaws I’ve seen, I still think this is easily in the top five best superhero/comic movies ever. It should prove to be a strong franchise, and is probably positioned better than any other comic book movie to spawn spin-offs and cross-overs. In the comics, Tony’s worked with just about everybody in the Marvel Universe at one time or another. I anticipate at least one sequel, probably more, and an Avengers spin-off, and I eagerly look forward to them.

And DO NOT LEAVE until after the credits. You’ll be glad you stayed.

So… 4 stars.

(1 down, 12 to go.)