Captain America

There's only one superhero more boring than Captain America, and that's Superman. Superman suffers from the whole too-powerful-to-be-interesting thing, while the Captain is basically so damn straight he's predictable, uninteresting and yes, boring. Superman can be decent; if you tone him down a bit in the powers department you can easily get excited when he starts doing super things. Reading certain comics, or watching his run in the Justice League cartoons, and you may have a chance at convincing a jury who just watched Superman Returns that he's not the worst character in the world. But I digress: Captain America is not uber-powerful (at least, I don't think so). He's just good in that all-American way, if that's even a thing anymore. That's perhaps why Captain America is now perceived as being boring: he had his purpose, knocking Nazi's in the jaw but in today's age (and even the last forty years) the practice is tired, and quite simply, he's outclassed. His moral fiber is so strong, that you know exactly what's going on (almost). Also, he's pretty one-dimensional. He's a good guy, always has and always will be. He fights the good fight and won't stop, ever.

So going to see Captain America, the movie, starring none other than Chris Evans and some other famous faces. First, it's weird that Evans gets to play both the Human Torch and the Captain, but I guess there's no chance of crossover so we're okay there, not to mention that it's so easy to just paste other people's faces onto other people's bodies these days (see: The Social Network). Second, I had little expectation from this movie, simply because I have little interest in the Captain himself: I've never read one of his comics. But, Marvel has been on a bit of a roll lately, with decent product like Thor and Iron Man. So, with all the factors mentioned and not, I walked away really happy from this movie, believing it to be one of the best action films of the past while.

I read tidbits about how they did the Steve Rogers part - you know, before the Captain was Captain - and the CGI trickery involved. I specifically turned off the centres of my brain that could process what I was taking in with any coherency, just so I could see it for myself, then be amazed when I found out how they did it after. For some reason I was under the impression that Evans did everything himself and they sucked out the muscle to get what you do, but no, they went a different direction and simply pasted his face onto some dude's body. It was seamless. Finding out afterwards, it was scary, because it's so clean. Not once did I think it was somebody else but an emaciated Evans. I kind of wonder if Bale would do the same technique in The Machinist if he were to do the movie today.

Steve Rogers is the focus of the movie, taking up the first act, if you will. He's a fighter, and he's driven to do his part for the war (WWII, of course). Salvaging scrap metal isn't enough, so he tries to enroll multiple times, only to get shot down repeatedly, just as he does in everything in life. The kid is selfless and determined. Like I said, he is driven. So when he gets injected with magic serum and becomes the the super soldier, he no longer suffers from being one dimensional. I read in another review that Captain America is not conflicted (true) and that other Marvel (and other properties) characters are (also true). Other heroes have issues, which makes them relatable (being a nerd, being an alcoholic, having anger problems, etc, etc) but Captain America has no problems: he's perfect. He's no Superman but he's up there. Super strength, speed - basically enhanced human-everything - and a massive desire to fight the good fight. He has no secret identity, and everyone loves him. So he has no problems, so you can't really like him. But in this movie, they manage to get you to like him, which allows you to enjoy the wacky action and dialogue throughout the movie - thoroughly.

There are only a few moments of disgrace and what I can only assume is poor script and perhaps some overzealous cutting. But all in all, very solid throughout and most importantly, interesting. This is how it's done, and I hope they continue to do it like this.