My Review of Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Out of the three Marvel movies to come out in 2011, Captain America is often considered a lesser film compared to Thor and X-Men First Class, which got better reviews and generally better reception from audiences. This is entirely understandable, as Captain America was the last superhero film to come out in the summer and by the time it came out, many were experiencing superhero fatigue and simply didn't want to see another Avengers buildup movie. I, however, was hyped up for this ever since I heard it was being made, and it moved to the top of my to-view list when a release date was set for The Avengers. For what it's worth, Captain America is a supremely entertaining and atmospheric period piece, capturing WWII very well. It also has excellent visuals, an array of fine performances, and some great action scenes (although they are kind of rushed in the second half).

The film starts out with a team of researchers in the Arctic coming across a huge aircraft (which will come into play later in the movie) and a shield frozen in a block of ice. After the foreshadowing, the story proper begins as we are introduced to our main character. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a patriotic young man who wants to enlist in the army but is constantly turned down due to his skinniness and poor health. However, he is able to make it in with the help of a kindly doctor named Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Erskine has a slightly alterior motive in that he wants Rogers to be the recipient for his super-soldier serum. Rogers is not faring well in the physical training, so it takes a lot of convincing for Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) to allow the program to go ahead with Rogers instead of any other soldiers.

Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark

After the procedure, Rogers is much larger, taller, and much stronger, capable of fighting in battle and doing what he always wanted to do. However, he is mostly used as a propaganda figure, doing stage shows in order to get people to buy more victory bonds. I like this part of the movie because it satirizes wartime propaganda with a montage of USO shows, as well as the silliness of the original costume design of Captain America. Steve is dissatisfied with this life and longs to actually be in battle, to do what he wanted to do when he signed on. He gets this chance when he is called to face the film's villain, Johann Schmidt (AKA Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving). Schmidt was chief of Hitler's science and weapons division, and the super soldier serum was tested on him as well. Unfortunately, the serum only amplifies the ugliness of those who are not pure of heart, so while Rogers gets transformed into the epitome of human perfection, Schmidt gets...... well, I don't want to say for fear of spoilers. Oh, and he had an imperfect version of the procedure, so that makes his condition worse.

Schmidt is looking for a tesseract that is believed to have come from the gods. Possession of said tesseract would fulfill Schmidt's own plan of world domination. This is a relatively unoriginal motivation for a villain to have, and in any other movie, I would dismiss it as rote and silly. However, this film is a throwback to pulp-adventures and serials of the 1940's, so to have a villain with the objective of world domination is not at all out of place. The climax of the film is Rogers attempting to stop the launching of WMD's that Schmidt plans to use to destroy the major American cities. A relatively simple climax, but an exciting one nonetheless. Schmidt is an interesting villain, and despite the war effort against the Nazis being a huge part of the movie, you definitely get the message that Schmidt is a much larger threat. He is an interesting villain, despite being the typical rogue agent gone mad with power, and he is played awesomely (as per usual) by Hugo Weaving. Like I said, his characterization may have bothered me if he was in any other movie, but here, Red Skull is a great villain, one of the best non-Batman villains adapted to film.

The much less ridiculous-looking costume for Captain America

As for our hero, Steve Rogers is a very well-developed character and he is played brilliantly by Chris Evans. I enjoyed him in here much more than I did in the Fantastic Four movie and that says a lot because he was the only thing I liked in the Fantastic Four movie. Steve Rogers is a nice guy, and all he wants to do is serve his country, but his physical condition prevents him from doing so. It's nice to see that he remains his normal self after his transformation, showing that getting taller and more muscular doesn't have to make a person a jerk. The thing that makes Steve Rogers relatable is the exact same thing that makes Peter Parker relatable. It is that Steve Rogers is a huge dork. He's awkward, he's bullied, he's not good with girls, but he's a nice guy and we root for him. People like an underdog story, and this is an extremely well-played underdog story. In fact, since Captain America was published before Spiderman, it could be the first major underdog superhero and perhaps a prototype for some elements of Spiderman. Like I said, Evans' performance is pitch-perfect, one of my favourites in a superhero film. I would be blind if I didn't mention his fantastic body, and how much respect I have for the work he did to obtain it. In reality, all of those chorus girls in the victory-bond show montage would not be able to keep their hands off of him. Hell, nobody would be able to keep their hands off of him.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by Haley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, and Sebastian Stan, who play Agent Carter, Col. Phillips, Howard Stark and Bucky respectively. Atwell gives a good tough performance as both a military woman and a love interest for Rogers. Although in reality, a woman likely would not have been in that high standing in the military. She was a decently developed character instead of just being a damsel in distress (like Mary Jane Watson in the Spiderman movies) and she is played by a pretty good actress. Tommy Lee Jones is awesome and cynical as always, and I find that he gives his best performances when he plays authority figures (like in The Fugitive or Men in Black). He definitely has the voice and deadpan delivery for it. That was what made his turn as Agent K so great and that is what makes his performance in this great. Dominic Cooper was amazing as Howard Stark (who draws parallels from his fairly obvious namesake Howard Hughes), and his performance is obviously meant to be very similar to Robert Downey Jr's in Iron Man, seeing as they are father and son. He is enjoyable, snarky, and fun, and it seems like a love triangle is going to be set up between him, Captain America, and Agent Carter. I won't tell you how that plays out, but I will say that Cooper's performance was probably my second favourite besides that of the Cap himself. As for Stan, I appreciated the change of the character of Bucky from kid sidekick of Captain America to loyal friend and fellow soldier. Stan's performance was pretty good for how little he is in the movie, and I was definitely surprised by the quality of his performance considering that he is most well known for Gossip Girl.

Atwell and Evans as Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers/Captain America

The film is also solid visually, and the excellent art direction gives the film a real atmosphere to it. The sets are excellent and the visual effects (for how little they are used) are excellent. 2011 was the year the blockbuster went retro, with Super 8, X-Men First Class, and especially Captain America. I love films about this time period and this one is no exception. Each set is highly evocative of the time period and although it takes extreme license with history, you feel sucked into the time period. Most of the film's effects were done through practical means and not through CG (sparing for the shrinking down of Evans, which was obviously CGI). I could actually see this picking up a nod for art direction, although not for visual effects, because it is more dependent on the set details rather than flashy special effects. I love films that suck you into their time period and make you feel like you are there, and Captain America is certainly one of those films.

Now I know I have heaped undying praise on this film without giving it a perfect score. I should definitely explain why. The main problem with this film comes with the pacing. Like The Matrix, the first two thirds of this film are set up brilliantly. However, in the last act, they seem to forget that this is supposed to be a summer blockbuster and they cram all the action into one act, making the action scenes confused and repetitive. Some are good, but I could not keep up with most because they were too poorly paced and too close together. This would only be a minor problem if it weren't for the fact that the first two thirds are set up so well. After such fine buildup to a mediocre payoff, I couldn't help but be disappointed. However, the buildup is still great, and the second half doesn't make the movie unwatchable, it just makes it flawed. There is one action scene worth paying attention to in the second half, but after that it's just a flurry of action where it is acceptable to just turn your brain off because the action scenes are still well-choreographed and fun to watch, just not well paced.

Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull.  Don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything.

Flaws in the second half aside, Captain America: The First Avenger is one of my favourite films of last year. The film has impeccable visuals with lots of atmospheric retro touches, as well as excellent costume design. I definitely give credit to anyone who can make a better costume for Captain America while satirizing the one from the comics at the same time. The direction from Joe Johnston is solid, and the film offers a different interpretation of Steve Rogers/Captain America, making him a sweet and sympathetic protagonist, as well as one with an absolutely fantastic body (sorry, I had to point that out again). I can see those who wouldn't like it and that is entirely cool, I don't laud it as a masterpiece or anything. However, the film is entirely worth watching and essential to watch if you want to bone up on your knowledge before The Avengers, because this film has a ton of sly references to the other buildup films, from the obligatory Nick Fury appearance down to the fact that Howard Stark speaks at an expo very similar to the one Tony speaks at, except obviously retro. In fact, just the presence of Howard Stark  Fans of WWII movies might like it, and fans of the superhero will definitely like it because after numerous crappy adaptations, Captain America has finally gotten the movie he deserves. One of the best of 2011 and it has one of the best first halves I have seen in any movie.

8.5/10- Strong Recommendation

Maybe its just the teenage girl in me talking, but DAMN.



My Review of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

I have not seen any other Mission Impossible films before this one, but when I had heard news of a fourth film, I merely wrote it off as another unnecessary sequel that Hollywood was playing it safe on. But when I saw the awesome trailer, I wanted to see the movie, completely disregarding the fact that I haven't seen any of the other films in the series. So I guess you could say that I dove headfirst into this film almost completely blind Well, I suppose that's not entirely true, as the film had excellent word of mouth during its initial release, saying it was the best of the series. Now obviously I can't say if it is, because I haven't any other films to judge it on, but on its own, I'd say that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is one of the best films of the year. I have only a few basic expectations of action films, one of which is that they entertain me and another is that they have some brains behind them. MI4 definitely fulfills those expectations and then some, providing some fun spy thrills and exhilarating action. I did not see it in IMAX due to the fact that there is only one IMAX theatre in my town, so there was no Dark Knight Rises prologue, but regardless, this is a movie entirely worth watching for what it is, not just what comes before.

This film starts in Budapest, where an unknown agent is shot at by several people and then eventually killed by a female assassin. We then cut to a Russian prison, where several prisoners manage to break out of their cells and attack the guards. It turns out this prison contains Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the prisoners were let out by Benji (Simon Pegg), a lab tech from the other films (so I hear) who was promoted to field agent between films who will serve as comic relief. The mission is successful and it is after the mission where we meet Agent Carter (Paula Patton) one of the agents that we will be seeing throughout the course of the film.

Agent Carter was involved with the mission at the beginning and her demon to battle over the course of the film is that she feels responsible for the death of the agent in the beginning. The mission that failed was an attempt to get nuclear launch codes, which is the main mission for the rest of the movie. To do so, Hunt and his team have to infiltrate the archive room of the Kremlin. I suppose I should specify about the launch codes. Hunt and his team have to get the launch codes to take them out of the hands of a nuclear extremist known as "Cobalt" (Michael Nyqvist) who feels that the weak must die for the strong to survive and that nuclear war is the next necessary stage in human evolution.

Unfortunately, I won't tell you how, but this mission ends in the exploding of the Kremlin. This is basically Russian 9-11, and the team is blamed for it. After escaping from Russian agents at a hospital, Hunt is rescued by IMF's secretary and his chief analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), who will play a big part later. The secretary invokes the titular ghost protocol after the Russians consider the attack an unprovoked act of war. Ironic, considering the secretary was there to deliver some sort of official act of frienship. This means that the entire IMF is disavowed and Hunt, as well as Benji, Brandt and Agent Carter are on their own. The attack will be pinned on them and they will be allowed to "escape" government custody to solve their case and defeat "Cobalt". So, it is up to Hunt, Carter, Dunn, and Brandt to get the launch codes out of "Cobalt"'s hands and prevent total nuclear war.

That's all that I'm going to tell you about the story because quite frankly, that's all that needs to be said. The film sets up a simple objective and drags that objective across the globe, creating one hell of an exciting film with some absolutely gorgeous scenery that I'll talk about later. Part of the excellence of this film is due to the immensely talented director, Brad Bird. Mission Impossible has run the gamete of directors over the course of the series, Brian DePalma, John Woo, and J.J. Abrams directing before Bird. Abrams is still producing this film and it has his signature touch, especially in the way of special effects. I adore Abrams' style and it definitely comes through in this film, as well as the kinetic style of action that Bird uses in The Incredibles, an equally thrilling film with some awesome set pieces.

I was unsure how a director that has worked almost entirely in the field of animation could handle a live-action movie, but after seeing this film, I was thorougly impressed and now I can't wait to see how Andrew Stanton will do with John Carter come March. Not unlike The Incredibles, Mission Impossible has some dazzling action scenes that take place all over the world, from Dubai to Mumbai. Having international set pieces means the audience has some truly amazing scenery to feast their eyes on. The sets are so well put together that I would not be surprised if the film picked up an Oscar nomination for art direction (as well as editing, sound mixing, and maybe score).

Out of the three main locations where the action takes place, my favourite is Dubai, where the team has to divert a meeting from Cobalt's right-hand man and the lady assassin from the beginning of the film. Perhaps the most notorious scene in Dubai was that of Tom Cruise hanging off of the world's tallest building (which I'd like to visit someday as it looks really damn awesome). This image has graced the trailers and promotional materials, and if you see the movie for any other reason than to see the Dark Knight Rises prologue, see it for that scene. But fair warning, those who are frightened of heights may get slightly nervous by proxy seeing Cruise hanging off of that tower. I have a heights thing sometimes and although I did not see the film in IMAX, my palms got sweaty all the same. It's still pretty awesome though, and I can't imagine how awesome and suspenseful it would be in IMAX. There is also a sandstorm chase scene in Dubai (inspiration for the poster design), and a parking garage chase in Mumbai, amongst other things that I don't want to tell you because you should see the movie for yourself. 

There are also some very interesting gadgets, like Jeremy Renner's magnet suit and  Tom Cruise's adhesive gloves  which he uses to scale Burj Khalifa amongst other things (you'll know after seeing the movie)  being a spy movie and all, and although some of the tech could not possibly exist in real life, you don't exactly expect realism coming out of a spy movie like Mission Impossible, do you? That reminds me, MI4 is probably the best spy movie that has come out since Casino Royale, or at least the most entertaining. It feels like a spy movie through and through, and although it may not be Bond or Bourne, it doesn't need to be. What it is is thoroughly entertaining, and a lot of the mission scenes provide the film's humour. One particular example is when Pegg and Cruise are infiltrating the Kremlin. There is no dialogue, and yet the scene is hilarious just with their facial expressions and nonverbal cues. Pegg, the rest of the cast too for that matter, manage to get some funny one-liners in there, but the majority of the film's humour is situational, through malfunctioning equipment and the like. It's nice that a spy movie can have a sense of humour, proving that not all of them have to be deadly serious.

Usually when a film focuses on action set pieces, it can get repetitive and occasionally too fast-paced. Mission Impossible (just like Tintin before it) doesn't seem to have that problem. There is enough time put in each location and the two-and-a-quarter hour runtime is enough time to flesh out all the sub-missions. Things move fast, but not too fast, enough to keep the audience entertained but not keeping the audience confused. The action may be the best part of the movie by far, but unlike a lot of action movies, there are solid characters and decent performances to back it up. Once again, Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, and while I am still not a fan of Cruise as an actor, I will briefly concede and say that he is a viable action star. He gives a decent performance as Hunt, and the fact that he does most of his stunts is simply amazing. The rest of the team consists of Paula Patton as Agent Carter, who gave an excellent performance besides being just blatant fanservice (although she does wear a rather sexy green dress in Mumbai). It seemed that they were setting her up as a new love interest for Hunt but I'm still not sure what will come of that. Simon Pegg made awesome and funny comic relief as he always does no matter what genre of film he is in, and the last of the main performers is Jeremy Renner as Brandt. The trailers kind of made it look like Renner was going to take the reins from Cruise (much like Hollywood wants him to do with the Bourne movies). I don't think he will, but he gives an amazing performance (probably my favourite of the bunch) as the mysterious Brandt. It won't get him his third Oscar nomination, but it as action movie performances go, Renner was really good. All I can say is I can't wait to see him in The Avengers next summer.

Mission Impossible is definitely the best straight-up action movie this year and probably the best spy movie since Casino Royale. The action is exhilarating, suspenseful and well edited, the stuntwork is crazy, and it has some of the best set pieces that I have seen in any movie, let alone an action movie. Don't believe me, go to the theatre and watch this movie yourself.  This movie makes me want to travel, especially to see that hotel in Dubai, and it makes me want to see the rest of the Mission Impossible movies. If you've seen the other Mission Impossibles and liked them, then chances are you've made plans to see this or you've seen this already. Chances are you'll like it too. For those who go into it completely blind like I did, it'll be up to you as to whether or not to see it, but for those who do, you'll end up watching one of the best films of the year, IMAX or no IMAX.

8.9/10-  Highly Recommended, Worth Seeing in Theatres