Captain America (2011) 3/4s through

despite my dislike of the "costume" in the movie (more on that in a bit) and actually the title of the movie (Captain America: The First Avenger) I know, it's comic book geeky to be vexed, but Cap was actually the 6th Avenger.  if they are going by the fact that he was chronologically the first, well, then he's still not, as both the original Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner predate Cap and they've been Avengers as well, I have enjoyed the movie so far.

the movie starts out in flashback, so they are finding Cap's shield in the snow.  not sure which part of the world it is, but no biggie there.  it's cold, and we know what else is there. we then return to the 40s, where the Nazi machine is running over Europe.  there were lots of rumors saying that it would be HYDRA Cap was fighting in WWII, but the Nazis are very much there.  HYDRA is their "science division" and Johanne Schmidt is running it. he has even bigger plans than Herr Schnickelgruber.  this makes the other stuff make sense, so good on them.

weird cg body skinny Steve Rogers gets saved by older Bucky Barnes.  I hate what Marvel has done to Bucky in the comics.  hate it, period end of story.  it sucks.

here we are at the World Fair (well, maybe not) and there's an android in red there.  boy, I would love an Invaders movie, that would have been a lot of fun.  and they could do it now, though of course an Human Torch and a Sub-Mariner aren't that realistic.

look, here's Cap in his real costume.  some tiny adjustments to it and it would have been just great on film.  stupid realism.  and when you have your enemy using the freaking Cosmic Cube, what's the point of realism in the rest of the movie?

love this though, kids reading CA comics.  looks like one I just reviewed!  man comics were huge back then!

the big reveal of the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) is well done, and there are some really good set pieces in the movie.  the costume he is using now to fight HYDRA isn't as bad as it looked originally, but it reminds me more of the serial than anything.  I'd like to see less cg in the fight scenes, it would make it look better.  and why not just say Cap's shield is a metallurgical accident?  now it's made of vibranium, completely.  I loved the mystery of the shield.

stay tuned for the rest of the review...