Here's the thing. There are a shit-tonne of superhero movies out there.
They blur into one another. Meld if you will. Alloy. Like the adamantium-vibranium shield of our patriotic subject.
The movie was good. I'll say that. It didn't suck and was worth the time and energy.
That sounds shallow and selfish. People put a lot of time into making this thing, so to say it was worth the two hours I spent seems trite.
But that's that.
The acting was decent, particularly in the first half. Stanley Tucci brought it home. He made it real. The CGI head of Chris Evans on the skinny body was great. There were a few parts where he seemed like a bobble head and the deep booming voice felt somewhat off. Some of the special effects in the second half felt off, like they spent their money on the beautiful production design. New York in the 40s was really very good.
But back to the point. If you'd never seen a superhero movie in your life, I'm sure this would excite, thrill and entertain from the opening, icy frame to the post credit sneak peak. But I have. And it didn't. These movies aren't clever. They don't rely on inventive story telling and creative problem solving to bring the hero through the mire. The superhero succeeds because he's a super hero and he succeeds in the way he does because he's a superhero and that's how superhero's succeed.
How does he get across the massive pit of fire when the bridge breaks? Oh right, he jumps. How does he get into the locked cockpit of the underwater car? Oh right, he punches the window. How does he beat the bad guy in the end? Oh right, he jumps higher, punches harder and moves faster.
There are no stakes involved here. There is nothing to lose because we know everything there is to know about everything going in. Is it cool to see these comic book characters brought to life? Yes. Absolutely. Is it important to remain faithful to the source material? I guess. Probably.
But.
But what?
But unless you're going to tell the story on Showtime or HBO and span the arc across 14 episodes, we need something more. And it's not more special effects or more bad guys or more good guys or more money. We need...
Well, I guess if I could really answer that, I'd be writing the next superhero movie instead of writing about the last one.
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Written by: Christopher Markus (screenplay) & Stephen McFeely (screenplay) & Joe Simon (comic books) & Jack Kirby (comic books)
