• Tag Archives Matt Salinger
  • Canister X Movie Review #22: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

    Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

    Captain America The First Avenger
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    Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
    Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
    Directed by Joe Johnston
    Runtime 124 min.
    4 out of 5

    It’s World War II and the US Army needs to up its game in its war against the villainous Nazis under the command of Adolf Hitler.

    Enter Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a little guy from Brooklyn with all sorts of health problems, but who has possibly the strongest sense of morals and courage than any man on the front line. Unfortunately, due to his fragility, Steve is not allowed to join the American army despite multiple tries. A scientist experimenting in a super soldier serum for the US army notices this and offers him a chance to take part in a dangerous procedure that, if it goes well, will grant Steve superhuman-like abilities and enable him to be an ultimate man, athlete and warrior. Steve accepts and transforms into the world’s first super soldier: Captain America.

    Meanwhile, the first test subject of the serum, Johann Schmidt—aka the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving)—has come into possession of the Tesseract cube, a powerful energy source rumored to be from Asgard. His plan? Nothing less than overthrowing Hitler himself and taking over the world.

    If only we had a super soldier to stop him. Wait . . . we do.

    His name is Captain America.

    Like all good fanboys, I saw this movie in the theatre. Having grown up on the cheesy Captain America movies starring Reb Brown and, later, the 1990 version with Matt Salinger, a part of me, I admit, was waiting for a repeat of the 1990 film (in the general sense). I was more interested in how Captain America: The First Avenger would tie into the then-upcoming The Avengers and this movie didn’t disappoint.

    The introduction of the Tesseract—which would be key in The Avengers—was real smart on the filmmakers’ part because not only did it point to the forthcoming ensemble film, but also gave a quick link to the Thor movie as well.

    Watching Chris Evans as Steve Rogers was fantastic. He really suits the role and played it perfectly. I wasn’t sure how the once-Human Torch—all witty and sarcastic—would fare as the famous super soldier, and I’m glad Chris Evans proved he can play a kind of Superman-like character as well. Seeing him play both the small, frail Steve Rogers (facially, anyway, as someone else’s body was used), to playing the suped-up Steve made the film truly a story about how our greatest power lies within as opposed to externally.

    Likewise, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull did a great job, especially since playing villains is no strange task to Weaving (Agent Smith, anyone?). Even with the German haircut he looked different never mind later when his red skull visage was revealed.

    The story was simple and, like the first Spider-Man movie, I left the theatre underwhelmed. After seeing it a second time, I saw it for what it was and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the end battle was anti-climactic. It didn’t need to be an all-out brawl between Cap and Red Skull, but it felt brief considering these two are the heads and tails of the same coin. Some sort of super soldier/titan clash would have punched up the ending. Speaking of which, the ending of this movie has one of the best last lines to a flick ever. It was the kind of line I try to end my own novels on, one that finishes the tale but also has a punch to it.

    As far as superhero stories go, the World War II setting gave the genre a breath of fresh air movie-wise as, thus far, pretty much every super flick to come out recently is all set in the modern day. Alternate times and/or worlds with a superhero figure are few and far between. The Spirit is the only one that comes to mind in this regard.

    After this movie and The Avengers, I’m excited to see Captain America: Winter Soldier, which is presently set for 2014.


  • Canister X Movie Review #21: Captain America (1990)

    Captain America (1990)

    Captain America 1990
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    Captain America (1990)
    Written by Stephen Tolkin
    Directed by Albert Pyun
    Runtime 97 min.
    3 out of 5

    Taking part in a secret super soldier experiment in the 1940s, Steve Rogers becomes the American icon Captain America. After an altercation with the Red Skull, he is trapped in ice for fifty years before being thawed out in 1993. Upon awakening, Steve must come to grips with being a man out of time and also that the Red Skull is still alive and is leader of a powerful crime family. Steve must track down the Red Skull, with each clue giving more insight into his own past and bringing him one step closer to his arch enemy to settle a fight that began half a century before.

    This flick is your classic Captain America story, that is, his origin, his World War II beginnings, battling Red Skull, being frozen, awakening in the future and reconnecting with his old enemy who is still active.

    I remember seeing this as a kid and liking it. Saw it recently a few years back and still liked it. It’s not the greatest superhero movie, but it still holds its own all these years later.

    It’s very much Steve Rogers’s story as he’s Captain America for a little bit then isn’t for a good while, then is again in terms of him getting into costume. As a kid, you don’t care about story and just want to see the superhero. As an adult, you see the big picture so don’t mind the non-costumed parts. It’s a story about a journey, both for Steve and even for Red Skull as you watch Steve wrestle with himself for being from the past and how everything’s changed, and also the different things he finds out as he searches for his enemy.

    The Captain America costume is very rubbery, but it’s way better than the one that appeared in the 1979 movies and looks pretty good overall. The shield rocks and when Captain America throws it, it’s got that cool swooshing-through-the-air sound effect, adding to its power.

    I was totally fine with Matt Salinger as Steve Rogers. He had that all-American sensibility about him, was naïve in the right ways, learned in others, and filled out those big red boots nicely.

    This is a solid Marvel movie that was made well before the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe of today and should be on the shelves of every superhero movie enthusiast out there.

    Recommended.