Moe Lane

I’d buy this and put it on my wall.

Via here.

As God is my witness, I have no idea how I missed making The Right Stuff Movie of the Week.  I’m still not entirely certain that I did miss it; I didn’t see it, but that doesn’t mean anything.  Ach, well, even if I did it’s so good it should be on the list twice.

And so, farewell to Captain America: The First Avenger.  Which was also so good it should be on the list twice (ask me again in a year whether I still think so, of course).

I loved Captain America: The First Avenger when it came out, particularly for this exchange:

Red Skull: What makes you so special?
Captain America: Nothing. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.

Heh.  So was I, Steve.  So was I.  It’s coming out tomorrow: can’t wait.

And so, adieu to X-Men: First Class.  Which I also quite liked, for different reasons.

Moe Lane

And on the Captain America and X-Men: First Class movies, no less.  Will wonders never cease?

…No, seriously, it’s readable (don’t agree with it all, but it’s readable).  Some interesting bits there on the entire mutant thing being a metaphor for the inability of minority groups to integrate into larger American society – and how it’s in marked contrast to the Captain America movie, which is all about how anyone can be initiated into the glories of the American Dream:

What really drives the Red Skull nuts is the idea that it’s not that Captain America is great, but the institutions that made him and the things he stands for. “Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but I must say, you do it better than anyone,” he says, demanding, “What makes you so special?” expecting an answer he can laugh at or bat away. “Nothing, I’m just a kid from Brooklyn,” Rogers tells him, provoking an attack.

I can’t really argue with that (I also can’t argue that the Marvel Universe’s WWII US Army was blatantly a damn sight better-integrated than ours was, given that I was raising a pleased eyebrow at that historical revision myself).  I must not be feeling well.  Or possibly the writer (Alyssa Rosenberg) is simply essentially sound on superhero movies.

Moe Lane

Well put together, good origin story, decent feel for the period, good actors who understood their jobs, appropriate appreciation of the tech involved, and a refreshing lack of modern political shibboleths.  Cap was there to kick a ferocious amount of Hydra ass, and much Hydra ass was accordingly kicked.

Overall: between Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in quality*.

(more…)

I hear that the deeper ideological message on this one is Hey, isn’t it great to watch Nazis get smacked around in a variety of new and exciting ways? – which frankly suits me right down to the ground.  Plus, air-conditioning.  There might even be an opportunity for a cold beer.

Moe Lane

PS: CAP WAS RIGHT.

One thousand, three hundred and twenty-four words; that’s how many words it took for Salon’s Bob Calhoun to make the case (including, I expect, to himself) that it’s OK for liberals to be into Captain America*.  It’s kind of sad, really: can’t the stone-cold hardcore Lefties just like Cap for what he is? Yup: rhetorical question: if they did, they wouldn’t have tried, I don’t know, shooting him in the back or something.

Which reminds me: “Cap was right.”

Moe Lane

*The answer to the question “Whose side would he be on?” is, by the way: America’s.  That’s sort of the point of Captain America, really: we’re all expected to work out what he’s a symbol of on our own and stop bugging him while he’s out fighting Nazis.

…that I’d rather put up instead of the latest Captain America trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CjVXKohO8Q

Nice of them to suddenly notice the damn noun in that title, let me tell you…

Moe Lane

PS: I probably shouldn’t get this.

I distinctly remember that Marvel shot Captain America in the back.  After mocking him, as I recall, for not having a MySpace page.

MySpace.

(pause)

Yeah, that reference aged well.

But now Cap’s back.

Moe Lane

(Via @kevinbinversie)

PS: Yes, Captain America’s been back for a while.  I just wanted to mock the MySpace thing.

Only thirty seconds, but that’s OK.  So:

• 1940′s look? Check.
• Red Skull? Check.
• Patriotic motif for Cap? Check.
• Nazi flying wing aircraft?  Check.
• General Nazi-punching?  Check.

OK, those are all reasonably good signs… wait a second: is that Adolf Hitler about to get punched in his own experimental one-man submarine?

Because if so… Awwww yeah, baby.  Just keep bringing more helpings of that to the table.

Moe Lane

PS: I am ready to believe that it is not, but I am not eager to.

I want to see Iron Man 2.

But I do not, in fact, have to.  And I don’t particularly like being called a racist by your comic book writers.

(Reminded of this by AoSHQ)