Captain America

Once again, as tends to be the case with superhero movies, Captain America was pretty much what I expected it to be. I didn’t know much about this character going in, and so I was intrigued at the set up of the weakling who wants to help his country and do the right thing but is unable to enlist until a brilliant scientist gives him a chance to become part of an experiment to create a new super soldier. After Steve Rogers is transformed from a ninety-eight pound weakling into a super buff fighter capable of helping the Allies destroy the Nazis, the movie takes a turn I wasn’t expecting with a really delightful song and dance routine. But, of course, we must get back to the action when Captain America goes out alone to save his old buddy from the bad guys with the evil plan to take over the world.

The plot from there isn’t too important to recap. The bottom line is that the movie does a good job of being what it is. My one major critique is the same critique I have of a lot of action movies in recent years, and that’s simply that it’s too long. By the final half hour or so, I was ready to be done. I don’t know if I have a short attention span or what, but I generally think ninety minutes is a good length for an action movie, comedy, horror, mystery, whatever. Anything other than a serious character-driven drama should probably be less than two hours. And any single action sequence should probably be no more than ten or fifteen minutes. Now, I wasn’t timing the big climactic action sequence in Captain America, but it sure felt like it went on for a half an hour or so, and I wanted it be done about halfway through.

It’s strange: I don’t have any specific problems with the action sequences. There weren’t any moments that stand out as being gratuitous, but on a whole, it was just too much. I think the tendency in recent years is to always try to make the newest movie bigger than what has come before, but bigger doesn’t mean better. I’d rather have smaller, with more specifically chosen moments that really work instead of throwing every possible event at the screen, hoping that something will be amazing. I have a feeling of déjà vu as I write this. Did I write this same thing about Thor or X-Men? It seems likely.

So here’s my general advice to directors making the next big blockbuster action movie: go for a lean ninety minutes. The last thing you want to do is bore the audience with too much action. Plus, if a movie is ninety minutes instead of over one hundred and twenty, the theaters might be able to squeeze in an extra showing each day, which means the movie could rake in even more money.

X-Men: First Class

It just occurred to me that I haven’t written about X-Men: First Class yet. I guess I wanted to wait a day or two and then it slipped my mind. I’m not sure if that’s a comment on the movie itself, but maybe it is. Maybe that’s a common characteristic of this type of big blockbuster summer movie. And actually, as I think back on the other X-Men movies (I’ve watched all the previous ones), I don’t have any strong impressions. I basically remember finding them enjoyable enough (except that Wolverine one, which was definitely below my basic expectations for comic book movies, and my expectations are not that high). I can picture the characters more or less, but I’m having trouble thinking of a single scene from the first few X-Men movies. I really couldn’t describe the plots at this point other than the simple version: the good guys fight the bad guys.

It’s only been a few weeks since I saw the newest addition to the X-Men franchise, and I remember more about it than its predecessors, but my ultimate verdict is pretty much the same as for most of this type of movie: it’s fun and worth seeing but not especially memorable.

Here’s a bit more detail if you’re debating seeing it and for some reason you find my perspective influential.

The characters. There are too many characters to really get to know most of them in any detail, but they’re easy enough to keep straight because of their different mutant powers, unlike some movies where the mess of characters becomes impossible to untangle because they all look alike and act the same and have no particular distinguishing features.

The actors. I’ve read a lot of reviews that comment on how good Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are in this movie. James McAvoy is fine. In everything I’ve seen him in, he’s fine, but he’s never really stood out to me as particularly exceptional. Michael Fassbender, on the other hand, is phenomenal. He’s intense, with a complex potion of emotions that really make the character engaging. Ultimately, I felt like the transition the character makes to become the villainous Magneto was a bit abrupt and obligatory, but still the performance made the movie.

The Setting. I liked the 1960s setting. I wonder now, however, what they’ll do in future installments. Will they continue in the ‘60s or jump around in time a bit? Will they make movies in the modern setting alongside more prequels? Another thing I’ve read a few times in reviews is that this film had a 1960s James Bond vibe to it, which I agree with, and that was part of the fun (I am a fan of Bond flicks, which are a lot like this type of comic book movie in also being entertaining but highly forgettable). Going back to Michael Fassbender: he would make a heck of a James Bond. I know that franchise is currently in some trouble due to financial difficulties at the studio, so it may be a few years before another one comes along. If they decide Daniel Craig is too old by the time they’re ready for another, Michael Fassbender would be a good choice as the next Bond.

Pace. The movie felt a bit too long. It dragged in the middle and picked back up by the end. I read that the director had said he liked having so many characters because when one story thread began to drag, he could switch to another one. But it seems a sign of trouble if any story threads are dragging, and sure enough that was a problem here, but not a huge one. The movie could have been tighter. And if they release an extended director’s cut, I suspect it will be best avoided.

In the end, this is a movie I might not bother watching again, extended director’s cut or not. And actually, I don’t think I’ve seen any of the previous X-Men movies more than once, so it’s likely that this will be one timer for me as well. Thor felt the same way. But that’s fine. Sometimes I really enjoy just sitting back and watching something that distracts me from my life for a couple of hours, even if I soon forget quite what happened in the story.