A Tale of Two Superhero Movies

Captain America: The First Avenger vs Green Lantern

The WWF versus the WCW, Citizen Kane versus Casablanca, Edward versus Jakob are some of the biggest rivalries in the histories of each respective genre (pro-wrestling, cinema and pussy chick boy-toys respectively). In the world of comics, DC Comics and Marvel are the big dogs in town. Sure, there are many independent publishers that are pretty damn good, but in the minds of most fans you are either a Marvel fan or a DC fan, there's no two ways about it. You can like both, of course, but one of them will be your favorite. Whether one or the other is better can be argued by those that know this world better than I.

This summer we were presented with an interesting opportunity, two movies that came out that represent both brands. Representing Marvel, Captain America is one of their most important figures. Steve Rogers is a scrawny kid from Manhattan with a mighty chip on his shoulder who signs up for an experiment that gives him superhuman power. After beefing up, the Cap'n is sent to fight the biggest scourge of the 1940s... Nazis! Green Lantern, who represents DC is also an iconic character of comic lore. Hal Jordan is a brash, selfish and egomaniacal guy who is chosen by the power ring to become a part of the Green Lanter Corps. (a sort of intergalactic police force) in substitution of the previous owner of the ring.

These are both flagship superheroes for their respective companies but have both been mostly overlooked (not counting that terrible Captain America movie from 1990) in favor of the Superman's, Batman's, and Spidermans of the comic world. Now, I'm basically going to compare the two and see who wins.

Leading Role

I think Steve Rogers wins this one. Because, while I think Hal Jordan is the more interesting character, in the movies he is turned into a really whiny wannabe wiseass with daddy issues. He annoyed the hell out of me. While Rogers is a pretty tame character, Chris Evans really did a great job in giving this character life and made him feel bigger than mere reality. He definitely seemed like a hero to me. I thought Ryan Reynolds would have been fantastic as Jordan, and while he left a lot to be desired, I don't blame it entirely on him. I put most of the blame on the terrible screenplay that finds more time for his romantic life and his daddy issues than for anything else. Also, was I the only one completely surprised at how well Hal Jordan took the whole aliens exist thing?

Winner: Captain America/Steve Rogers as played by Chris Evans

Supporting Cast

This was a pretty hard one to choose as both movies have some really interesting secondary characters. Especially Tommy Lee Jones (channeling K from Men in Black) in full on sarcastic and wiseass mode. He steals every single scene he is in. I thought Captain America would have been pretty average without him there. As far as the villains go, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was pretty kick ass. He was fantastic (as he normally is) and makes Peter Sarsgaard's Hector Hammond look like a blathering idiot (also with daddy issues... damn this movie).

Hugo Weaving makes what might have been the cheesiest bad guy ever into a kick-ass nazi killing machine.

Parallax is supposed to be this kick-ass villain but the movie doesn't really take advantage of it. The thing I loved about Green Lantern was his fellow Corps. members, or at least the ones we got to meet. Mark Strong as Sinestro is incredible and I'd have much preferred to have seen a movie about him than Hal Jordan. And I would have liked to have seen more of Kilowog as voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan.

And he's down for the ten count before the bell even rung.

In terms of the love interests, Blake Lively was definitely the highlight of Green Lantern as she was able to take some fondue worthy scenes and work them to the best of her ability. Her relationship with Hal Jordan seemed a lot more natural and thus worked better on film. Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell never really had that chemistry on screen and the relationship felt forced. Almost like she only fell for Rogers once he got big muscles and superhuman powers... talk about high standards.

Winner: Captain America

Plot

These are both superhero movies, so their plots are pretty straight forward. There are no M. Night-like twist endings. I thought Green Lantern's universe was a lot more interesting because it was different. But, I have to admit that it feels special to know that the Captain America universe is part of something bigger than itself. The idea that most of the movies Marvel Studios has released so far are part of what will be the Avengers movie makes it feel like I'm immersed in something bigger than just a single movie. It's a lot like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. It's bigger than normal. You see the movies expecting to see easter eggs that will make you go 'oh snap' like seeing Captain America's shield in Tony Stark's lab. But here we actually get Howard Stark (Tony's father) as an important piece in the experiment that turns Rogers into the Captain. Of course, the main story is straight forward but its still performed a lot better than Green Lantern's. The biggest flaw I saw with the Lantern was that it took too much time away from something as interesting as the Corps. and instead focused too much on Jordan's daddy issues and his love interest Carol Ferris. Also, it is unquestionable that the Lantern's biggest villain was a flop.

I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of Hal Jordan and his interactions with the Crops. members. That would have been the true meat on this movies bones, but it failed at that and at almost everything else. The only thing that excited me about it was the possibility of a movie based a lot more on Sinestro.

Winner: Captain America

So basically, I believe that as a whole, Captain America as a whole is a much better movie than Green Lantern. It's not even a fair fight. Captain America is well done, with the atmosphere that screams USA in the 1940s but with the ship sailing straight towards 2012 and the release of The Avengers. Green Lantern gave us an interesting universe that is not explored in order to show us glimpses of Hal Jordan's whiny self and his uninteresting problems. In the end, its obvious which of the movies is better.

Captain America rating: 7.5 out of 10
Green Lantern rating: 4 out of 10

Gratuitous Blake Lively pic.

Oh Captain My Captain - A tale of Marvel's kick-ass Summer

A lot of people seem really surprised that Marvel hasn't dropped the ball this Summer. With three huge releases, and the track record for comic book movies, the odds weren't exactly in their favor.

On the other hand, I always have high hopes for comic book movies. I know how great they can be if done right, and I really believe that Marvel has shown us how it's done with this whole Avengers buildup thing they've done.

With Captain America we finally round up the bunch and we're ready for the main event, and this movie makes sure to point that out. Marvel decided to make this film the biggest Avengers tie in to date, I mean, it's in the fucking title. But on top of that we have substantial nods to other Avengers in the movie.The Cosmic Cube plays a huge role in the film's plot and it is said to have been "the jewel of Odin's treasure room," which indirectly ties Thor into our WWII story. And since this story has to do with cutting edge technology and is mostly happening in 1942 it is obvious that the Starks have something to do with it. In this case, Howard Stark, who is is actually really important to the plot.

"Your motivation? You watched Iron Man right? Just pretend you're Tony."

Of course, we have the big tie in happening after the credits, but I'm not a big enough dick to spoil that for you. I'm just going to say that if you left early because you had to pee, you missed out, because it's spectacular. But enough about that.

The movie itself is amazing. I'd say it's amazing because it looks and feels like a comic book. And that's what we, the fans, wanted. I'm truly surprised at how well it turned out. I was genuinely worried at how sickening the whole patriotism shtick would get; but it is  handled wonderfully with some well placed humor. On top of that it's characterized by what can only be called comic book pacing, because the action just seems to roll along at the right speed, unlike movies like (ugh) Spider-Man 3 which just constantly threw things (shit) at you at a ridiculous pace.

The plot needs no introduction. I mean it's been five years since Ultimate Avengers came out, so it's kinda fresh in our minds. But it's handled very well. Faithful enough to the original to keep the die-hards at bay, yet pleasing to any new fan who just wants the 'summer blockbuster' experience. But in the end, I like to think it's the fans who decide weather a comic book movie was worth it. And I must say, Cap hit his mark.

The thing that made Captain America such an interesting movie for me is the fact that I went into it relatively blind, asides from knowing that Chris Evans was playing Cap, and that The Red Skull was the villain, I knew very little about this film. The last time I went into a movie like this was for The Dark Knight, except in that case it was on purpose. I was actually shocked when TDK threw Two-Face at me, I didn't expect him until the next movie. It proved to be an interesting experience, one that I'm glad to repeat, albeit by accident.

"Another badass for the resume. Geeks love me."

In this case, I had a couple of pleasant surprises. First of all was Hugo "Mr. Anderson" Weaving, who seems to love popping up in movies I really, really like. Almost like he's doing it on purpose. He, of course, plays The Red Skull. This might be the most awesome looking make-up/costume and outfit job in superhero movie history. He just looks flat-out threatening at all times. He is also built up appropriately, such an awesome face can't just be shown from the start. There is a great anticipation for when he rips off the Mission Impossible-ish rubber mask thing and shows us the crimson. An awesome Marvel villain done right. And as always, he's fucking Hugo "V" Weaving, so he delivers a great performance.

The supporting cast does their job well. Several minor characters fall by the wayside at times, but they're there, proving that they did actually read the source material. Actually finding out who was in this movie actually made the credits enjoyable. For example, 'Dum Dum' Dugan was there the whole time, and I just didn't piece together that it was him.

Without a doubt the stand out character in the movie is played by Tommy Lee Jones, who is obviously trying to make up for being in Batman Forever. He plays the man with a million one-liners, Colonel Chester Phillips. This character practically outshines the Cap himself. It almost feels like the role was written for him. I have honestly quoted this character at least a dozen times since I watched the movie, and it hasn't gotten old. It's just one of those performances that controls the screen, and whenever he walks off screen, you almost want to beg him to come back. Kudos to Mr. Jones.

"Flip a coin to see who the star is? No, that's not a good idea."

On to Cap himself. Hearing that Chris Evans was playing the Captain America left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I'm one of those wishful thinking kinda geeks that's always hoping for big things. And since Chris was, in my opinion, the only well-cast person in that horrible Fantastic Four attempt, it saddened me that he was abandoning the role of Johnny Storm., eliminating the chance of an eventual appearance as the Human Torch in anything else. I know, it was highly unlikely, but it would have been fun.

After watching his portrayal of Capn' Mmerricuh (FUCK YEAH!... sorry) I have to eat my words. He did a great job bringing one of Marvel's deepest characters to life. And I praise him because he did it how it was meant to be done, because as intricate as his character is, it can also get kinda nauseating. But Chris managed to keep around the good, and omit the bad... At least until the sequel.

This movie could have just been Avengers filler. It could have been the biggest hyping tool in movie history. And it kinda is, but it isn't... Because it's also the best comic book movie since The Dark Knight. And I think that's quite an accomplishment. I also believe it's the best superhero movie out this summer, which is also something to brag about. In the end, with Marvel's recent record, am I surprised it's good? No. Am I surprised it's this good. Fuck yea I am.

8.5/10

Come all ye Asgardians!

In order for this to be a proper review, I have to admit that Thor is my favorite Marvel character. So, if you feel like I’m being too nice to it, then just know that I might be a little bit subjective. With that out of the way, I want to touch on one other thing which some might bring up. While the character Thor is obviously the based on the character of Nordic mythology, the movie is based on the comic books and not the actual mythology (still remembers people criticizing 300 for not being historically accurate). With that out of the way, here’s my review…

Thor deals with the title character’s war with himself and his “brother” Loki for the throne of Asgard. Odin, the all father (Anthony Hopkins), exiles Thor from Asgard and sends him into Midgard (Earth) in order to teach him a lesson. At first, we see that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is arrogant and foolish as he betrays his father’s trust and disobeys his orders, causing a war where peace had reigned for a long time. After Thor is banished, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) uses this chance as a way to capture the throne of Asgard from an old Odin.

Thor (now without his powers) is sent to Earth where he meets astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). On Earth, he has to deal with not having any powers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and eventually a big fire-breathing robot. I thought the romance part was pretty weak but that’s not really what matters in the movie.

Now, I always thought that making a movie based on Thor would be too hard an undertaking to tackle. Thor is not your typical super hero. He talks in a Shakespearian way and it doesn’t seem like he is interesting enough to be able to handle a whole movie by himself. Thankfully, Marvel understood this and gave him a plethora of characters for him to be able work. Not only many characters, but these characters are played by pretty good actors. Portman, Skarsgard, and Hopkins are proven top quality actors that can hold their own and be able to work with someone like Chris Hemsworth who is pretty much a newcomer to Hollywood. Thor’s friends are not much interesting except for Siff (who actually is the wife of Thor in Nordic mythology). Also, I would watch a movie based solely on Heimdall but only if its played by Idris Elba.


But the thing that made me think that this actually had the chance of being a good movie was the director that Marvel chose. Kenneth Branagh might not be the most known director to the casual crowd of movie goers, but for anyone that knows, he is the Shakespearean director bar none (his 4 hour version of Hamlet is pretty damn awesome). And it works.

The biggest flaw in the film is the villains. When people think of awesome superhero movies, they think of villains like the Joker. Although he has some cool powers, Loki is just too weak to actually go against Thor believably. Loki’s powers and skills just don’t show well on the screen. He is too subtle. The Destroyer was mostly a joke as well. So while the villains in the movie aren’t very strong, its all about Thor’s journey as he battles himself in order to eventually become the king of Asgard.

Even though I may be talking about all the bad things that this movie has, I enjoyed the film. I thought the movie as a complete package works well. Not only that, but it does a good job in working as a trampoline for the Avengers movie that will rock the world very soon.

6.5 out of 10