Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Director: Joe Johnston
Screenplay: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Stanley Tucci, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson

One-sentence summary: During World War II, Steve Rogers is selected to undergo a process to create the world's first super-soldier.

Review: I'm going to be frank. I've never been particularly fond of Captain America as a character, mostly because I've felt like he stands for a particular brand of ultra-patriotism that isn't necessarily conducive to the kind of diplomatic relationships we need to foster today.

That said, I think it was pretty brave of Marvel to go ahead and commit to developing Captain America as a film franchise, and I think they did a great job of it. If nothing else, Captain America: The First Avenger sets up The Avengers beautifully, introducing the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube that we first saw in the stinger at the end of Thor.

But again, I'll be honest: I probably won't come back to the movie again.

Captain America: The First Avenger is a vital movie to the Marvel Cinematic Universe because it brings together seemingly disparate ideas already planted in Thor and contextualizes it in a way that doesn't make The Avengers seem haphazard. Not gonna lie, I geeked out when I realized that the entire beginning of the film was all about Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) getting his hands on the Tesseract, and he had this whole spiel about Odin and Yggdrasil and the power of the "gods."

That aside, it's not like Captain America: The First Avenger is a bad movie, it's just not up my alley. Yeah, the action sequences are great, and it's nice to understand why Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was selected for the super-soldier experiment, and Stanley Tucci is awesome (as always). But something just felt a little off, and I think it was because I kept coming back to what Captain America stood for. The movie does a good job of employing tunnel vision and not reminding you of just what else was going on while Captain America was hunting down HYDRA, but it's hard to see a movie set in World War II and not think about what else was going on at the time. World War II is a downer.

Like I said earlier, I see Captain America as a relic of an age gone by, and he's not necessarily the hero we need anymore. However, I am fully prepared to see what they have in store for him in The Avengers and Captain America 2.

Final word: Captain America: The First Avenger is a good popcorn superhero flick with nothing inherently wrong but some may find it lays the patriotism on a little thick.

Thor (2011)

Thor (2011)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenston, Tadanobu Asano, Josh Dallas, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Clark Gregg, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson

One-sentence summary: Thor is exiled to Earth by his father after a misguided attempt to single-handedly defeat the Frost Giants, but unbeknownst to either of them, Thor's brother, Loki, plans to use Thor's absence to his advantage.

Review: I had a geek out when I found out that Kenneth Branagh was going to direct Thor. I love Shakespeare and I especially loved Branagh's adaptation of Hamlet, so clearly there had to be something special in Thor for Branagh to sign on, right? And then I began to have misgivings. Why Thor? Admittedly, Thor is one of the Marvel comics I didn't have much interest in, so I had no idea how they were going to translate Thor from the comic books to the big screen without making the origin story something extremely hokey. I had the same concerns with Iron Man, but they did a brilliant job with it, so there was no way they'd let Thor be subpar, right? But has Branagh ever had this much money go into a film?! I made sure to keep my expectations low.

I'm happy to report that Thor is, quite surprisingly, very deep. The filmmakers really reached in and made sure to emphasize that while this was an action-packed summer movie filled with explosions and fights, at its core it was a human drama. You care a lot more about Thor's relationship with the people around him than the big fight with the Destroyer (which, unsurprisingly, ties in quite well with Thor's transformation from arrogant hot-headed jerk to something far more compassionate). I love that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) isn't, at his core, a bad person... he's just more ruthless than most at getting what he wants, and he ended up doing more harm than good.

But the thing I think I love most about the movie is Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Okay, so maybe the way her relationship with Thor develops is a bit too fast, but she sells it so well that I had no trouble accepting it. They really reinvented Jane for the movie, and I've got to say I like this new version way more than the original comic book version. In fact, the new way they interpret the series' mythology is quite awesome, and making Jane an astrophysicist (and introducing the concept of advanced technology as seeming like magic) just ties in so well that it's a no-brainer.

Thor feels very... Shakespearean. This shouldn't come at any surprise given that it was helmed by Branagh. The existing films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were already great, but Thor elevates it to another level by grounding the human element of the story and making it every bit as exciting to watch as the special effects-laden setpieces. They have their work cut out for them on Thor 2.

I think I should mention a couple more things. Darcy (Kat Dennings) tends to steal every scene she's in, so be on the lookout for that. Also be on the lookout for references to other films in the MCU. And I highly recommend watching Thor before seeing The Avengers if you haven't seen it by then because it's going to make The Avengers that much more resonant (Loki is the antagonist!).

Final word: Thor is a fantastic film groomed to be a summer blockbuster that exceeds your expectations and delivers a surprisingly grounded story that emphasizes human drama over explosions.

Green Lantern (2011)

Green Lantern (2011)
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenplay: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins

One-sentence summary: Hal Jordan finds himself as the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force tasked with keeping the universe safe.

Review: It's become something of a trend in recent history that we get massive summer tentpole films adapted from comics books. Sometimes they're runaway hits (Iron Man), sometimes they fall flat (Jonah Hex). Green Lantern was poised to become the former. How could you go wrong with Ryan Reynolds? The guy's comedic timing is genius.

You always forget about the writing.

A movie may have a massive special effects budget, but all the CGI in the world can't cover up mediocre writing. Green Lantern had a lot going for it--interesting concept, Ryan Reynolds, big budget--but somewhere along the line, the writers forgot to put heart into the script. This doesn't mean Green Lantern is a bad film. I don't think it's nearly as bad as some critics were making it out to be, but I'm singling out the writing because Green Lantern could have easily become that massive summer tentpole had they spent maybe an extra year retooling the script and trying to find the heart in the story (a la Pixar).

"But David," you say, "what about Hal's struggle with overcoming his fears and the death of his father?"

Green Lantern is sort of convenient in that the emotional spectrum literally corresponds to different emotions, but that's a poor excuse for having Hal's primary conflict be overcoming his fears (which just happens to be perfectly represented by Parallax as the antagonist; not surprisingly, Hal overcomes his fears and beats Parallax, the two practically being the same thing). Hal just isn't that compelling of a character, at least not as written in the film. Ryan Reynolds is entertaining to watch (as usual) but Hal is a little too one-note for my liking.

I've got to admit that Blake Lively didn't sell me on Carol Ferris. She was probably the weak link of the cast, and Marvel didn't do her any favors by putting out Thor the very same summer (which you may recall had Natalie Portman as the infinitely more interesting Jane Foster). However, the writers did something right and gave Carol the best scene I've ever witnessed in a superhero film.

Right after Hal saves Carol, he visits her (as Green Lantern) at her office to check on her, and Carol actually recognizes Hal underneath the mask. Hal tries to play it off at first but Carol berates him, saying, "What, did you think I wouldn't recognize you just because I can't see your cheekbones?" For all the suspension of disbelief required of us when we watch superhero films, I've still thought it ridiculous that no one ever see through the disguise, at least not in the straightforward manner Carol does. I couldn't stop laughing!

That aside, I actually do hope to see a sequel. They set it up beautifully with Sinestro putting on the yellow ring, and it's my belief that there's a better story to be told coming out of that than in the strangely hollow origin story they gave Hal. Studios should never rest on their laurels when it comes to movies that are guaranteed to make money at the box office; story should always come first because that's what will keep audiences coming back.

Final word: Green Lantern is a decent superhero film marred only by the autopilot writing.