Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released nationwide two weeks ago, the newest installment in the Avengers chronicle from Marvel. Many have called it, “Even better than the first,” although that’s a fairly useless piece of information considering that Hachi: A Dog’s Tale was better than the first Captain America. I concede, it was indeed better than the first, but it is still the worst Romantic Comedy I’ve seen this year. (It’s also the only romantic comedy I’ve seen this year, so I guess that also makes it the best one I’ve seen.) Don’t mistake me, it’s not the worst Rom-Com I’ve ever seen (Hoot still maintains that high distinction), but it’s by far not the best.
Captain America, played by the (literally and figuratively) dashing Steve Rogers, is a man who enjoys living a life of excitement, from skydiving into the ocean without a parachute to shootings in his apartment. The one place he doesn’t like excitement, though, is in his love life, which is why he falls for the 90 year old Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). What does his taste for a boring love life lead to? A boring movie:
1) The title couple (Captain America and Peggy), when all is said and done, spends under five minutes of screen time together. The directors Joe and Anthony Russo, still rather wet behind the ears compared to many blockbuster directors, were not able to develop the relationship that quickly. The first several minutes of Pixar’s Up show that you can tell a beautiful love story with laughter and tears in so short a time (without words to boot), but the greenie directors of Captain America were incapable of such subtle art.
2) The love interest is old. Sure, it’s not as bad as The Notebook, where they’re both old, but it still makes any chemistry difficult.(WE LOVE OUR SENIOR CITIZENS HERE AT THE STAR. They can only read the larger print anyway.) I would also cite the fact that Peggy is bed-ridden (an effect of her age) as another difficulty in storytelling, but An Affair to Remember proves that it doesn’t have to be a problem.
3) Most importantly though, is that Captain America and Peggy don’t even end up together. I mean, what kind of Rom-Com ends without the title couple together? (500 Days of Summer.) Without any closure on the relationship, by the end of the movie, I was left feeling like I’d wasted five minutes of my life; like there wasn’t any point to it at all.
The only redeeming quality was the acting by Steve Rogers. He really made the Captain America character come alive for me. This is especially impressive considering the character itself. In the world of Superheroes that are just like you and me, Captain America is difficult to relate to because of how different, how far-fetched, his powers are. In The Avengers especially where every-one is so realistic and believable, Captain America seems almost superhuman. How am I suppose to connect with a character like that? But Steve Rogers brings Captain America back down to earth in this most recent reincarnation.
When all was said and done, It wasn’t my favourite Rom-Com, but I still recommend The Winter Soldier to any strapping young person that finds him or herself falling for someone who’s many years their senior; someone who’s . . . shall we say . . . getting a little long in the tooth. (THE ELDERLY ARE HEROES.) I believe this film may wake them up to the fantasy they are living. For everyone else though . . .
BOTTOM LINE: Not worth the five minutes.
Captain America, played by the (literally and figuratively) dashing Steve Rogers, is a man who enjoys living a life of excitement, from skydiving into the ocean without a parachute to shootings in his apartment. The one place he doesn’t like excitement, though, is in his love life, which is why he falls for the 90 year old Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). What does his taste for a boring love life lead to? A boring movie:
1) The title couple (Captain America and Peggy), when all is said and done, spends under five minutes of screen time together. The directors Joe and Anthony Russo, still rather wet behind the ears compared to many blockbuster directors, were not able to develop the relationship that quickly. The first several minutes of Pixar’s Up show that you can tell a beautiful love story with laughter and tears in so short a time (without words to boot), but the greenie directors of Captain America were incapable of such subtle art.
2) The love interest is old. Sure, it’s not as bad as The Notebook, where they’re both old, but it still makes any chemistry difficult.(WE LOVE OUR SENIOR CITIZENS HERE AT THE STAR. They can only read the larger print anyway.) I would also cite the fact that Peggy is bed-ridden (an effect of her age) as another difficulty in storytelling, but An Affair to Remember proves that it doesn’t have to be a problem.
3) Most importantly though, is that Captain America and Peggy don’t even end up together. I mean, what kind of Rom-Com ends without the title couple together? (500 Days of Summer.) Without any closure on the relationship, by the end of the movie, I was left feeling like I’d wasted five minutes of my life; like there wasn’t any point to it at all.
The only redeeming quality was the acting by Steve Rogers. He really made the Captain America character come alive for me. This is especially impressive considering the character itself. In the world of Superheroes that are just like you and me, Captain America is difficult to relate to because of how different, how far-fetched, his powers are. In The Avengers especially where every-one is so realistic and believable, Captain America seems almost superhuman. How am I suppose to connect with a character like that? But Steve Rogers brings Captain America back down to earth in this most recent reincarnation.
When all was said and done, It wasn’t my favourite Rom-Com, but I still recommend The Winter Soldier to any strapping young person that finds him or herself falling for someone who’s many years their senior; someone who’s . . . shall we say . . . getting a little long in the tooth. (THE ELDERLY ARE HEROES.) I believe this film may wake them up to the fantasy they are living. For everyone else though . . .
BOTTOM LINE: Not worth the five minutes.