Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - 4K UHD Review

Review:

*Originally written April 24th, 2019*

It feels weird just how far this series has come from its humble beginnings before being eaten up by Disney. I'm not saying Disney haven't improved the direction of this series (For the most part), but the films under Paramount certainly have a different tone, look and feel to them, for better or worse.

The First Avenger is a more earnest entry in the series that wears its honesty on its sleeve, making for a pretty entertaining and sweet World War 2 adventure that effectively sets up the Captain America trilogy and some of the groundwork for the MCU as a whole. 

Chris Evans makes for an easy to root for hero. A malnourished young adult from Brooklyn who wants nothing more than to do the right thing and help the war effort, despite the danger and his lack of anything close to combat skills. Evans makes the character work so well, so inherently earnest and likeable as he goes from scrawny asthmatic to 'roided up super-soldier.  It is weird seeing the CGI in making Chris Evans look so small though, while I remember it being very impressive back when this released, it doesn't hold up very well.

Not a lot of the CGI or action has aged well either in all honesty, but the more cartoony look of the film and special effects works in favour of its tone, making it feel like a more Indiana Jones esque take on World War 2 and Nazis. I mean, these aren't your Schindler's List monster Nazis, these are cartoonish super-villain Nazis, which I suppose they were, but the portrayal here is much harder to take seriously. 

I wasn't a massive fan of the look of the film either. It's very drab and colourless for the most part and made even worse by a 4K disc that only exacerbates these flaws. The whole film has this flat digital look to it. I always found the first two Avengers films to not look like actual films, but more big-budget TV. First Avenger suffers from the same problem. There's not really any moments of striking cinematography as everything just looks pretty bland and the direction lacks anything with a signature.

I sound like I'm criticising this a lot, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. Which is also very much due to the character work with Steve Rogers and his journey. I particularly loved the travelling roadshow montage to Star Spangled Man that involved him punching a fake Hitler at the end of every performance, before realising he could make much more of a difference if he actually helped in battle. 

Then there's the romance with him and Peggy, which is probably the only romance in the MCU outside of Tony and Pepper that actually feels like it has any weight to it. I always forget just how touching the last moments of the film are, helped by the fact they have genuine chemistry throughout. Everything with Steve and Bucky is surprisingly effective too, especially knowing how that all goes in the next two Captain America films. 

Hugo Weaving's Red Skull is also a pretty solid villain. Again, his motivations are very cartoonish and his look is ridiculous, but it works in favour of the films tone. Even with the tone, I was surprised at just how violent this was at times too. When people get shot, there's pretty strong blood splatter and even a pretty shocking moment where Steve throws a nazi into a plane engine and he turns to bloody mulch, something the MCU would in no way get away with now. I'm amazed they even got away with it in a 12 rated film from 8 years ago. This came out 8 years ago, Jesus.


Captain America: The First Avenger is a solid first outing for the Evan's Steve Rogers, helped enormously by strong character work, Evan's earnest performance and fine campy tone that saves the film from it's forgettable action and bland, drab visual look. 


7/10 Dans

Captain America: The First Avenger is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Snowpiercer (2013) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written June 4th, 2015*

I've been wanting to watch Snowpiercer for about a year now, but sadly there has been no distribution for it in the UK. I could have spent mega money to import the Blu-ray from another country. Thankfully, I changed the DNS code on my PS4 so I could access the Netflix catalogue of America, and when I saw Snowpiercer was on it, I jumped on that in a heart-beat.

For a film I've been waiting so long to see, I'm pretty happy to say I was not disappointed. Snowpiercer is an original, tense and incredibly well filmed sci-fi film set in a future where the world has been lost to global warming and the last remnants of society are set to a big train which travels all across the world.

What surprised me straight out the gate is just how good this looked, the directors vision of this future was amazing and 98% of the film takes place within this train, which I thought would get tedious, but thankfully each area of the train was unique and as visually interesting as the last

Snowpiercer's all talented cast is led by an excellent Chris Evans, who I was so refreshed to see him in something that wasn't an overblown Marvel film, he even gets the best line of the film, which is said towards the end and it was one of the most darkly funny lines I've ever heard in a film since Marla's "I haven't been fucked like that since grade-school" line from Fight Club.

The rest of the cast fare extremely well, apart from Tilda Swinton, who for some reason, all I could think of when I heard her voice was a villager from the Fable games.  Aside from her, the cast includes Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ed Harris and Ewan Bremner.

The action scenes are all incredible, the highlight being a fight which takes place between about 40 men all armed with axes in one carriage of the train. 

I was very surprised by the depth of the film, I did not expect the themes of class and equality to be so present here, but it made sense to the narrative as it's about the lower class fighting their way from the bottom of the train all the way to the literally and metaphorical first class of the train. All the action on the display is always interesting and Chris Evan's character got more and more unhinged as the film went on which led to a surprisingly heartfelt and twist-filled finale which I did not see coming at all.


I don't really have any complaints about Snowpiercer other than the fact it could have done with a more compelling villain and I felt it could have been a bit shorter. That aside, Snowpiercer is amazing, go see it, and I will definitely be picking up the Baby-Blu when it is finally released in the UK (Whenever that will be)

8/10 Dans

Snowpiercer still has no release in the UK

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written April 14th, 2016*

Definitely not the "political thriller" people seem to claim it is. Sure it has elements of this, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier really is just another Marvel affair, although it's one of the best efforts from them.

In Captain America's second solo outing S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised and he doesn't know who he can trust as a new villain emerges in the form of the 'Winter Soldier', a killing machine with ties to Cap's past.

I know it's widely considered so, but Winter Soldier is easily one of the best films in the MCU so far, top 3 material for sure. I wasn't a huge fan of the first Captain America film, so I was pleased at what huge step-up this one was.

The themes of national security play a big part here, although I feel it could have been explored a bit more, but whatever, this is a comic-book film, not a statement on society. The film asks what's more important, freedom or protection, but it never gives a clear answer either way, which is fine. This looks to be explored a lot more in the upcoming Civil War.

What Winter Soldier does better than any Marvel film to date is finally the first decent villain in the form of the Winter Soldier. He's a terminator sort of character, violent, scary and emotionless. He is way more intimidating than anything the MCU has had to offer before hand. It's just a shame that Robert Redford's bad guy was kinda boring and forgettable.

There are some cool nods to other Marvel films. I never even noticed at Dr. Strange got a mention in any of the other watches, but that's probably because he's still in my mind due to the recently released trailer for his solo film. Also gotta mention a fantastic cameo that was Abed from Community in a tiny role.

The action is also far more impressive and less "CGI smashy-smashy". There are some genuinely memorable action scenes like Nick Fury's SUV attack and the now iconic close quarter elevator fight. I'm the directors of this film are back for the next one, they have a talent for creative set-pieces.

I still really like Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America. Still the most likable of all the Avengers. He's modest and easy to get behind, unlike some of Marvel's other characters. Evan's brought the heart to this film, I've always liked the "man out of time" idea and he nails it pretty well, his fight at the end also feels like it has genuine weight to it, mostly thanks to the performance.

My only real complaints are it goes on a bit too long and my problem with all Marvel films. They don't look like films, they look like really expensive episodes of TV and really lack their own visual style, which is such a shame. That said, this looks a lot nicer than both the Avengers films.


The Winter Soldier is one of the most successful films in the MCU to date, filled with memorable set-pieces, Marvel's first decent villain (Outside their Netflix shows) and an engaging story.

8/10 Dans

Captain American: The Winter Soldier is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK

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