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Feb. 9th, 2010 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsukinofaeriiWARNING: Spoilers for the Captain America movie under the cut.
Okay, I swear I meant to take a deep breath, adjust my big girl panties and step away from the internet. I'm failing right this very instant.
This article should give most everyone a guess why. I could go through the article bit by bit to point out how much fail I think it is, but I think using copypasta on a whole article might be bad form. Let's just say that
Joe Johnston < < <
> > > The point
On one hand... seeing Steve become his awesome self sounds like a good idea. What I think the director is missing here is that Steve was already patriotic. No, really, he volunteered for the Army multiple times and then ended up signing on to a project that had a good chance of killing him. All for love of country. Cap didn't want to get out and really fight. He wanted to do his duty.
On the other hand... Where I choke is this: "The costume is a flag, but the way we're getting around that..." Getting around that what the hell?! The USO? Really? Because we have a top secret, super expensive, one-of-a-kind weapon and we're not going to use him in the middle of the second world war? That doesn't make any sense. None what so ever. Logic has left the building. Maybe send Cap undercover there, but... No. Just no. And all of this origin story butchery for the sake of explaining his costume. No, really, his costume. Because his costume is too cheesy.
I can easily see updating it. Lose the pirate boots and the wings (I think they're good, but hey, I can live without them). The scale mail seems a bit archaic, so we could do without that too. But somehow the director seems to have gotten the idea that Cap wears tights? oO I... don't even know what to say to that. Tight leather, yes, I never thought Cap wears tights, and I'm at a loss as to how he explains tights with belt loops. And people are objecting to a bright blue target in the middle of a battlefield. Call me completely insane, but somehow I think that anyone who's acting as a leader in the middle of a battlefield is going to have that problem regardless of their clothes. (Also, maybe, just maybe, seeing Cap in his highly visible uniform charging into battle fearlessly did something for morale, but that's just crazy talk right there.)
Okay, so they want to explain the costume as something better than "here's your propaganda-wear Cap". I don't think they need to, but... these lengths? Really? Alright, fine, I'll do it for them.
Cap is on a mission, wearing camo/olive drab/body paint/whatever. Stuff happens! Explosions maybe, IDK. His uniform is damaged severely, to the point that nudity is a problem—killing the bad guys seems less heroic when they die from shock after seeing the flagpole. (Yes, this means movie shots of Cap-rear, if we can get them.) The nearest place with clothing is a USO show that was abandoned when Nazis/Aliens/Whatever attacked. Insert convenient finding of something approximating Cap-clothes, except obviously costumey. What the hell, right? It's clothing and it's the flag—Steve has a sense of irony. So he throws it on, runs back to the battle and saves the day! Except now the costume is symbolic and he ends up getting a more functional version.
There, I just saved them an hour of movie time and managed to not kill an origin story. Can I be a director too, Marvel?
Okay, I swear I meant to take a deep breath, adjust my big girl panties and step away from the internet. I'm failing right this very instant.
This article should give most everyone a guess why. I could go through the article bit by bit to point out how much fail I think it is, but I think using copypasta on a whole article might be bad form. Let's just say that
Joe Johnston < < <
> > > The point
On one hand... seeing Steve become his awesome self sounds like a good idea. What I think the director is missing here is that Steve was already patriotic. No, really, he volunteered for the Army multiple times and then ended up signing on to a project that had a good chance of killing him. All for love of country. Cap didn't want to get out and really fight. He wanted to do his duty.
On the other hand... Where I choke is this: "The costume is a flag, but the way we're getting around that..." Getting around that what the hell?! The USO? Really? Because we have a top secret, super expensive, one-of-a-kind weapon and we're not going to use him in the middle of the second world war? That doesn't make any sense. None what so ever. Logic has left the building. Maybe send Cap undercover there, but... No. Just no. And all of this origin story butchery for the sake of explaining his costume. No, really, his costume. Because his costume is too cheesy.
I can easily see updating it. Lose the pirate boots and the wings (I think they're good, but hey, I can live without them). The scale mail seems a bit archaic, so we could do without that too. But somehow the director seems to have gotten the idea that Cap wears tights? oO I... don't even know what to say to that. Tight leather, yes, I never thought Cap wears tights, and I'm at a loss as to how he explains tights with belt loops. And people are objecting to a bright blue target in the middle of a battlefield. Call me completely insane, but somehow I think that anyone who's acting as a leader in the middle of a battlefield is going to have that problem regardless of their clothes. (Also, maybe, just maybe, seeing Cap in his highly visible uniform charging into battle fearlessly did something for morale, but that's just crazy talk right there.)
Okay, so they want to explain the costume as something better than "here's your propaganda-wear Cap". I don't think they need to, but... these lengths? Really? Alright, fine, I'll do it for them.
Cap is on a mission, wearing camo/olive drab/body paint/whatever. Stuff happens! Explosions maybe, IDK. His uniform is damaged severely, to the point that nudity is a problem—killing the bad guys seems less heroic when they die from shock after seeing the flagpole. (Yes, this means movie shots of Cap-rear, if we can get them.) The nearest place with clothing is a USO show that was abandoned when Nazis/Aliens/Whatever attacked. Insert convenient finding of something approximating Cap-clothes, except obviously costumey. What the hell, right? It's clothing and it's the flag—Steve has a sense of irony. So he throws it on, runs back to the battle and saves the day! Except now the costume is symbolic and he ends up getting a more functional version.
There, I just saved them an hour of movie time and managed to not kill an origin story. Can I be a director too, Marvel?
no subject
Date: 2010-02-09 07:49 pm (UTC)That's the kind of situation where you cut your losses, go with the thing less likely to aliennate fans, and lose the costume. You know, like chosing not to stick Wolverine in his traditional bright yellow in the X-Men movies, because Wolverine's yellow&black looks silly. The basic shape of an original story is much more important than the costume.
It's still not Ultimates, though, so I'm clinging to optimism.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-09 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-09 06:21 pm (UTC)Seriously, they're gutting the character.
Seriously... Cap dancing about in tights with chorus girls? A super-soldier? What - why would anyone do that? Hell, if they didn't want to risk him, they'd keep him and study him!
And I LIKE CAP AS A BIT OF A DORK. That's what makes him lovable!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-09 06:38 pm (UTC)Seriously, if gritty, real-to-life, we put on angst with a shovel Ultimates didn't need to justify it, why does the movie?
Is it just that patriotism isn't popular now, so they have to justify that too? Or is the director afraid to pull his head out of the warm, dark hole he's hidden it in?
No, it's because the movie is for an international audience, as much as an american one
Date: 2010-02-09 06:52 pm (UTC)I think after the hash re: America and various wars (World War II was a long time ago, folks) having Captain America as the personification of yew ess ayy right now would make the movie float over like a lead balloon (see: the reason why they did GI JOE as an international force in the movie - for international consumption). Movies are increasingly being made for an international audience (although they are distinctly American).
I can see why the director would go this way, true facts. But USO? That's a blast from the bast.
But there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip, I hear. There's always the test audience and reshoots if their way goes tits up.
Re: No, it's because the movie is for an international audience, as much as an american one
Date: 2010-02-09 06:56 pm (UTC)Edit: for html fail
True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:02 pm (UTC)True. Which is why I liked the Ult Steve approach where they give it to him, but he's so proud of wanting to serve his country, he's hungering for it, and the uniform is an expression of that. Yeah, I'd have leaned heavily on the Ultimates version of the story, because the original version is well... kinda hokey (Steve designing the costume, etc). But then again, I'm torn because if that's teh story that the fans know, you really have to cater to the fanboys, because once you get them on side, they will pay you back in spades.
But still, Captain America is a hard story to bring to the screen because its so earnest.
Re: True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:11 pm (UTC)At the same time... I have a horrible feeling that Bringing Out the Audiences will trump Being True To The Story & Character. Gimmicks instead of a good story. :(
Re: True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:21 pm (UTC)Hokey is cute, as in 'Mr Smith goes to Washington', cute, but that doesn't really translate in today's movie audience, I think. Which is why yes, the Ultimates/616 mash up would have been good.
You should link this to the comm, because it owuld be interesting to see what people would think.
Re: True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:26 pm (UTC)Oh, Someone already did (http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/479092.html) lol. This is just me simultaneously keysmashing to vent.
Re: True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:32 pm (UTC)Joss Whedon didn't like Wonder Woman and he was going to direct the feature film. So... so?
Re: True, considering that he designed it
Date: 2010-02-09 07:46 pm (UTC)Tracked down sauce. (http://comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=14728)
To me, that sort of approach suggests that they're looking to change the character to suit people who aren't fans. Which is the exact opposite of the point to me.
LOL, he likes Brubaker
Date: 2010-02-09 07:58 pm (UTC)I'm going to be blunt here, I've read vol I Captain America and it is a chore, I don't like those issues either, and how Cap was presented there. I can appreciate the aspect of the PSTD but still, Captain America was a yawn.
Yeah, I can see how it would serve Johnston on the project. For one, he might not be too overawed by the material to see straight . For this, see: Zack Synder, director of 300 and Watchmen - who stuck so closely to the books (according to critics) it squashed any sort of new interpretation (I liked Watchmen, but do see and appreciate the criticism). Johnston made The Rocketeer which was very forties and swooping and it felt of That Time, although it was done in the 1990s, iirc? Old, jazzy is old.
To me, that sort of approach suggests that they're looking to change the character to suit people who aren't fans. Which is the exact opposite of the point to me.
Hmm, if he has Brubaker (eww) or Waid as consultant to the movie that might be best for everything involved. I can understand why Johnston is going the way he's going though, because like Tarrantino says, you can't please comic book fans, because in their eyes you'll never get it right (I think Iron Man is a happy exception). But if you do it good enough to get people to care for the franchise, your work is mostly done.
Re: LOL, he likes Brubaker
Date: 2010-02-09 08:08 pm (UTC)Eh, to be honest, I wouldn't watch a Captain America movie
Date: 2010-02-09 06:39 pm (UTC)On the other hand though, its sad that they don't believe enough in the character and in the actor to be the character in terms of say, letting the uniform speak for itself.
tl;dr, I can't see how a Captain America movie would be riveting.
Re: Eh, to be honest, I wouldn't watch a Captain America movie
Date: 2010-02-09 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 12:32 am (UTC)Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-10 02:56 am (UTC)