It’s a big weekend for comic heroes and all things geek with Comic Con, and Captain America hitting the screen, going up against the box office juggernaut of Harry Potter.
Is this going to be another hit on Marvel’s roll, or will comic movies continue to struggle? One thing’s for sure, there’s been plenty of Captain America in the news on the eve of the movie’s release.
The first reviews hit the trades, Hollywood Reporter and Variety, and neither were that impressed with the film.
The Reporter dubbed the movie “a little too simplistic and routine,” and Variety called it, “Red, white and bland…a by-the-numbers prequel for The Avengers…remarkably flat.”
However, my friend Pat Jankiewicz, who wrote the Jaws companion Just When You Thought It Was Safe, and the new Hulk companion You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry, loved it, and wrote on his blog, Nuke the Fridge, “A rousing, old fashioned action adventure with heart and brains… A fantastic late-summer surprise.”
At the premiere, Captain America star Chris Evans spoke of his current anxiety issues at taking on what can potentially be a big franchise, confessing to The L.A. Times on the red carpet, “Believe me, right now, I’m terrified.”
Captain America director Joe Johnson also did a chat with the Times column The Hero Complex, praising Evans in the title role, and admitting, “I was familiar with the character but not necessarily a fan. I see that as an advantage in that I can be objective and hold nothing sacred about the material.”
And finally, the Times also did a story in the Health section on how Evans went from weakling to action star stud, where CGI was used to make Evans look skinny, instead of bulking him up digitally.
So will Captain America seriously challenge Harry Potter at the box office, and give comic films a much needed shot in the arm? Stay tuned…
