Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

Non Spoiler Review:

Following on the heels of Thor, Chris Evans is the latest to take over an iconic Marvel role with Captain America. Like Thor, which had to balance the presence of the supernatural in the greater Marvel universe, this one has its own set of challenges—integrating a World War II era hero into the franchise and making what is effectively a period film.

The movie begins in the present day with a discovery in the Arctic Circle, but immediately flashes back to 1942, where we meet young Steve Rogers facing an insurmountable obstacle trying to serve his country despite a litany of physical problems that prevent him from enlisting. At the Stark Exhibition (featuring Iron Man's own pop, Howard Stark), Steve finds an opportunity of a lifetime to participate in a secret super-soldier experiment.

In Germany, Hitler's scientific division, Hydra, under the command of Johann Schmidt, is up to its own shenanigans, when Schmidt manages to secure none other than the cosmic cube in Norway (last seen in the end credits of Thor). With an unlimited energy source to power his futuristic weaponry, he plans to conquer the world.

Captain America has a lot on its plate—introducing what could easily turn into a jingoistic caricature of a super-hero, bring off a war story, and manage to tie it all in nicely with the future Avengers movie, and hopefully its own set of sequels. Like Thor, Captain America is a fun ride that manages to deliver on all fronts.

I found this to be one of the more character rich Marvel films, and Chris Evans owns the role. He succeeds wholeheartedly in presenting a Captain America that isn't a farce of any kind, but someone worthy of being a hero. He also transcends the whole America angle in his simple ideal that he doesn't like bullies. In fact, Stanley Tucci, as German scientist and developer of the super-serum, Abraham Erskine, provides a satisfying explanation why Rogers was chosen among so many others to be part of the experiment.

Hugo Weaving (Matrix, Lord of the Rings) really pulled off the Red Skull (despite an accent that was quite reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger at times). Hayley Atwell (Pillars of the Earth) as Peggy Carter and Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Phillips were equally effective in supporting roles. An eclectic bunch for Rogers' squad of commandos rounded out the cast. But it was Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark who made a great homage to his future son, providing a nice contrast between Iron Man 2's Stark Expo and this one.

The movie takes several interesting diversions, including the newly created super-soldier being relegated to USO tours (complete with a fantastic musical number, which should never have worked in a super-hero movie). There were some nice touches and surprises, including the original Captain America costume making an appearance.

Captain America also presents the first real Marvel take on its alternate history, with WWII super weapons, a very futuristic looking New York City, and vast technological differences (which at times might have been stretching things a bit—including levitating cars). Another surprise was how much Thor's influence had over the story, including a very surprising scene towards the climax of the film—definitely ensure you've seen Thor before hitting this one.

One thing very noticeable was the lack of Nazis. The Hydra organization completely overshadowed everything, with barely a glimpse of the Third Reich at all. It was a curious, and somewhat odd choice, given the character's roots.

The only real problem comes with the challenge of working WWII and the modern era into the story. Captain America needs to fight through the course of the war, but of course this film can't show that aside from some montages. So that leaves a big gap in his history (which writers undoubtedly will want to flash back to in future movies). The result is somewhat of a glazing over of those events to get to the epic battle with Red Skull, leaving Cap's war years as a choppy bunch of scenes.

I can't really say this was the best of Marvel's shared universe, given they are all so very different, but they did succeed in hitting the ball out of the park with Captain America in casting, story and visual style. There's ample room for World War II flashbacks in future movies given the time jumps presented here, and Cap is firmly brought forward to the current era to explore his reintegration into society. What could have been a sappy or overly patriotic story came off as very genuine, with a lot of heart. And I'm anxiously looking forward to seeing Chris Evans interact with Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming Avengers.

Review: True Blood "Me and the Devil"

Non Spoiler Review:

Sookie's efforts to help Eric finally begin to backfire, while Jesus and Lafayette head to Mexico to get some help from Jesus' evil grandfather we saw in last season's flashbacks. Bill steps up his game against the witches. Tommy and Sam are thrown together again after his family reunion goes awry. Jason is on the mend. Evil baby gets an exorcism.

Carrying on the fun from last week, we get some more King Bill awesomeness, and further details about the bad witch stuff that happened in Spain. We also get to meet the rest of his sheriffs. The direction of the storyline is beginning to crystallize, tying in to Jesus' visions from last year. And similarly with Sam and Tommy, it's a sure thing now who will be the next skinwalker. Jason, now back in the world, has to come to terms with what happened to him (and the infusion of Jessica's blood) as well as an impending full moon. The problem remains with Arlene and Terry's D storyline which just isn't gripping me at all. Best of all, though, Sookie's lies start to come back to bite her in the ass, despite the growth of her relationship with Eric. 

Spoilers Now!

Tommy plays dead to get a leg up on Joe Lee, which prompts a huge brawl between the three of them. He kills his father, and also, by accident, his mother who leaps to Joe Lee's defence. That leads him to show up at Sam's in a panic, with both corpses in his van (!)

After Pam's abrupt departure, Marnie explains the spirit returned and saved them again, but Lafayette is not impressed they've pissed off another vampire, and so leaves with Tara and Jesus. They all decide it's best to put as much distance between them and the coven as possible.

Eric is visited by Godric when he comes to look in on a sleeping Sookie. Eric doesn't know who he is, though Godric tells him he's damned and incapable of love. He drinks from her at his urging, but is roused from his dream. He goes upstairs to look in on her and she wakes up this time. 

Eric explains the nightmare and how it upset him. He wants to know if he's evil. She admits Godric would be happy to see him as he is now, as his maker was the most human vampire she'd ever met. She lets him stay with her until sunrise.

Hoyt and Jessica put Jason to bed. Hoyt's grateful she saved the life of his best friend. She's tired from giving blood and acting strange, so leaves him to stay with Jason. But Hoyt seems equally pensive for some reason.

Portia goes to see Bill, though he insists their relationship remain professional. Despite her arguments in favor of incest (!), he opts for the easy out and manages to glamor her to run away at the sight of him. She runs out of the house screaming.

Pam then shows up sporting her best funeral attire and veil to cover her rotting face, and wants permission to destroy the witches. His hands are tied (that no killing humans thing from Nan), though he doesn't plan to ignore it and is well aware how dangerous the witches are.

Lafayette and Jesus head off to Mexico to see Jesus' shaman grandfather for help, while Tara plans on returning to New Orleans. The last time Jesus saw his grandfather was his ninth birthday, when he forced him to kill a goat as a sacrifice. He felt power then, but his mother took him away before his grandfather could take him further. But they need that power now (nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan).

Sam and Tommy drive off in the van to deal with the bodies, but Andy ends up following them for speeding. Sam gets Tommy to get in the back. Andy does some V and wants to get into the back after seeing blood on the door. After a tense moment (including drawing his weapon) Andy gets Sam to open the door and finds Tommy's transformed into an alligator. Sam says he found the gator and was taking him back to the swamp. A shaken Andy leaves. Sam throws the bodies in the swamp and tries to put Tommy's mind at ease by saying it was self-defense. He admits to killing the two people who stole from him (we saw in last season's flashback), so he assures his upset brother he's not going to go to hell for killing his parents.

At work, Sookie asks Holly how her group is going, and inquires about the vampire attack. Holly doesn't really want to talk about that given her association with vampires. Sookie reads her mind, though, and learns about the wiccan store where they meet. So she goes to see Marnie and asks for a reading.

Marnie is quite distracted, but agrees to it, then picks up on Sookie's grandmother. Gran wants to ensure she looks after her brother. She also warns her not to give her heart to her new man. It isn't going to last. Oh, and Marnie poses great danger, so Gran tells Sookie to run. Sookie quickly departs, leaving a confused Marnie.

Jason tells Hoyt what happened with the werepanthers, and thinks everything bad that's happened to him is because of sex. But when he learns there will be a full moon the following night, he gets nervous. Later that night, Jason has a sex dream about Jessica which quickly turns bizarre and involves Hoyt.

Arlene believes René's spirit is haunting the baby, so Terry suggests an exorcism—which brings Reverend Daniels and his new wife, Tara's mom, to perform a whacky cleanse on the house. But Arlene seems to think it's worked. Unfortunately, when they sleep, a pack of matches manages to ignite itself.

Bill's undercover agent, Katie, goes to see Marnie and asks about the latest vampire incident that has her worried. Marnie assures her they're being protected. And that's when Bill's security take her.

Tara phones her girlfriend to tell her she's coming back, but she gets asked who Tara Thornton is, as she's found some of her mail and isn't too happy about the lies.  So she heads over to Sookie's to eat ice cream and commiserate, revealing that she had been lying about who she was after she left Bon Temps. Sookie never knew she was into girls, either. Tara admits her girlfriend will likely break up with her now that she knows the truth. Sookie advises her to fight for her, but as the sun begins to set she gets nervous that Eric will come out. And Tara wants to stay over.

That's when Eric comes up and Tara freaks out. Sookie admits Eric is living there, but he's different now. Tara goes through the litany of things Eric's done to her, and leaves. Eric asks Sookie why she's letting him stay with her if he's done all those horrible things. She knew in her heart he can change and likes the new Eric. They kiss.

Alcide gets a visit from Marcus Bozeman, pack master. Alcide hasn't registered with the local pack yet since moving there. He sends him on his way, but it's very clear Marcus isn't going to take no for an answer.

In her cell, Marnie gets another vision of her spirit protector. This time, back when she was in prison awaiting her execution. She and her fellow witches are visited in their cell by priests, who turn out to be vampires that begin to feed on them. 

Bill assures Marnie no harm will come to her if she cooperates. She explains Eric left and she has no idea where he's gone. They were using a protection incantation. He wants her to reverse the rotting spell on Pam, but Marnie says she has no idea how to do that, either. To be sure she's telling the truth he pays a visit to her cell and glamors her. He asks her what her intentions are and Marnie confesses they just want to practice their religion. She doesn't know how to reverse any of the spells.

Bill next summons the four other Louisiana sheriffs to advise them of the situation. One of them mocks the idea that this coven is dangerous, so an angry Bill explains that in 1610 a witch named Antonia was being burned at the stake. Before her death she used necromancy to summon all vampires within 20 miles into the daylight. All of them were burned, and it amounted to a revelation to anyone who was witness that vampires were hiding among them as nuns and priests of the church. At the time they had found it advantageous to infiltrate the Catholic Church. Sheriff Luis survived only because he was out of range, and then glamored or killed the rest of the witnesses to keep their existence secret. That's how dangerous witches are, Bill says.

Pam is frustrated that they can't do anything and inadvertently blurts out that the witches erased Eric's memories. Furious, Bill demands to know how she knows that and where he is. She's forced to reveal he's at Sookie's. He takes off.

The Verdict:

True Blood's winning vampire/witch combo continues this week, made more interesting by the history lesson from Bill and Luis. It's great to see the vampires have such a worthy adversary in the witches, Pam's frustration, and their utter vulnerability to magic. Though I found it a bit of a stretch to think Luis single-handedly covered up the entire revelation four hundred years before.

I'm happy to see Sookie begin to suffer the fallout from all her lies to protect Eric, especially from Tara, given her character has been resurrected from its season three doldrums. The appearance of Gran was also nice bit, and too bad we actually didn't get to see a vision of her.

Eric's new attitude has also managed to grow on me, too. While not a fan of the Sookie/Eric combo, I actually don't mind how it's unfolding now, but there definitely has to be a sacrifice and consequences to how she's treated everyone.

Holly has been drifting in the background so far this season, so her little scene was welcome. I hope she has more to do now to justify her as an ongoing character, now that Marnie's completely taken over the story.

Tommy's on his way to becoming a skinwalker with the death of his mother. So much for my Sam theories. And so much for Maxine's natural gas rights when he finds out he can take the form of other people. The shifters seem to have convenient limits and abilities when necessary—why couldn't Tommy shift out of the chains?

Now that we have another witch in the form of Jesus' grandfather, my expectations are high. Will Jesus be turned to the dark side when he gets a taste of power again, or will his plan actually work? Maybe the course of the season is moving towards a full on vampire/witch war.

We got the usual short scenes updating the other characters—Alcide's happy home life looks about to be turned on its head. I'm not exactly sure what Hoyt's problem was this week either, or if he assumes that Jessica and Jason are going to be drawn together now. What is Portia's role going to be, or was she just a minor diversion for Bill? Surely the family tree angle has to come back at some point to have some relevance.

We got the usual annoying bits—while supplying some humor, at least, the baby exorcism was just another bit of filler compared to the more intriguing storylines going on around them. Unless—and I will recant if they should go there—it somehow ties into the greater witch arc. But right now the doll/baby just seems tacked on to the show for comic relief. And what to say about Jason? At least he's not tied to a bed. But that matured, focused and rejuvenated character we saw in the first episode is threatening to revert back to his old self. 

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

Non Spoiler Review:

The Harry Potter series comes to a fitting conclusion with the final installment and second part of the Deathly Hallows. Picking up right where the last film left us (escaping the Malfoy mansion and the death of Dobby), Harry, Hermione and Ron get right into the action with a daring raid on Gringotts to find the next of Valdemort's Horcruxes on their list. Meanwhile, the dark lord has the Elder Wand. From there, the pace doesn't let up at all, building to the inevitable, epic battle at Hogwarts.

There's really little to critique in this culmination of so many years of build up. As an action film, Deathly Hallows delivers in spades. In fact, this film is a stark contrast to the slower, more intimate first half which was so devoted to character. As a result, this one may have suffered a little given the focus on spectacle, though the previous movie more than made up for that.

And that's not to say that there still weren't great character bits. But with so much to jam into this film, some very dramatic moments sometimes lacked the moments to really show the affects on some of the players. Given I haven't read the books also didn't help in this respect, making it easy to miss key bits of dialogue in the commotion (especially regarding Draco).

I've remained relatively unspoiled regarding the conclusion, so I found the revelations (and the redemption of a few characters) to be quite rewarding. The thick amount of continuity continually referenced certainly requires a rewatch of the entire series within days of viewing this film in order to fully appreciate it. But that's what DVD boxed sets are for. What I may have missed in trying to remember the number of Horcruxes and various names thrown about was quickly forgotten in the greater excitement of the story.

Visually, the Battle of Hogwarts was amazing, carrying greater impact given its been the setting for all these movies. To see it brought to ruin was as powerful as watching any character die.

It's sad to see the end of the franchise, but few series have been allowed to complete themselves in such a full and indulgent way, with the added benefit of the pivotal roles remaining unchanged. It's hard to imagine the levity and innocence of the early movies when compared to the gradual, organic way each film carried the series further towards the darkness and adulthood. I walked away quite pleased with the resolution and not at all disappointed. This franchise has taken up a good part of my movie going life, but I'm very happy to see it completed so well. 

Review: True Blood "I'm Alive and On Fire"

Non Spoiler Review:

This week saw a lot of shirtless running around with Sookie tagging along uttering one-liners. Eric suffers the after effects of his fairy blood bender, prompting Sookie to do a lot more lying for him and calling in Alcide to help. Bill's relationship with Portia takes an odd twist. Tommy goes home to visit his mother. Sam pursues Luna but gets more than he bargained for. Lafayette, Tara and Jesus race to get a solution to the vampire/witch feud. And then there are the hillbilly werepanthers (sigh).

There's nothing really new to say that I haven't said last week—the witch storyline rocks. The werepanthers suck. But at least here that little bit gets some movement at last. Most important, Alcide is thrown back into the mix.

There was a sense a lot of pieces were being set up for big developments—Tommy, Sam, Marnie, Debbie, and so on. But the episode struck a good mix of action, intrigue and a lot of funny bits. The season so far is showing it's as good as ever.

Spoilers Now!

Sookie tries to get Eric back into the house, but he's tripping on a fairy blood bender and runs off at super speed.

Bill goes to Fangtasia to find out where Eric is, but Pam assures him she isn't lying (and all his subjects are aware how ruthless he is). In fact, she thought he sent Eric to the witches to kill him. Before leaving, Bill demands she let him know the moment she finds out anything. She comments that he likes the feel of the crown.

Jason is enduring sex with all the werepanther women. He manages to reason with one of the younger girls to cut him loose, then escapes. Filton finds out and heads off in a rage. Jason leaves his shirt to divert them from his scent, then hides in a tree where he proceeds to whittle a spear—all while delirious. When Filton-panther shows up, Jason somehow manages to impale him. Crystal arrives, happy that Filton is dead and she's the head of the pack now. But Jason has had more than enough of her and warns her off or he'll kill her. For a moment, it looks like we just might be rid of Crystal, too, but he runs off. She shouts that she'll be waiting for him at the full moon.

Bill gets raked over the coals by Nan for sending Eric after wiccans. He makes mention of a Spanish witch that caused them problems four hundred years before, and knows they can be dangerous. But Nan isn't convinced. They don't make necromancers like they used to, and suggests he's being paranoid. She wants him to clean it up, but no dead humans!

Marnie has a vision of a woman burned as a witch (in Spain?) much to the glee of the priests watching her. The woman chants something to her and Marnie awakes. Jesus, Tara and Lafayette come to see her to warn her about Eric again. It wasn't her spell, she says. She makes an attempt to summon the spirit responsible, but fails.

Alcide comes to see Sookie after she asks for his help in finding Eric. He changes to a wolf to catch his scent. They find him in the swamp swimming, given he can walk in the daylight with Claudine's blood. He's about to fight Alcide when the effect wears off and he begins to burn, so Sookie wraps him up and gets him back home. Alcide thinks it's crazy keeping Eric in her house, but she fires back it's no different than trusting Debbie. But they assure one another they're still friends and he leaves her with him. 

Maxine tears a strip off Sam because Tommy hasn't come home. Tommy's actually gone to see his mother after she called him to let him know she left Joe Lee. He brings her up to speed on Sam shooting him and is happy that she's finally rid of her husband. She's pretty impressed he's learned to read. Tommy's mother confesses Joe Lee threw her back in the ring and nearly died. That's when he appears and ropes Tommy with a chain. It was all a ruse to get him back into the dog fights.

Meanwhile, Sam goes to see Luna, but she's not very happy he didn't call first before coming. She has a kid, so invites him in. Later, she confesses she has to be careful, as her ex is a werewolf who is a bit of a bad ass. He still watches her and is very jealous. But Sam is a hit with her daughter.

Portia invites Bill to meet her grandmother, Caroline. That was his wife's name, Bill says. Andy is there, as he's her grandson too, but gets antsy and takes off after awhile. Caroline thinks he's drinking again. While they look through the family bible, Bill comes across the name Elizabeth Harris, which freaks out Caroline and she has to retire after asking Bill to keep the secret. Bill leaves, telling Portia they can't see one another any more. She won't let the matter drop, so he reveals Elizabeth Harris was the daughter of Sarah Compton, his daughter. So Portia is his great-great-great granddaughter.

After an evening trying to find the correct spell, Marnie's about to give up when one book falls off the shelf. It opens to a page showing how to cure one who's suffered a spell of forgetting. 

Alcide comes home to Debbie, but she can smell that he shifted. He confesses Sookie called for his help. Debbie's pleased that he told her the truth.

Terry is looking after Mike while the rest of the family sleeps. When he leaves to get clothes out of the dryer, the kid apparently has written baby not yours on the wall in marker. 

Eric is depressed about seeing the sun, and asks Sookie for a kiss. But they're interrupted when someone comes to the door. It's Bill. He and Sookie talk on the porch, and she lies (again) about not knowing Eric's whereabouts, explaining he said she could stay in the house before leaving. Bill says they've searched everywhere, and her house is the last of his property they haven't searched. She forbids him, but Bill is insistent. So she steps in front of him and demands to know why he doesn't trust her given she's never lied to him. He admits she's right, so says goodnight. 

Jason is stumbling along the road and passes out. Jessica and Hoyt drive by just in time, and she gives him her blood to heal him. 

Pam oversees Marnie's ritual in the woods, while Tara keeps a gun trained on her. Marnie performs the spell, but Pam continues to interrupt and make threats. That brings the spirit back into Marnie, and another round of Latin that makes Pam's face begin to rot. She flees in terror. Marnie collapses.

The Verdict:
I liked. Though I've had my fill of Jason stumbling through the woods with panthers in hot pursuit, yet still managing to take some time to whittle a stake, leap from a tree, and make short work of Filton. I really wished he'd followed through and killed Crystal, too. The Jason rape scenes were just too much, even for True Blood. This is one storyline they could have dropped.

At least Jessica and Hoyt are there to save the day, though I'm unsure what the angelic Jessica look was meant to imply. Is Jason now going to be drawn to her by blood? Jason's bloodline also needs to be addressed—is he part fairy? Will that have any affect on the panther curse?

Eric and Alcide's verbal sparring match and near fight made the episode, and Sookie's casual manner of going along with the absurdity of it all. But all funny bits aside, she has really crossed the line now that she's overtly lied to Bill for Eric. That's pretty much everyone she knows now. There better start to be some repercussions for all this deception on her part.

I'm not sure where Bill and Portia's storyline is going, but it was all a matter of time before the Compton family got dug up again. But he continues to rock as king—absolutely the best thing that could have happened to his character. Now, it would be really cool to see him and Pam hook up, because she's just as awesome right now, but I'm sure there's no chance of that happening.

Tara, Lafayette and Jesus make a great team, too. She's another character that's been successfully resurrected. They've managed to pull off the magic angle with the witches so much better than they did the fairies. I'm happy they've dropped that bit for the moment.