wha happon?

Captain America

* 1/2

I love superhero movies. And I love bad movies. And I love when the two cross over. Opinions are my own, but for every good superhero movie, there is one bad one. For every Batman Begins there is a Batman and Robin; for every Spiderman 2 there is a Spiderman 3; for every Hellboy there is a Hulk.

There have been some notorious names associated with awful superhero movies over the years: Roger Corman, Dolph Lundgren, George Clooney, Joel Schumacher. But never before, with the blessing of Marvel, has such a cast of nobodies brought such a beloved comic book character to the screen. And the funniest thing about it, is that there are quality actors in this movie (Ronnie Cox, Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin) but none of them carry one of the major roles in the film. Instead, the title character is played by Matt Salinger, son of author JD Salinger. After watching this movie, its no wonder the author is in hiding.

This movie has all the properties to be a Roger Corman flick, but isn't. Its just plain, downright, all-out, full-bore, awful. Everything is awful about it. Quality actors underused; Captain America having NO muscle content whatsoever; Captain America's costume hanging raggedly from Salinger's body like a dress; the shield looking like a frisbee most of the time; Red Skull's pulsating face; the fact that Red Skull cut his hand off with a dagger.... everything. Too many things to name.

I remember reading about how Marvel Comics were so underwhelmed during the making of Dolph Lundgren's The Punisher that they pulled their name from it, which is why the main character doesn't sport the trademark skull t-shirt. I don't know how they didn't pull out of this one. I can't imagine anyone watching the dailies and going 'This movie is going to KICK. ASS!'

Captain America is a movie of legend. Like Roger Corman's Fantastic Four (get your hands on that gem), this one is hard to come by and pretty much only available as a bootleg. But it's legendary. And its awful. And I loved everything about it.

I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes superhero movies and bad movies.

Three cheers (and one and a half stars) for Captain America. Now, if only we could get the same cast together for a sequel...