Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth

America the Beautiful: One Nation

2020-06-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

Today, we'd like to take a moment to address current events including the Black Lives Matter movement. In this time of great calamity, please keep an open mind and consider the perspectives of others—especially African Americans who need to be heard right now. Be the hero America needs and stand up against racism and for what is right for all people. Thank you.

Rick writes:

The Great American Experiment.

Land of the free. Home of the brave. The Arsenal of Democracy. The Shining City on the Hill. Lady Liberty.

As I write these words, The United States of America is undergoing unprecedented times, from political polarization, pandemic, economic upheaval, and strife in the form of protests against systemic racism.

It is kind of mind numbing.

Yet, America is always lurching in fits and starts into the future. It is my hope that each of us will take stock of our own hearts. Ben and I started writing emails back and forth about adapting Captain America from comics into film. We wrote hundreds of emails which we collected into the Myth Discussion Series. We covered a lot of ground from the founding of the nation, the Spanish Flu of 1918, patriotism, the meaning of freedom and liberty and more.

Captain America was originally created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and published months before the attack on Pearl Harbor propelled the U.S. off the sidelines and into WWII. Cap famously punched Hitler on the iconic cover to the first issue. It was both a personal and political statement by the creators who strongly disagreed with isolationist U.S. policy while the fascist Nazi war machine slaughtered innocents in Europe. It was a strong moral response and call to action that struck a chord. I wonder how that Captain America would feel and respond to our current times??

Part of what propelled Cap in the comics was both his sense of right and wrong combined with a need to combat forces opposed to liberty and justice. He was supposed to be a fantasy symbol of masculine, take action American ideals. The obvious gap between the high ideals and messy everyday reality would be the fuel for the character.

Would Cap support Black Lives Matter? Yes. I have no doubt that the creators Simon and Kirby were interested in basic human rights for all - and not just some. It is apparent in their body of work. Kirby, in particular, later went on to co-create a gigantic chunk of the Marvel universe including The Black Panther. He honestly felt that powerful stories could be told using diverse characters because in the end all stories derive from the common human experience.

Writing and drawing fantasy characters with simple ideals is not enough however. While the current flashpoint is police brutality against black Americans, the list of injustices has piled up in all areas of American life including employment, banking, education, health care, property ownership, the entire legal system, and much more for decade after decade and century after century. Society as a whole has been evil in its consistency. Real people, in the real world are being crushed, devalued, and killed because white America has refused to give up its collective racist fears. I think this disconnect would keep Captain America up at night. The promise of America demands that each of us examine our own hearts and minds so that the ugly poison of racism can finally be purged. Do it now. Don't wait.

Black Lives Matter.
Liberty and Justice for all.
Do not look away.

Rick Arthur, artist/writer
Los Angeles
June 15, 2020

Ben writes:

We hold these truths to be self-evident

The way comics pioneer Dwayne McDuffie (1962 – 2011) tells the tale I’ll never forget. He said in an interview that growing up, he didn’t see himself represented in comic books. Black characters for many years, he said, were drawn as subhuman and that modern readers would probably think they were meant to be “gremlins” and not human. (I can confirm this, I had no idea.) He said it wouldn’t be until Black Panther when he saw himself reflected in the media as a hero and was an epiphany for him— something that would eventually lead him to found Milestone Comics as an adult.

Perpetuating stereotypes in media is one-way racism can still exist in our culture. But, media can also be used to combat this by promoting the reality that all people are capable of heroism. Before Dwayne, there was only one color used for all black characters in comics. This may sound like a subtle thing, but perhaps think of the old adage, was it not painting all dark-skinned people with the same brush? Dwayne created a new palette with many shades to reflect the many shades humans have in real life.

Milestone Comics did not set out to make comics without white people either in their books or behind the scenes, but to include all races. They did want to create new black characters for sure, but this was because they were, and still are, underrepresented. Does this remind you of the Black Lives Matter versus All Lives? The premise behind All Lives is that racism no longer exists. This is quantifiably untrue. But, the concept gained popularity in the 1980’s and was promoted by several white supremacists groups and political leaders. The misconception is still propagated today and with fervor using many of the same methods as the Fascism that Cap fought in Nazi Germany, which began as a Nationalist worker’s rights movement.

Dehumanizing people for their religion, their flag, or how they look is the key to creating a wedge in your mind— to create an “other”, a method of oversimplifying a complex people into a homogenous enemy. I’m sure Joe Simon and Jack Kirby saw this and they saw it in this country. Oh yes, Nazi sympathetic groups, calling themselves “pro-American”, existed here in the US and they embraced the anti-other rhetoric and held rallies, wearing Nazi-esce uniforms, and waving Nazi flags next to the Stars and Stripes. (I can easily see two young Jewish men reading about Isadore Greenbaum rushing the stage at one of the largest rallies in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, unable to stand the vile speeches any longer. Could Greenbaum have helped inspire Captain America socking Hitler in the jaw? There is no evidence of this, but I’m betting it was part of the zeitgeist of the time.) I say this not to draw attention away from Black Lives Matter, but to illustrate that even in this country, racism and fascism are not distant threats. Racism has been written into our laws, compromises with the traitorous Confederacy, and is built into our institutions and needs to be rooted out. Cap would do no less.

Dwayne McDuffie died in 2011, but his legacy lives on in two major projects being maintained and being built by his widow, fellow writer Charlotte (Fullerton) McDuffie: The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics, now in its sixth year, and The Dwayne McDuffie Foundation.

The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics (aka "The DMAD") is a prestigious annual award recognizing comic book creators, writers, and artists whose work, like Dwayne’s, promotes diverse human inclusiveness on the page or behind the scenes. https://dwaynemcduffie.com/

The Dwayne McDuffie Foundation is currently raising funds to continue Dwayne's legacy by establishing a non-profit organization to award academic scholarships for diverse students. The fund will also continue to keep Dwayne’s vision alive by managing and maintaining an archival website for research purposes, and applying on behalf of Dwayne’s fans for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. https://www.gofundme.com/f/DwayneMcDuffieFund

I encourage you to support both of these endeavors, to submit works you believe in, support Black Lives Matter, help students, and search out other ways to support and promote inclusiveness. This includes voting in your local primaries and in our national elections in November! Let's end racism for good.

Thank you for reading and please be safe.

Ben Alpi
film director, writer
Los Angeles
June 20, 2020

...You and I, we are pressed into these solitudes
Color and culture, language and race
Just variations on a theme
Islands in a much larger stream

For you and me — Race is not a competition
For you and me — Race is not a definition
For you and me — We agree

Reaching for the alien shore...

"Alien Shore" from Counterparts by RUSH.
Lyrics Neil Peart RIP.

LOGAN - A Special Double Film Review

2017-05-16T10:27:00.002-07:00

They're back on the prowl!

It's another blind double review from Ben and Rick, continuing their tradition of independent reviews and analysis. This time, it's the holophratic Logan.

You know the drill, soldier! Ben will be writing from Los Angeles, California, while Rick will be reporting in from the great state of New Mexico. We have not discussed the film or its production to ensure that our opinions remain our own. As is the intent of the blog, we will analyze the film from the perspectives of admirers of comic books, films, and modern storytelling.

SPOILER ALERT - Please be advised that these reviews contain detailed descriptions of plot, character and dramatic conclusion of the film. - SPOILER ALERT

» Ben's Review
» Rick's Review

Days of Future Future

Review by Ben Alpi

Wow, it’s been a while. I had to dust off the writing desk. A few weeks ago, Rick recommended I go see Logan, the latest outing for the “Wolverine” character and Hugh Jackman, and then we could write another epic double review. He said the film was unique among super hero films, and he wasn’t kidding! I had not planned on going to the theater to see the flick, I must admit that I have actually skipped all the previous Wolverine-titled films as well as X-Men: Apocalypse, but I do love working with Rick and I really like Jackman so, without seeing any of the trailers or any other reviews or spoilers about the film, the wife and I headed off to the theater.

The film, directed by frequent Jackman collaborator James Mangold, began by setting the stage. It seems films today toss you in the middle of the pool of action and expect you to start paddling. Logan does this to a degree by tossing you into a future world where you have to piece together where/when the film is set and how the players got to this point, but does more to inform you than some. In the first scene, Wolverine kills a bunch of guys who try to strip his limo. Yes, Wolverine is an Uber driver. Okay, times are tough. This set the stage as it tells us 'yes, there is swearing and graphic violence.' And that Wolverine is not the fighter he once was. He’s coughing a lot. I figure they must be pulling in adamantium poisoning. Wolvie’s seen better days. Drinking heavily. He wants to buy a boat. Why?

We get the tone of the world through a series of shots of relentless Vegas-style limo-driving. Shallow people, thick traffic, and no respect for a man just trying to make a buck. It’s bad. It’s raining. It’s so bad and rainy, it’s Noir. A noir film is an interesting choice. Such films usually feature an anti-hero so, that makes sense. I could have done with a bit more backstory, I had tried to forget X-Men 3 for instance, but I was buckled in.

After illegally buying prescription drugs, Logan meets a man with a metal arm named Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) who has a business card. All the villains have them these days. Says he knows what Logan is hiding in Mexico. Okay. Logan thinks it’s weird and so do we.

Logan meets Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez) and her daughter (Dafne Keen) who asks him for help. He refuses. This is the first time in the film Logan refuses to help someone. It’s not the last. Gabriela later ‘Uber’s’ Logan and claims that Pierce is after their daughter. Logan still refuses, but helps them anyway. I’m sensing a trend.

We finally (in a good way) learn who or what is in Mexico: Professor Xavier absolutely brilliantly played by Sir Patrick Stewart. Stephen Merchant, always great to see, plays Caliban, one of the few remaining mutants. There are illusions to some sort of catastrophe that befalls mutants. Also, there are implications that Xavier caused some trouble at some point and has to be sedated and kept away from people. When we finally meet Professor X, it’s a scene that is very, very well played by both actors, proving once again how amazing they both are. I felt every point and counter-point as the characters argue about Charles’ situation. As the film progresses, their relationship is one of the most touching that I’ve seen in a long time in the theater. Certainly the highlight of the film.

After a few more border crossings, the mother ends up dead and I suspect the daughter has stowed away in Logan’s limo. And she has. She is the mutant that Charles has been psychically connecting with, similar to how he used to use Cerebro. He says that they have to help her get to Eden, a supposed mutant sanctuary, but Logan refuses.

Metal Arm Guy, A.K.A. Pierce, arrives at the hideout. He’s here for the girl. Logan is tempted to give her up. She fights back though, piercing Pierce with a foot blade, and this is where we find out that she is actually a little Wolverine. As we learn more about her, I started to question how a child could have her bones covered in adamantium given how much and how quickly they grow. It’s a small point but one of those things that tends to bug me. So, like ole Wolvie, she’s the strong, violent type. Also silent.

They knock out Metal Arm Guy and tell Caliban to cover his photo-sensitive skin and dump him in the desert. Wait, what? You kill everyone else who stands in your way, but you don’t kill the guy who poses a clear and present danger? All right, but then you have someone who has no ability to defend himself, especially in the sun, go dump him? That is pretty dumb. And when the inevitable happens and Caliban is captured, I was left thinking that nothing but the plot required that Pierce survive.

An army of soldiery thugs, led by Pierce, descends on the hideout and an impressive, gritty battle ensues. It’s really creative and visceral, showing Mr. Mangold really knows how to do action.

That’s when we get to the ‘on the run’ part of the noir film. It’s actually kind of lovely; Charles, Logan, and the little girl on a road trip. We learn that the little girl is Laura, and Eden is from a comic book. It isn’t real. But Logan doesn’t tell Charles for several scenes, which is a bit odd. Perhaps he wants Laura and Charles to live the dream? Is Wolverine that thoughtful? In Vegas, they stop at a hotel and Charles and Laura share a beautiful scene as they watch the Western film Shane on the TV. As the glowing hero Shane speaks in one room, Logan drinks and coughs in the next. When the bad army finds them though, Charles uses a mind blast ability to hold everyone at bay. It’s a pretty intense and well done sequence with Wolverine swimming through people frozen in place to save Charles and Laura. We also find out what had happened with Charles previously—it was just such a mind blast, though involuntary, that inadvertently killed several people and forced him into exile.

He's not even supposed to be here today. (Clerks image ©Miramax)

Logan vacillates between being the reluctant son of a elderly father and the reluctant hero. It’s indelible throughout the film and gives a lot of reality to a comic book film. It is just so palpable that Logan just doesn’t want to be here today. We see flashes of the hero inside of him, but he always, always backs off to keep to the seemingly easier side of not getting involved. But he consistently gets involved anyway. For a character who at this point has probably lived 100 years, Logan still doesn’t know who he is. He rejects people but also looks for himself in them. That is the tragedy of the character. He wears the mask of a vicious man, but what he really wants is to be free of his demons and be surrounded in friends who love him. He’s also always searched for a woman to love him, flawed as he is. Logan is a very passionate character and that’s at least partly why he always gets himself into trouble. He is certainly ruled by his passions and really needs a support network to keep him on the straight and narrow. So, I can see how the situation of this film could come about. This is pure Logan at his most unhealthy.

Back on the road, we’re introduced to robotic trucks from a big bad corporation. The corporation seems a bit shoehorned in because they’re really only there to supply Laura’s setup. I might have liked it if the story was more about the corp and its bad-for-you manufactured goods. It would have made for a much larger story though which probably wouldn’t have worked in this personal sort of film, however.

We learn that the corp, headed by Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant), has been creating test tube mutants using DNA harvested from powerful mutants years back. This includes Laura who was created using DNA from Wolverine. Mr. Mangold and his Director of Photography John Mathieson, use an effective trick where instead of ‘microfilm’ or incriminating photos, they use video recorded on a smartphone to tell us all about the secret facility and the plight of the children. Tidy, quick, and logical.

The trio escapes to a country home where they are surrounded by a kind, loving family. They have a wonderful time and Charles tells Logan it was the finest evening he has had in years. Then, in the biggest twist of the film, Logan unceremoniously murders Charles. That can’t be Logan! You’re right, it’s not. He’s a clone created by Dr. Rice. The Not-Logan, as real-Logan soon finds, then murders the whole kindly family. Jesus this is dark.

Dr. Rice has arrived and has brought his latest creation, thanks again to Wolvie’s DNA, and the clone is pretty much an uncontrollable animal version of Logan in his prime. Another battle begins, Caliban commits suicide in an attempt to blow up Pierce. Wolverine and Laura, and half-dead dad Will (Eriq La Salle), lay waste to the whole shebang with a huge fight with Not-Logan. Finally winning the day, Logan manages to return to Charles before the professor succumbs to very terrible wounds. In an very touching scene, Charles believes they have made it to the boat and dies in Logan’s arms. Wolvie and Laura drive off with Charles’ body. Wait, what? They drive off? As in leave? As in leave Rice and Metal Arm Guy alive? This is the point of the film when I became very conflicted. On one hand I was hit hard by Charles’ death. The heart wrenching death of Logan’s adopted father, while in his care no less, and his last connection to the life he spent years building out of nothing. On the other hand, there is no way Logan would leave Pierce and Rice alive. I tried to rationalize that perhaps Logan didn’t know or thought the cops were coming… but no. The only reason Pierce and Dr. Rice survived was to serve the plot. (Again.)

Logan buries Charles in another quite touching scene. Logan is at wits end. His rage consumes him. Everyone he knew, everyone he loved, all of his friends, are now dead. He can’t help but blame himself. He’s alone. He wanted to die before. Now he’s certain. And he nearly does. But, in an incredible show of inner strength, Laura pulls him back together. For forever or for one last hurrah? Signs point to the latter. He said he would help her get to Eden. But it’s fake, he tells her. But still, all her friends from the project are going there, too. Indeed, a surprising number, perhaps even all of her friends survive the journey.

They get to Eden and, again, Logan is ‘There you go, have fun. I wasn’t even supposed to be here today.’ But almost dies. The children take them in and nurse Logan back to health. No one points out that any of the children failed to make it. That seems odd in a film of such reality. Also, that would mean the corporation must have concentrated their forces on getting Laura? Ostensibly they were supposed to send guys after all the kids, but we really only learned the whole backstory a few scenes back. And it does seem that they were at least spending the majority of their resources, including Not-Logan, on just her. Rice even came down, taking a personal interest. Why is that? Seems the plot had a hand in that decision, too. I do get the feeling that some rewriting happened, however. Perhaps this whole ending was new (or old)? Was the original ending too dark? Because from this point on the story feels like it’s from a different film. We’ve spent so much time scraping, clawing, bashing, and slashing our way through an ultra dark, ultra real world to get to this point, and suddenly the film becomes somewhat formulaic. The kids idolize Logan and I could see him taking a page from Charles’ book and becoming their teacher; and teach them how to avoid following in his footsteps. But, after everything, EVERYTHING, still he rejects Laura and the kids. His one desire being to be set adrift again. Really? After the life you’ve led, going through this whole film, and the children representing all you have left in this world, you’re just going to give up? I understand that Logan is an anti-hero. Friends of mine when I was young loved how much of a badass he was. They respected his gruff, no-nonsense, fly-in-the-face-of attitude. I liked him a lot too, especially his sense of honor, but they also liked the violent version of him that developed over time and I didn’t. I liked the Chris Claremont version and Claremont wrote some of the toughest, emotional stories ever in comics. But there was always a sense of doing the best you can under the circumstances. And I think the Wolverine character works best as part of a team and with a foil. He always seemed to pick up strays like Shadowcat. Although I was interested in following him in his search for his past, I found his solo stories a bit too dark. So I’m sure that you, dear reader, can understand my reaction to this rather dark film.

Reminds me of a favorite Calvin and Hobbes, click to read it »
(image by Bill Watterson, ©Andrews McMeel Universal)

So, the kids do exactly what they said they’d do and leave Logan behind. He seems surprised, which is odd. By the way, the kids shaving his face was fun, but also added to the sadness. Sort of putting the cherry bomb on the cake of all that Logan has lost since the glory days. And of course the bad guys have found the kids, which we knew would happen, and Logan is compelled to get involved again. He runs headlong into the final battle with the help of a super serum the corp has developed—which we are told a half dozen times how it will wear off and when it is indeed wearing off. The kids, who have been relentlessly trained in combat, run and run and run and don’t use their powers against their oppressors. Finally, with Logan in the fray, they begin to fight back. Pierce is there, Rice is there, Not-Logan is there. Rice is dispatched quickly and easily, as he should have been half an hour ago. Not-Logan is left for Logan as the children gang up on Pierce, their assumed tormentor, to capture and murder him.

Now, the kids in this film deliver some pretty good performances. But, Mr. Mangold doesn’t quite get genuine performances all the time. There are some cheesy bits to Laura’s brooding, but she’s pretty darn good. Although, I was finding myself asking why she was so broody. Logan brooded because he was a man without a past. His only memories were only fragments of being violated by doctors who took advantage of him and his abilities. He belonged nowhere and had animalistic tendencies—all of which pushed him to be Mr. Broodyface. For certain, Laura had cause to be unhappy and angry, but as a youth who never lived outside the lab, she had no context to know how terribly she was treated. Still, she can be a dark child so, no real worries there, I just felt she was trying to mimic Hugh’s Wolverine a bit overmuch. It felt a bit gimmicky. To avoid mimicry, I might have asked Miss Keen to watch lion and other predator documentaries. To study not just the movements of cats, but the reasons behind their body language and the way they live.

Still, she did a really good job. The other kids did not do so well, however. There were some shots of them I didn’t think were genuine, but when they crowded over Pierce as they killed him, I was tossed straight out of the film. They ‘looked scary’ in a goofy kids film sort of way. In other words, they were caught acting in the very serious climax of this very serious film. There is no room for goofiness when committing a murder. The big battle at the end was already feeling trite and even a slight misstep is amplified at this point in a film. In screenwriting, it used to be the middle that was the hardest to figure out. These days, it seems the ending is the hardest as so often now it’s thrown away and the audience is already grabbing their coats before the credits roll. The film industry blames video games and Facebook for slower attendance growth but I think it’s all about how you leave the audience at the end. One mistake can erase a history of success.

So now, we are dragged to the conclusion of the film that we know is coming but don’t want to see. The hero of millions of children young and old killed by a mindless, raging animal skewered on a tree. Without a functioning healing factor, there was no way Wolvie will survive. So, surrounded in children who never got to have a childhood, a mugger runs at us to steal ours. One of the children who helped bury Logan held a large toy figure of the character. Very meta. The children wept, but they didn’t really know Logan. They were completely unable to understand or truly be affected by who it was they were burying. But we know. We are Logan’s lost family and friends. We who cherish him and are left asking “Why?”

And to the gruff tunes of The Man in Black, the lights came up in the theater. No one cheered. No one even spoke. Eventually, the stunned silence was broken but only in short, quiet utterances as people dried their eyes and slowly started to rise. I had not realized that sitting in front of me was a teenage boy and his father. The teen wiped the tears from his cheeks. Poor guy, I thought. It was like they really did kill Wolverine and I felt a pang of anger. How dare they kill this kid’s hero. I at least had the bulwark of years watching and reading about the character to reassure myself that this was only a ‘what if’ story.

As my wife and I walked out the theater I told her I was really touched by Logan and Charles’ relationship. She wasn’t, she said. I said that I felt the filmmakers made exactly the film they wanted to, but it’s isn’t really the kind of film I enjoy watching. I spent the rest of the day in a funk. I was sad, perhaps even in a sort of mourning. A film hasn’t affected me that much in a long while. I also fretted about what Rick would think when he found out I didn’t totally like it! My wife and I spoke off-and-on about the film, the choices made, the plot, and the internal logic, as I tried to fight off the doldrums. So much sorrow. Why would anyone want to watch, let alone make, a nihilistic Wolverine film? What was the moral learned? To reject everyone in need except when the guilt of not helping poses a greater threat? Was it out of love that he helped Charles, or was it because he couldn’t avoid feeling obligated? Was he simply paying a penance or was he actually trying to escape? These are not the qualities of a hero. Selfishness is not what we want to teach our children. The film successfully posits that, left to his own devices, Logan would self destruct. But didn’t we know that? Isn’t that why he’s a compelling character—not because he will self destruct, but because he has the courage to reject that part of himself? This film essentially gives in to the Dark Side. This is why I think the filmmakers were successful, this is the noir film they wanted to make. And to make a film of that genre, there are indeed certain elements one must add—and so they did, in spades. I have to applaud Mangold for an amazing effort, except for the ending. The baddies did get their comeuppance, but do we feel that Logan has really made an impact on his world? I suppose if Sony was interested in creating a whole clone-based X-Men franchise, this would be one way to do it. But, I want to see my heroes on the screen, not imitations of them. I have always felt a little cheated that all the X-Men films have essentially been Wolverine films with my favorite characters Storm and Cyclops completely stereotyped and sidelined. Although, X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of my favorite films of 2014. The chance that First Class director Matthew Vaughn was given to reboot the franchise is one I would have loved to have. But that film lacked a solid emotional backbone and seemed not to understand the plight of mutants—and certainly not X-Men as allegory. Wolverine was recast as Magneto whose powers only worked as the plot dictated. This is a big beef with me. When storytellers establish the magical system of a fantasy world, but change the rules whenever they need to serve their plot. (Why didn’t Obi Wan Force-run and save Qui-Gon?)

Logan was a powerful, gritty film that tried very hard for realism. It mostly succeeded there, but it may have meant more to the initiated and would have benefitted from more explanation in parts. Not everyone knows about adamantium poisoning, for instance, or can recall the previous films when they were alluded to. I don’t know if Pierce was from the comics or not—if he was, perhaps knowing more about him would have made him more than a cardboard villain. Rice was even more two-dimensional except when he appealed to Logan about giving Charles up. That was good and you know Logan was again tempted. With such flimsy antagonists though, I have to wonder if Logan’s Selfish Side was the true villain of the piece. There were some logic issues, as I mentioned, and I do have to wonder if they could have chartered a plane and skipped the road trip (the cost wouldn’t have dented the boat money) but, that’s not noir. Speaking of, I’m fairly sure the makers are the first to make a contemporary noir super hero film.

I’m not sure I would recommend this film unless I put it in the context of “It’s a what-if.” But even then, it is a tough movie to watch. Perhaps not as tough as The Road, but I don’t think I’ll see either film a second time. Great action, amazing performances, but so much sadness, murder, and violence. I think this is a time we need to look up instead of down. I’m done with having to take a dose of guilt and pessimism with my heroes. In Captain America: Civil War, the heroes were made to pay for damages they didn’t incur. Why? Because the socio-political climate of our times says we shouldn’t look up to people who are trying to use their extraordinary powers and intellect to help people? I think showing the pitfalls, like the creation of Ultron in Avengers 2, is totally valid, but at least use logic to make it make sense. Make it reflect our own society and show us how such injustices might be rectified—or simply that trying to rectify injustice is worthwhile. Perhaps the anti-hero parts of characters like Ironman and Wolverine are tantalizing to all our vengeful sides, but if they don’t force themselves to reject their dark sides, then they are villains. Superman and Captain America are the opposite of these characters and for it, they’re called boring. Are they, though? Or is it that these naysayers themselves are simply unable to imagine exciting stories with these characters? Millions of people around the globe watch It’s a Wonderful Life every year. Why? George Bailey is Superman, he is Cap. People watch it every year because it is a vindicating story that shows how a man can stand up to indifference and malice in his own community and do what he can for the greater good of all people. Is he, or any of these characters perfect though? Of course not, George has very serious doubts and he regrets not being able to leave town or fight in the war, and that makes him human. I don’t think it’s the super powers that make any comic book hero great, it’s the connection I can make with his or her humanity. X-Men are outcasts who go through a life-altering change at adolescence which speaks directly to any young person and that never really came out in the films. It’s not just about mighty mutants duking it out, it’s about people similar in their differences banding together for a cause greater than themselves. To help humanity, not just battle Magneto. That’s an incredibly powerful story and one reason why the comic book has survived and thrived.

It has become my mission to direct feature films that bring back a sense of optimism. I don’t mean unrealistic cheese ball films, I mean stories that accept that we’re imperfect and don’t dwell completely on that imperfection. That shows we can still do good in a world that constantly tries to tell us we can’t and why we shouldn’t. Wolverine is not dead. The fate we have seen in this vision of the future is not set. We can change these events and with this knowledge Logan can unlock this chain of events and avoid this bleak and terrible end. If we have the will to make it so.

I’d like to thank Rick once more for inviting me to team up with him for another titanic review. Thank you for reading and let us know what you think in the comments! As always, stay safe out there.

Ben Alpi
Los Angeles, California
USA

Litigating the Logan Act

Review by Rick Arthur

It slices. It dices. It juliennes. Order now and you will get a second one for free! It is three AM in America and the combination of alcohol and tiredness are making this offer seem really appealing. Operators are standing by. The tenor is exciting. We collectively reach for our credit cards and dizzily punch in the numbers on our phones.

I did not fall in love with Wolverine right away. I was introduced to him in what seemed the endless summer days of my youth through the magic of Hulk comic books. I just loved Hulk at that time and I think Herb Trimpe was the main artist. The particular issues with Wolverine were fun but I was much more fascinated by the Wendigo character. This was Hulk numbers 180 and 181. It wasn’t until later when Wolverine appeared in a backwater comic called X-Men that I sat up and took notice. I had read and liked some of the earlier X-Men comics but was not overly smitten. I was a kid after all. When I picked up issues 94 and 95, I was excited by how different it felt from the other comics I read. I loved the Russian Colossus character with Thunderbird and Wolverine coming in second and third. The Dave Cockrum art was crisp and solid and I can picture that classic cover with my eyes closed, the characters spilling out of an exploding plane to their comic book melodrama doom. Not a usual introduction. In issue 95, Thunderbird dies. At the time I was confused by this but attracted at the same time. He was one of my favorite new characters. This was really just a clue that the X-Men title was going to be something different, more “real” and that was fine by me. Wolverine stepped out of the rubble to become my favorite character.

Not much later in the comic book series, Cockrum left to be replaced on art by some guy named John Byrne. The art style totally changed as did the pacing of the book. I think the writer, Chris Claremont, was just picking up steam. The “All-New, All Different” X-Men was propelled by some of the greatest storytelling to appear in serial comics. Wolverine was decidedly different than all the rest of the team and took a huge step forward in my imagination. He was feisty, a bad ass before that became the accepted norm for all comic book heroes. I think most importantly there was a mix of violence and mystery about the character that grabbed my attention. Claremont also did something clever that helped a lot of people identify with that X-Man. Wolverine had trouble communicating his feelings and was a bit socially awkward in that regard, more than mildly passive/aggressive. This was a perfect way to tell stories to budding teens who struggled with the awkwardness of growing up. The hook was in my young mouth and I bit. I would follow Wolverine for many years after this under the collaboration of countless writers and artists. The character never strayed too far off my emotional radar.

Flash forward to the X-Men films. I was like a lot of fans who were skeptical that one of their favorite comics could be adapted successfully to the big screen. Marvel had not had a lot of success up until this point in the cinematic universe. I didn’t love the movies but they had charm and much of that was provided by the Wolverine character brought to life by Hugh Jackman. The Australian actor made the role his own through a long series of appearances as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise. He got some of the movies’ best lines of dialogue and most intense action sequences. Multitudes became converts to Wolverine by seeing him on the screen. He lived, breathed, and clawed his way into our collective movie-going conscience. Jackman is a pretty talented guy and I loved him in the film adaptation of Les Miserables opposite Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe. I hope he will continue to entertain with less stunt-filled roles after his superhero gig is finally finished although I can’t picture him not doing cameos of one sort or another.

I want to divide my review of the film, Logan into two (or more) parts. One part will be about discussing the plot, characters, effects, and overall story. The other part will be in poking into some of the themes and ideas in the film. There are a lot of potential threads to pull on and I am sure I will only be as comprehensive as my time allows. I feel my purpose here is to put a certain end cap on my personal relationship with the character, one I have grown up with who deserves my consideration. The Logan film is perfect for the continuing discussions my friend filmmaker Ben Alpi and I have about modern myth making. If you have read this far and don’t realize that this review will be full to brimming over with spoilers, excuse yourself now. For the rest of you, pop some popcorn and grab a frosty beverage and settle in. We are going to the movies.

I am going to start my review of the movie, Logan, with a quick look into the violence portrayed onscreen and the difference between showing and implying violence. This film is rated “R” presumably for violence although we get a gratuitous flash of flesh from a member of a wedding party. A lot has already been written about the fact that this particular film has an “R” rating compared to all the other movies in the franchise. Yes, of course, now the filmmakers can fill the screen with the kind of over-the-top hyper-killing and blood spatter that have been commonplace in other genres for a long time. Wolverine can now be depicted for “real,” for what he would really be like in all his gory, visceral detail. There are three distinct reactions I have to this. First, to most film fans, the level of violence in Logan is not new at all. This depiction of Wolverine does not raise any kind of bar as far as being horrific, impactful, emotional, and it certainly doesn’t bathe the audience in blood like The Shining, Carrie, Hellraiser or 300. The Christian Bale serial killer flick, American Psycho uses more gallons of blood.

Under the direction of James Mangold, Logan hovers somewhere on the violence depiction spectrum slightly above what we are used to with the onscreen Wolverine character and far, far below the stylized graphic violence of modern horror films. No lines were really crossed. Nothing new was really shown or added. No boundaries were redrawn. A thoughtful examination will tell you what you already know. This violence was not in service of the character or the story. Showing “more” added absolutely nothing to the emotional content of this film. Nothing. Let that sink in for a minute. During the entire run of films with Wolverine, we are told and it is suggested how out of control, violent and berserk this character is as a part of his identity. Graphic depictions of beheadings and real time amputations seem more than a bit tame as presented here. They do not shock in the slightest since all previous efforts took great pains to imply the goriness which in Logan are actually shown. Since all the characters are grim, stoic, and half robotic to start with, there is little or no emotional value expressed and the result is no context for the violence.

One of the scariest things I ever saw on film occurred in the Jeff Goldblum film, The Fly. The horrific consequences of a man having fly digestive acid dissolve his arm was harrowing to watch. The camera does not pull away. A friend commented to me about Logan by describing the violence in a sort of shorthand that is all too common. “That’s what I would have done.” Yet, violence is generally without reason, an instinctual rather than reasoned response. There is no thinking taking place, only action/reaction. You honestly won’t know what you will do in a violent situation until you are in it. Past is also not necessarily prologue. One of the important things soldiers are conditioned for when training for war is how to dehumanize there feelings toward the violence they will encounter in combat. You don’t want people to freeze on the battlefield. You want programmable assets.

Talk soon revolved around a single particular scene in the film. Professor Xavier has slowed down every human being in the radius of a casino hotel. Wolverine, pushing with great force against invisible energy, inches toward an armed bad guy who has just enough time to notice Logan out of the corner of his eye. That feeling of being trapped, seeing danger coming, and knowing you will die but being unable to avoid it is a powerful producer of fear. It is like having full awareness as you smash through the windshield of your crashing car.

Much of the physical action in Logan involves the title character cutting, slicing, dicing, puncturing, lopping off, disemboweling, or beheading his enemies. We are lead to believe that this is the result of something called a berserker rage, an overpowering aggression that consumes all rational thought. It is meant as a state that represents man’s banal, murderous impulses run amuck. I would think of it as the ultimate in loss of temperament, a purely chemically fueled orgasm of rage which would blot out anything rational. I suppose that it might be like describing and in a sense condoning psychotic breaks so severe that people died horribly because of them. Let the smoke clear. Warriors would transform themselves into an instinctive state that allowed them to kill in battle both passionately and dispassionately. Other than Norse or Germanic mythology, I am pretty sure this has never been a heroic virtue.

Logan is described often in the comics as possessing this “animal” trait. In the comics, he is depicted as entering this wild, uncontrollable state and not being able to return to normalcy until his thirst for violence was abated. It was suggested that friend and foe alike would tremble in the presence of the Wolverine in a berserker rage. John Byrne often drew the character as a dervish of unleashed killer instincts capable of great destruction and coming out of battles sweaty, spent, and dazed, looking more than a bit drugged. I am somewhat reminded of Mel Gibson’s overwrought character Riggs embodied by manic, violent outbursts then transforming back into his dispassionate self when the action was done. Jekyll and Hyde. Hulk and Banner.

For the film Logan, I wonder about this depiction of the Wolverine character. Sure, he has endured a lot and acts broken and wizened but it appears as though only injections can return him to his frenzied fighting form. Otherwise, his character is shown to be as rational and in control as you could want, though in the same breath depressed, decaying, and conflicted. He even takes on the role of caretaker to Charles Xavier and the man-made mutant named Laura. Logan yearns for isolation from his horrific memories. Perhaps a boat out on the ocean away from every living being except Xavier whom he keeps alive will sooth his anguished soul? The death of Xavier severs Logan’s link to the past and the girl Laura remains Logan’s only link to the future. She is like the open door at the end of a long, dark hallway offering a glint of hope. I am reminded of two scenes in film that use the same device. One scene is from The Professional where the character Leon comes preciously close to fighting off an entire SWAT team and escaping into the sunlight through an unguarded back exit. For a second, there is hope. Secondly, it is the paranoid thriller The Parallax View starring Warren Beatty which finds his reporter character maneuvered into an assassination plot where he becomes the scapegoat. There is only that open door leading to the sunny, normal outside world which causes him to run. In both The Professional and The Parallax View, the main characters are manipulated into making a fatal choice.

Hugh Jackman takes his final solo X-Men turn as the title character in a much more complex performance than the grunting and smirking that has been previously required. The script suggests a great deal more deliberation and visceral acting from him. What is suggested onscreen is a sad tale of an invincible warrior whom carries the ghosts from his tortured life with him. This is the end. His character is desperate to have his pain expiated and Logan is at the weakest and most vulnerable in his long life. Logan is beset by crippling “post traumatic-style” emotional conflict which is killing him. His legendary healing factor is sputtering. Wounds won’t heal. Claws won’t extend. He carries scars as hideous reminders of his physical and mental battles. He longs for release but clings to the Professor as a drowning man in the ocean to a raft.

Does he have any more fight left in him? We get real hints of darkness. Is he having suicidal thoughts? Uncontrollable nightmares? Does Logan keep a dying demented Xavier alive simply to access his own memories and take his pain away? When he meets Laura, the relationship becomes a little like that of Brad Pitt’s Louie to Kirsten Dunst’s Claudia, the child vampire. The director and screen writers would love to have the audience view this film as an updated, mutant spaghetti western. There are great pains made to insert Alan Ladd and the movie Shane as well as accepted gunfighter motifs like the deserted town and the lonely train tracks out in the middle of nowhere. Snippets of dialogue echo classic films. The cinema violence in Logan reminds me briefly of samurai films, the beheadings of Highlander, or Clint Eastwood taking a near-death beating only to come back for vengeance. Yet, at this distant point, what is Wolverine fighting for? What does he believe? What motivates him to continue to roll out of bed, his super mutant abilities betraying him in an orgy of rotting flesh, unable to heal? Why does he live?

In mythology, Sisyphus is condemned by the gods to labor at the rewardless task of repeatedly pushing a large rock up a mountain and having it roll back down once reaching the summit. Wolverine is similarly burdened but his rock are his sins, his guilt, his regret, his memory, his anguish and his pain of loss. An invincible, immortal being must be broken, humbled, and made mortal. His flesh must rot and time must be his constant enemy. The body must become weak in order to make way for the renewal of the spirit. This is an old idea which was popularized by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. The struggle for Logan’s redemption is indeed a hero’s struggle. The endless acts of evil he has done in an eternal life has both withered and twisted his spirit. The blackness has touched every part of him, corrupted everything noble about him and burned everyone he has ever touched or loved. Wolverine can no more run and hide from his past than he can escape his indestructible adamantium bones or his regenerative, animal flesh. It is a nightmare, a curse, a warrior forever trapped in the post traumatic stress of his countless violent deeds. He carries with him a single adamantium bullet. For what dark purpose does he hide it away? For what future, desperate moment?

In a previous film, Wolverine kills the Deadpool character by cutting off his head. Those laser eyes cut a death spiral path down the inside of a collapsing nuclear cooling tower. It is as though Wolverine had triumphed over the snake-haired Medusa. A single adamantium bullet to the head wipes out his memories even as he emerges victorious in battle against a bogey man foe swiped from Logan’s id, an amalgamation embodying the sum of his relationships grafted into a super-powered Frankenstein’s monster called Deadpool. That bullet to the head is the adamanitum gift of release, the gift of peace of mind, the chance for a rebirth of his spirit but it carries with it a most terrible price.

Logan’s brain heals his past. There is no hope for wisdom. No lesson is learned. The rock has rolled to the bottom of the mountain again without victory or achievement. It is a cruel reset of his emotional condition and he will be tricked again into an endless cycle of loving and losing of pain and suffering. In this current film, as he contemplates this kept bullet and its final meaning, can he know what it will bring? Has Xavier fished this information from Logan’s mutant brain like a hacker recovering files from a broken hard drive? If Logan is aware of his past, does he understand what resetting will mean? Also shown in a previous film, Xavier is morally unable to shoot Magneto in the head despite the pleading that Magneto can tests his power this way. It is a thinly veiled death wish by Magneto. Xavier won’t grant it. Would he, in turn, grant it for Logan? Assisted suicide and mercy killing, putting an animal out of its misery would reduce Xavier to a complex moral quandary.

Why does Logan drive a limo? This is one of those things that doesn’t make too much sense in terms of the world in which the characters find themselves. In order to hide out from a military/industrial/medical complex that wants to hunt you down, you don’t get a driver’s license or limo medallion. You don’t pass through checkpoints so often that guards know you by sight. You don’t go anywhere that might put you in contact with cameras, sensors, scanners, police or government types. Wolverine is especially suited for survival in harsh environments, even if dragging Xavier around is not. What about stashing away in the Yukon or any mountain or forest on the continent. Sure, maybe this “risk” of hiding in plain sight is justified by the need for special medication for Xavier. This too is flimsy. Wouldn’t it be easier and safer for Wolverine to slash and grab an army duffle full of the medication from a supposedly secure source? Or get a Walter White character to rove around the desert and cook some up in a lab? Not sure how wearing a shirt and sport coat fits into the “wild man as hiding animal” motif. I do like the obvious comparison to the limo driving in the film Strange Days with Angela Basset behind the wheel however.

Obviously, using the mutant Laura to advance this story is a deliberate choice. The child must be innocent, born in violence, and not given a choice in becoming a weapon. Wolverine must find a commonality with the girl. The fact she is almost a direct reflection of Logan in powers, temperament and adamantium is not unnoticed. Gee, could she represent his past and future at the same time? Not too subtle at all. Actress Dafne Keen play the child mutant Laura. While she does not have too much to do in the script except snarl and cry, Dafne does a great job as the first new mutant born in the past twenty-five years. I am a little perplexed by her powers however. She has healing abilities and animal instincts. Why did the bad guys graft adamantium onto her too? She is so young, her bones are going to be growing for almost another whole decade. Isn’t that going to screw up the adamantium which will be bonded to her? Her scenes with Hugh Jackman remind me a bit of Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neil in Paper Moon. The first child born after a drought of births reminds me of Children of Men. As Laura rocks on the toy horse outside the store, I am reminded of Jennifer Connelly in a movie called Career Opportunities. Mangold seems to lift, nudge or wink at a variety of films and genres if only by association.

The issue of what exactly adamantium can do in this film is cause for a raised eyebrow. Logan is suffused with it over his bones and claws. It is suggested that the adamantium is causing an allergic reaction with Logan’s super immune system which is weakening him, making him vulnerable. So, even somehow degraded, adamantium is the strongest metal known to man. If you had this rare metal and it was in the shape of a knife, it would cut through anything, steel, stone, flesh, and bone. Cutting through any solid object would be equivalent to swinging your arms through the air. There would be no resistance, no hesitation, no getting stuck. Only contacting other adamnatium could stop it. Like cutting through butter with a hot knife. Extended claws could never cut halfway, pick someone up off the ground or in any way show resistance. In the last few scenes of the film, Logan is thrown onto a sharp tree stump which impales him. This is a vampire’s death for sure. Naturally this could never happen. The wood is far less strong than the metal and could never pierce Logan.

I might have liked to see the Logan clone be an inexact copy, one that was more animal with bushy eyebrows and sharp teeth, perhaps even animal eyes. It is weird to see because we are told that the clone is stronger and faster and more primal than Logan. There does not seem to be any indication that the clone experiences the berserker rage. He wades pretty dispassionately toward Logan and actually fights in a fairly straight forward fashion, going toe to toe. This could have been a great opportunity to show Logan utilizing his experience rather than raw fighting skill to essentially defeat himself. Alas, I don’t feel the clone idea was thought through too well and is a low point in the film. Wasn’t this supposed to be a mutant western after all? In the hands of the choreography team that produced the stunning fights between Captain America and Winter Soldier for example, this might have been the hottest ticket in town. The action looks and feels a bit flat by today’s standards which is a shame because the filmmakers went to the trouble of getting an R rating and writing more adult versions of the characters.

No review of the X-Men/Wolverine movies would be complete without mentioning alcohol. I know this is an R rating but the use of alcohol in this film is meant to directly suggest machismo and drinking in order to drown depression and anxiety. Super poor presentation. We have had binge drinking, revenge drinking, male bonding drinking games in Thor and now flat out using alcohol as a crutch for emotional problems. I can not say that alcohol has been used very responsibly or casually in these films. These characters are bad boy role models for young adults and adults who haven’t grown up. Perhaps that is the point. Wolverine is immature and impulsive when it comes to dealing with his emotions. You would almost guess the opposite. After fighting animal rage for decades, he might actually have learned to control himself if only by default.

Logan has something important to say in this film. Don’t become what they made you. It is an odd summation. Don’t be an animal? Don’t be a killer? While he is directing this to Laura as dying words of wisdom, this is actually a total summary of Wolverine’s pained existence. Yet, all he can blurt out is don’t be what they made you. Maybe a better sentiment would be, it is okay to trust, okay to love, okay to lose and rise again (like a phoenix). For all of Jackman’s theatre chops, this ending didn’t do much for me. Fizzle not bang. What about the anguish he has held onto during the entire film? The loss? His dead memories of dead teammates and loves? Not a mention, a hint or a wink. So, again a wasted opportunity.

I would like to close this review by remarking how well Hugh Jackman was able to embody this character as written for film. He got a lot of funny lines along the way, more than his share of intense action, and a little bit of drama. Jackman was able, over a long period of time, to create a character which propelled audiences through his movies. It was no small feat considering how high the expectations were for the Wolverine character. Jackman injected a lot of human emotion and empathy into his portrayal which in turn allowed him to connect with viewers. Anyone else trying to wield the claws in subsequent films will have a high bar. I feel just a bit sad writing these words. Wolverine has been in my life since I started reading comics and has been a favorite. While this definitely does not mark the end of the character, it does feel like a good place to book mark him and let others pick up where I leave off in my affection. In my memory, Wolverine will always be that Claremont/Byrne bad ass, stone cold killer rising up out of the murky sewer water to challenge the Hellfire Club. Is that the best you can do, bub? Jackman sets the standard on film. You know what comes next.

Thank you,
Rick Arthur
Central New Mexico
USA

Captain America: Civil War - Special Double Movie Review

2016-05-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

The tradition continues!

Rick and Ben are back with independent reviews and analysis of Captain America: Civil War in another double blind, double shot!

You know the drill, soldier! Ben will be writing from Los Angeles, California, while Rick will be reporting in from the great state of New Mexico. We have not discussed the film or its production to ensure that our opinions remain our own. As is the intent of the blog, we will analyze the film from the perspectives of admirers of the works and the character of Captain America and about modern storytelling.

SPOILER ALERT - Please be advised that these reviews contain detailed descriptions of plot, character and dramatic conclusion of the film. - SPOILER ALERT

» Rick's Review
» Ben's Review

Civil War Heroes

review by Rick Arthur

This film was designed to be a blockbuster crowd pleaser, another in a growing line of movies made by Marvel Studios to support something called a “shared universe.” In this election year, there is no doubt that opening weekend crowds voted with their wallets and made a beeline toward theatres to watch the match-up of Team Cap versus Team Iron Man. This is a reminder that this review was done “blind.” I have no idea at all what Ben has written. I saw this film on opening weekend in regular format. I did not want this space to become a debate hall for 3D, IMAX, drive-in, etc. I encourage readers of this blog to post comments about points brought up in the reviews, the Marvel Cap movies, or Cap in the comics. Ben and I will both respond as time allows. Spoilers? Relax. This is ALL spoilers as it is a frank discussion of the ideas presented in the film and comics.

My overall opinion is very favorable and I give Captain America: Civil War forty-one stars out of fifty for being fun, fast paced, and packed with action. The stunt and fight coordinators really earned their keep creating sharp, interesting set pieces which are impressive in this film and also in Captain America: Winter Soldier. When I was a kid, Marvel comic characters were always sporadically appearing. The Hulk TV show was a favorite with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. We went around the house ripping our shirts off in slow motion and giving the Hulk growl. Barely animated FF and Spidey cartoons and not too much else. The Spidey theme song is unforgettable. I always longed for the day when comic books could be brought to the big screen. Fast-forward a few decades. Now, comic characters, particularly Marvel characters are everywhere. Special effects and camera work have caught up to our heroes allowing them to fly, jump, kick, punch, lift, throw, and spout cheesy dialogue just like in the comic books. These colorful characters have been turned into super big budget opening weekend popcorn movies with lots of action, thrills, and little plot. Captain America: Civil War is the kind of movie that would have absolutely wowed me as a ten-year old kid.

The story behind Civil War is simple. Set a situation up (some multi-nation accord) that makes heroes register with a United Nations oversight committee. This is an echo of the Mutant Registration Act from the X-Men movies. Iron Man says yes. Cap says no. Heroes take sides. There is your Civil War, the conflict that is supposed to drive the plot of the movie. Weighing in at two hours and twenty-six minutes, the filmmakers have plenty of time to tell any kind of story they choose. What needs to be remembered is that this is the third in the Captain America series of films. Astute blog readers will notice the review I gave Captain America: Winter Soldier and I am afraid that Marvel’s misuse of Cap as a character in his own movies is systemic. I want to note that I spoke with several moviegoers who thought this was an Avengers movie the same way that Winter Soldier was confused for a SHIELD movie. Cap does not carry his own film and is in effect a supporting character. Moviegoers, particular those just going to the theatre to get entertained have been easily misled into thinking this was another Avengers outing. They don’t understand or care about the character’s alliances in either the comics or other films.

The action sequences in Captain America: Civil War are crisp, fun, and feel new. I have broken the action down into a few categories: Car/motorcycle; Guns; Hand to hand combat; and Iron Man. The fight sequences are choppy, fast, and have thunderous impact. It gives a sense of speed, weight, and gravity to the undertakings. Serious fights make the audience want to root for the hero. There is a sense of consequence, of things changing which is a result of masterful fights. It feels like a comic book come to life. This action film more than succeeds and viewers should be thrilled to the edge of their seats.

While I won’t talk about the Zemo mess, as the third in the Cap series some emotional beats got the slightest of mentions. The death of Peggy Carter, Cap’s love from WWII, is poorly handled. First time moviegoers have no idea what is going on or why they should care. The same can be said of the Sharon Carter/Cap kiss. What was that all about? There is zero impact to what should have been emotional moments in the script. There are other misfires as well. At the end of the film, the Winter Soldier problem is laid to rest. Cap and Bucky/Winter Soldier talk about the old days in Brooklyn in what should have been a very satisfying emotional payoff. However, we only see the back of the characters and the scene feels eerily like it was added as an afterthought by using extra footage. That conversation and the conclusion of Bucky’s story are handled poorly. Also handled poorly is the end of the Civil War. Cap writes Iron Man a letter, after all the deadly combat, and we get the conclusion read to us as a voice over. There are many instances where this technique could be used effectively but not here. What is Tony Stark’s reaction to Steve Rogers? We will never really know. A more direct approach is required. So, to end the movie Cap uses a voiceover letter and to end the three-movie arc featuring the story of Cap and Bucky we get more warmed over voice work. Sounds like the filmmakers dropped the ball big time.

What are the driving ideas behind the story? Many plot questions are never addressed. Listen closely to how the characters talk to one another. They are all glib, even smarmy. I find it a weakness on the part of the script that all the characters: Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Cap, and Iron Man have similar dialogue, at times interchangeable. There is no individuality except Spider-man. Why isn’t Thor or Hulk present in this film since it is clearly about the Avengers? The answer is weak especially since Hulk is animated. Captain America deals with conspiracies in this film while confronting Iron Man. While the tale of Bucky as the Winter Soldier drove the plot in the second movie, Winter Soldier’s abuse by Hydra competes with storylines involving the Civil War,

Marvel feels the need to roll out more characters from its vast empire. Black Panther has a great role in this film and creates a wonderful trailer for his stand-alone adventure. Spider-man has been borrowed from Sony and steals valuable screen time from the main players. Just in case we forgot he has a sequel coming out, Ant-man drops by for a few minutes of screen time too. Without all the cameos could this film be under two hours? While Black Panther was included as part of the story, both Ant-man and Spider-man tag along in order to sell themselves to audiences. This should not be surprising but it is disturbing. More seeds for later include a growing relationship between Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). In the original comic books, they are married pretty early on (1975).

I found a few things in the film Captain America: Civil War to be coincidental, not to the degree that there is a conspiracy but just so you scratch your head. Captain America, the comic book character, was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941. The fact that Cap was iconic while at the same time borrowing from other patriotic heroes in the comics near that time, did not take away from the many stunning new innovations Simon and Kirby cooked up. Later, during the revolution in comic books that came in the 60s at Marvel, once again, Jack Kirby had a hand in creating the Avengers. The original line-up was Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man/Goliath, Wasp, and the Hulk. Moving forward to the Civil War movie, Black Panther was also introduced in the film and was co-created by Jack Kirby back in FF#52. The character was the first mainstream black hero in comic books. Does anyone find it coincidental that Black Panther’s father dies at the United Nations by a bomb supposedly set by Winter Soldier? Then Winter Soldier killed Tony Stark’s mother and father? I was afraid they would try to pin Ben Parker’s death on Winter Soldier too.

I should take a minute to refresh your memory as to why Marvel even exist. The company went into a deep and serious bankruptcy under the leadership of corporate raider Ron Perelman (1996). In bankruptcy court for an unprecedented two years, Marvel was on the verge of being totally liquidated unless a plan could be formed to pay off their considerable debts. A last minute gamble to borrow even more money to make movies at Marvel Studios, which up until this time was merely producing films, turned to gold with the release of the Jon Favreau directed Iron Man. Robert Downey, Jr. stunned and charmed audiences with his portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man with a tight little script, an indie cast, and no big names. If Iron Man had failed, the odds for Marvel paying its debts and emerging from bankruptcy court would have been long indeed. That film was not heavily advertised and was not expected to do more than break even.

Captain America is a genuine hero. I feel pretty badly for Cap. Both his sequels barely involved him. The second film was all about SHIELD. The third film was all about the Avengers. I think Marvel missed an excellent opportunity to showcase Captain America. First and foremost, the character has all the virtues of a hero: strength, intelligence, courage, loyalty, honor, and a lot more. As skillfully played by Chris Evans (remember him as Johnny Storm?), Captain America embodies all that is good about American military strength and democracy. He should inspire. He should inspire by example. He should inspire by his words. Speeches from Cap will move men to action or tears. He is a natural leader yet humble. Instead of being picked on for being a fish out of water, Cap would lead…

I suppose that Stark, a control freak in the films, wouldn’t admit to it but he would want to follow Cap too. Instead of throwing mud at a man who fought in WWII and trying to disparage his wholesomeness as out of date in a world of spies and assassins, Stark should simply acknowledge that he wants to be like him but can’t. Captain America acts as a foil for Iron Man in these films but if that is his only role then all the rest of the character is left by the wayside. It might have been nice to see Cap and Iron Man engaged in an escalating battle of wits along with all the fisticuffs. Yet it really would have been great to see Cap do what he does best: be a hero; a legend; a symbol of the American spirit to fight against all odds for that which is right. Yeah, I would have liked to see that. Maybe next time.

Captain America: Civil War. Forty-one stars out of fifty. Strong action sequences. Little plot or characterization. Still fun.

Liberty for all,
Rick Arthur
Central New Mexico
May 9, 2016

The Man Who Planted Trees

review by Ben Alpi

I first have to say that I’m really glad to be back writing alongside Rick again. It’s been a long time and I’m glad we could do this. (Even though I have no idea what he’s writing!) I enjoyed watching Captain America: Civil War, the latest and likely the climax of the Captain America films. Differing from my normal avoidance of all news and trailers about a film I want to go see, I actually did see one trailer of the film last year, their first one, in front of Spectre. And I think it’s interesting. My wife liked that trailer and I actually didn’t. I said it made the film seem small in scope and like it was set in our normal world—not the world of superheroes. Interesting…

Overall, the film had some truly fantastic moments with some solid performances and great action. It was a very fast paced film which was great in some ways, but also meant a lack of depth. Being a Captain America film, I would figure we’d have a solid understanding of what he stands for and his motivations. I’m not certain that we did. I think the directors Anthony and Joe Russo did a great job of juggling such a large array of characters, but where the storytelling was sometimes very clear, at other times the logic and motivations were fuzzy. Although I haven’t read anything about it yet, I’m fairly certain this film was two, or even three, scripts blended together with a very late addition of a certain Web Head. But let’s get into the fray!

"Cry 'Havoc!'..."

The film opens with a solid action scene that establishes the new Avengers team. I really liked the fully formed Falcon although, his programmable drone reminded me of the strange programmable Batarang from Batman Returns. The super-side of Black Widow was on full display and was perhaps the best action sequences of her using her Sting. Wow, Scarlet Witch is far more powerful than she seems in the comics! Cap has some really nice action with some great uses of his shield. As the heroes win the day however, the main bad guy (Crossbones) decides he’s going to blow himself up. That’s not good! But Scarlet Witch is able to contain the blast in the force field and flings it… into a building? This opening scene had a lot of very shaky/too-close camera work which made it a bit hard to follow the action. Perhaps it was that, but even though Scarlet Witch is the newest team member, her mistake felt off. I think if the directors wanted us to feel strangely, that’s great, but the camera shots and Scarlet Witch’s movements didn’t really seem to say she tossed the force field off to the side, instead of straight up as anyone with their feet planted would do. Magic and super powers, even The Force in Star Wars, can be difficult to balance in a story because you don’t want your heroes to be too powerful. So, sometimes they work as well or are as powerful as the storyteller wants. Spider-man’s popularity might be in part because his powers are so well defined and he has a built in foils, one of which being his mechanical web shooters often fail at crucial moments. Scarlet Witch doesn’t know the extent of her powers and I don’t really get any indication that she’s working on that. So, the Avengers have put a ticking time bomb on their squad and she eventually goes off as was to be expected. Seems pretty convenient.

Meanwhile, Iron Man is speaking at MIT and is then stopped short by the encounter with a lady who blames him for her son’s death in Sokovia, the city the Avengers evacuated in Avengers: Age of Ultron. This sets up the assumption that the Avengers are reckless despite showing in that film to what lengths the super team will go to try and keep people from harm; namely the small army of robots Tony sends down to clear the stage for his battle with the Hulk and the massive flying evacuation efforts at Sokovia. (Wait, Iron Man versus Hulk? How much in-fighting do the Avengers have anyhow? A lot. So much in fact, it spills into Cap’s movie.) Still, given Tony co-created Ultron, I could certainly see how Tony would blame himself even though that fact isn’t mentioned in this film. And, the fact that this film is not a sequel to that one, but of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. So, the woman’s blame makes sense but it seems like Tony would have had encounters like this several times throughout the years; especially given he was actually the object of blame in Iron Man 2 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Why is it this time it really shakes him up? Given this is a crossover and not an Avengers sequel, I think if they had mentioned Ultron or established that Tony was already (still) blaming himself, this event would have tipped him over the edge and had much more weight. Perhaps I’m nit-picking here, but this is one of the cornerstones of the film and if the directors leave a portion of it to the assumptions of the audience, it will be at least a bit shaky.

A Tale of Two Movies

The other thing about this second sequence of the film is Iron Man is given something we never really get with Cap, his very own scene which establishes where he is personally/emotionally and what he’s been up to. This scene replays Tony’s last evening with his parents giving us a powerful reminder of what drives him. Also in this one scene, we get to hear him speak about what he holds dear, helping people, the future, invention, and we find out he and Pepper are having relationship troubles again. In a single scene we get a full setup of Tony’s situation and that’s really good filmmaking. And, there are no other major characters featured, it’s fully Tony’s dramatic, dialog-heavy set of scenes. This is what first tipped me off that this film might have started out as two separate scripts. This is a scene from an Iron Man film, not a Captain America film.

In the next scene, the setup of the Sokovia Accords clearly frames the central argument of the film and the cause of the Avenger’s Civil War. I really liked how the directors took the time to establish the debate. I do have to mention though that Secretary of State Ross’ listing off of New York, Sokovia, and Wakanda is terribly laborious given we already are familiar with them. As far as the debate, I felt like Cap and Iron Man had been given each other’s lines. And, actually, Cap is completely right; the Accords are a slippery slope and would only shift the blame. I don’t see how ‘reigning in’ the Avengers, Iron Man’s side of the debate, will solve anything. Even as I turn it over in my mind now, perhaps the Accords would help with PR or politics, but they would do nothing in reality, certainly it wouldn’t do anything to stop other super beings, hero or villain. Although I’ve never read the original Civil War storyline in the comics, I know that it involved the entire Marvel universe and that makes much more sense. When you narrow the focus to just the Avengers, it reduces the scope of the film and the severity of the conflict. Unlike in the early 20th Century Fox X-Men films, I didn’t get the feeling that the media, the governments, and the people were all against the Avengers and certainly, I would think the world’s anger would apply to all super beings, not just the Avengers—and not just Bucky.

Ending the scene, Cap gets a text that someone has passed away. He leaves saying to his team, “I gotta go.” (The leader of the Avengers leaves as if he’s your pal at the college dorms? I know the Avengers are chummy, but Cap has responsibilities and he really should leave like a leader, not a college kid.) Where he goes is to the funeral of British super spy Peggy Carter and the only Cap-centric scene in the film. Instead of a tragic scene of Cap’s last conversation with Peggy, the woman he fell in love with, she had died while he was doing other things. This is a terribly tragic thing and I really felt bad for Cap missing the chance to say goodbye, but his regret is never really addressed. Instead, Cap learns that his hot CIA neighbor, Sharon Carter, is Peggy’s niece. (Hey, isn’t this from the 70’s Cap film?) In her eulogy Sharon quotes Peggy, “Compromise where you can. Where you can’t, don’t… it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree… and say ‘No, YOU move’.” This is taken from a speech by Sam Clemens/Mark Twain and was quoted by Cap in an issue of Amazing Spider-man during the Civil War storyline in the comic books. It’s a very powerful quote but I feel that without context, it alone does not solidify Cap’s resolve to go against the Accords. Certainly, I’m afraid I don’t think he has reason enough to put the beat-down on his friends and fellow soldiers, and certainly not to put their lives at risk. I get the distinct feeling that the writers don’t really know what soldiers are like and they certainly don’t know how the British handle the death of one of their fallen heroes. Dang nab it, I could easily see a scene where in her death bed, Peggy comforts Cap, a mere boy to her years, telling him that she has lived her life and was lucky enough to become old. So many of her comrades and friends were not so lucky. Cap confesses that he wishes that he had the chance to grow old with her. She raises his head by the chin and looks him in the eye. Although there was no way she could have known that this is how their lives would turn out, it’s no excuse for him to not live his life. To not use his gifts. To not stand up for what he believes in. And then she would quote from Churchill, Shakespeare, or Kipling and her extended family would gather around them, and she would say her goodbyes and peacefully pass away. A dignified death for a woman of distinction. Very British.

In the actual film, after the funeral Cap is hanging around in the empty church. I don’t know if he has gone to the burial or if Peggy is to be buried at a later date so, finding Cap simply standing around is a bit jarring. So, why is he there? Is he talking to God? Let’s hear it! Let’s find now what he’s thinking, where he’s at in his life, what he wants the future to hold. By definition, the main character of a film is the character we spend the most time with, it’s the one we get to know the best, we get to see the world the way he or she sees it. But we’re held at arm’s length away from Cap through the entire film. Sharon enters and they talk. Now, I know these two are soldiers and death comes with the territory, but what they don’t talk about is Cap’s regret, perhaps even guilt, about not being there when Peggy passed. I have to say that I think there is another trend in Hollywood, a lack of understanding of emotions. This is an obvious opportunity: Cap has just lost someone who is the embodiment of the life he missed, of the friends and family he suddenly lost in a wink of an eye. Isn’t this when it would all come down on him like a ton of bricks? And Sharon is someone with a connection to that past, someone outside of the Avengers, someone who won’t judge him. A real friend. Shouldn’t we be teaching or reminding people how to handle grief? What real friendship looks like? In Cap’s generation, a person would drop whatever they were doing to help a friend. We should show that. And we should give Sharon’s character more meaning in the film.

After the funeral, there is a meeting at the UN to sign the accords. King T'Chaka is so wonderful. And his son, T'Challa/Black Panther is really great as well. In one scene we get introduced to the Prince, we get a sense of his feelings and the pain he feels for those lives lost in his country. As a result, we feel for him deeply when his father dies and we totally understand he wants revenge. There was some really good digital double work with Panther that helped show off his abilities. Bucky is implicated in the attack by a photograph of him in the area. This sets Black Panther on his very clear mission. Cap then finds Bucky who says that he doesn’t remember being the bomber. So Cap assumes Bucky’s been mind-controlled and helps him escape… although near the end of the film, Bucky says he remembers every assassination he’s been sent on. (Gads.) Still, we get a great display of Cap’s strength as he pulls down a helicopter Bucky tries to escape in. It was real reminder that he isn’t just a Batman-like character, he actually is superhuman.

But why is Cap doing this? One might say that Bucky is the embodiment of Cap’s side of the argument. Even if that’s the case, I’m not sure if Bucky himself wants to be included. Saving Bucky makes total sense, but Cap is dragging him whether he likes it or not. Why would Cap do that? Why not bring Bucky in and give him a trial date the same as anyone? Cap, above all, trusts in the Constitution and in due process. Sure, the German police could have killed Bucky, but Cap can bring The Winter Soldier straight to the President of the United States and demand he gets a fair trial. Certainly, there could be some tampering with evidence or the prosecution could use some unsavory tactics to get a conviction, but even if Cap can’t stop that, there is an appeals process. (Or he can break him out at that point.) And I don’t know if Bucky would mind being in jail, or back on ice, until he can be deprogrammed. How great of a scene would that have been, Bucky revealing to Cap that he killed Tony’s parents? And then a scene where it’s revealed to Tony? We would have known Cap was holding back that information and would have constituted a true betrayal. That’s a real reason for Iron Man to start blindly lashing out. But, these are two schools of thought in writing: withhold information to create a ‘twist’ later –or– give information to particular characters, or just the audience, and withhold it from other characters in order to create tension.

After another action scene, Cap and Bucky are ultimately captured and the true villain of the film, ~~Baron~~ Zemo, surfaces to gain control of Bucky and find out what happened on a certain day and date. Non-Baron Zemo is a small guy, inconspicuous, smart. He gets what he’s looking for and escapes. After Cap and Bucky also escape, for some reason Cap begins to build a team to run up against the one Iron Man is also beginning to build… for some reason. This is actually when the film picks up. Cap, Bucky, and Falcon bring in Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and the brilliant Ant-Man. Iron Man amasses Black Widow, Black Panther, Grey War Machine, the amazing Vision, and the spectacular Spider-man. The humor and light-heartedness brought especially by Ant-Man and Spidey is so welcomed.

A Spidey-Shaped Shoehorn

This is of course the introduction of Spider-man, one of the most beloved comic book characters, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Somehow Disney was able to borrow the license from Sony, perhaps that company driving the property straight into the ground had something to do with it, and Marvel wastes no time in finding a spot to wedge Your Friendly Neighbor: in Captain America’s film. Tony tracks down Peter Parker, meeting the high schooler and his no-longer-elderly Aunt, “Aunt Hottie” better known as Aunt May. Unfortunately, this follows the strange trend in Hollywood to make all characters younger—and whether it’s ageism or not, it certainly doesn’t reflect reality. And when this film is trying so hard to be Batman Begins-level realistic, that’s tough to swallow. Besides that however, Peter is brought in as another weapon in this war with no motivation except that Tony’s a sweet talker and Peter’s a big Stark fan. So, the accident in Wakanda was supposedly caused by a rookie Avenger and so Tony’s answer is to bring in someone who’s only had his powers for six months? Spidey is another one of my all-time favorite characters, but his inclusion is really just to show him off. To the degree that he gets an additional scene after the credits followed by “Spider-man will return.” Wasn’t this a Captain America movie?

So, the stage is set for what may be the biggest super hero battle ever put on film. It’s an amazing battle, pitting Cap’s bandits versus Iron Man’s lawpersons. The fight is superbly shot allowing the audience to follow every step. Spidey and Ant-Man continue to stand out with their humor and smart use of powers—even if I don’t think either of them could go toe-to-toe with Earths Mightiest Heroes so effectively at this point. Neither of them have reason to pick a side. I think Hawkeye was just bored at home. Not even Scarlet Witch has a strong motivation besides being under house arrest for… several days? (The horror.) On Iron Man’s side, they even state that they’re pulling their punches. Then why are you fighting at all? I would think that Cap would exhaust any option he can think of before risking the lives of his friends, let alone strangers. When given the opportunity to stop mindlessly punching people, does Cap do what you expect a man of his stature and history to do-- and lead? No. He does not convince his friends that they should not be fighting, but should join forces against an evil bigger than them all. He instead says “We fight.” Certainly, by statement and by deed Cap is determined not to sign the Accords and he’s dedicated to protecting Bucky, but I really don’t understand why he’s willing to go to the lengths he, and Tony for that matter, is willing to go. I commend Cap on his dedication, but for someone who is supposed to have a tactical mind, isn’t he really just being a battering ram?

They continue their battle which results in the severe injury of Rhodey. In other words, finally, in all this silliness there is finally a consequence. It is then discovered that Bucky was actually framed and Tony goes to help Cap and Bucky stop Zemo from waking up the other Winter Soldiers. They arrive and the soldiers have been murdered. That’s a pretty big twist. I’m not sure I liked it, but did we want another fight scene with a group of super soldiers? This was all a rouse to get Cap, Bucky, and Tony together so Zemo could exact his revenge for his family dying in Sokovia. And that is to reveal that The Winter Soldier killed Tony’s parents. That is to say that for the first time in this film, the good guys have a reason to be fighting. Assassination has been a cause for war, in fact. However, I have to believe that somewhere in Tony’s mind, he must know that he’s lashing out. He must know that Bucky wasn’t to blame. And for that reason, I would think that he and Cap would not have such a deadly fight. I think the makers wanted us to see this as the culmination of the Civil War, but it really didn’t have anything to do with it. It had to do with the murder of Tony’s parents. Plain and simple. There is no ideology, no encroachment of freedoms, it is the very personal pain of one individual. And it’s not even the pain of the main character. With everything that happened throughout this film, I wish this event had been much sooner so we could see how Tony and Steve recovered and how they reconciled. That would be the real reason for an olive branch.

Thinking back, this film seems to require that you have seen the other Marvel films but it also wants us to forget some of the events. Given Tony was against government controlling his actions in Iron Man 2, it makes more sense that he doesn’t get the hint at first—that instead of him totally going to the ‘reign in’ side, that his encounter with the woman plants the seed. That would be the start his character arc. Same with Cap; certainly, he would be against any government limiting the freedom of its citizens and he was right to be suspicious of SHIELD’s giant gunships and Tony’s security experiments, but I don’t see why he would be so willing to go against the wishes of the world’s governments, and ostensibly the people, and be so totally willing to attack his friends and those he’s supposed to be leading. He’s totally abusing his power and position and that is more an Iron Man move. And we don’t really see the fallout of the decisions of either side, we just get the predictable outcome—they were both sort of right and both sort of wrong. By the time we get to Cap's betrayal of Tony (by not telling him), the real central conflict of the story and something worth fighting about, it’s the end of the film. Bucky goes on ice, problem solved. If that’s the case, shouldn’t we have stopped to think about this earlier? This makes me wonder about the tidal forces behind-the-scenes of the film's production. Maybe this film never had a chance to be refined and formed into what it really should have been. There are so many Marvel properties involved, so much money, there must be a lot of pressure to change the film and, especially, add more properties. Perhaps if there had been time, the directors could have made a great Captain America film and worked in some of these added bits better. Perhaps with more perspective, they would have seen that broadening the conflict to be about all super beings and flipping the opinions of Steve and Tony just makes more sense. If it was Cap that recruited Spidey because the web-slinger was being persecuted like all super folks, it really brings the conflict home and raises the stakes. It also would have created a proxy character to bring the audience into the story. It also means Spidey gets to develop on his own, not through his new sugar daddy, which has always been one of the cool things about his more homespun, down-to-Earth character. If Cap’s film has to be the pad that launches Spidey, at least let Cap be the one to send him up.

In the end, I enjoyed this film in the theater far more than I’ve enjoyed thinking about it after the fact. And that’s something that has been happening to me more and more over the last decade. It used to be you would jump out of the theater after a film and be energized or be humbled by the immensity of what you have just seen. Filmmakers were tasked with wrapping up as many story threads as possible so the film, much shorter than a novel, feels complete and satisfying. This no longer seems to be the case. It’s rapid-fire editing, action, and done. There are moments in films past that I’ll never forget. Films today are flashes in the pan. ‘Thanks for your patronage. Next!’ What stands out most in this film? Spider-man. Did I mention Spider-man? It was Spider-man.

I don’t know why Marvel decided to make Winter Soldier and this film ensemble casts instead of stories about Cap. Even more than the last film, Cap is relegated to a co-star in what is actually an Avengers film. Why not call it what it is? And I would wager if you added up all the screen time and dialog of Iron Man and Cap, Iron Man would win hands down. That’s just wrong. Cap should have been the one solving problems and leading everyone in more than battle. I think the most tragic thing about the Captain America trilogy of films is that the makers were so afraid of the character not being popular, that Cap would come off as a boring, one-dimensional ‘Boy Scout’, that they ended up making him exactly that. Through all the Avengers and Cap films, how many times did Iron Man mention Cap was “perfect”? Is he? In the first film, instead of treating Cap like an elite soldier, they sent him out as living propaganda. Why? Steve wanted to fight Nazis. Did he ever get to? No. He finally fought Hydra because in the field, no one could say no. And even then, he really only got a montage of fighting because there wasn’t enough depth in the writing for him to do anything else. So, instead of embedding Cap into WWII history, a living example of the Greatest Generation, we made him fight a small group of terrorists. Already the gravitas of the character is compromised. In the second film, it had some great character development, but Cap was still reactionary. I really liked Falcon, Black Widow, and Nick Fury, but I still didn’t feel like we got inside Cap’s head, that we got to know the real Cap, and that we got to face his demons with him. Civil War was even worse in that regard with more characters and even less time with Cap. This is a man from a different time and a different perspective, why not use it? Indeed, what makes Captain America unique and worthy of a film about him? Those are the kinds of questions a writer or director should be asking when considering putting years of their life into a project. I know the business folks want to keep the money machine rolling, but we cannot make filmmaking into rinse-and-repeat. We need to put time into the writing, into the production, and let the characters have their defining moments. Captain America would expect no less.

Thanks for reading. I hope you do go see the film and share your opinions!

For a more perfect union,
Ben Alpi
Los Angeles, California
May 10, 2016

» back to Rick's review

Captain America: Winter Soldier - Double Shot Movie Review with Ben Alpi and Rick Arthur

2014-04-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

Winter Soldier. Sounds like a Cold War hero if ever there was one.

Ben and I will continue the tradition of independent reviews. This should be pretty easy because I will be viewing/writing from the great state of New Mexico and he will share his thoughts from Los Angeles, California. Neither one of us has discussed the film before viewing or after so this will ensure that our opinions remain our own. As is the intent of the blog, follow us through the "Cap as 70 years of source material - so how do you make that movie?"

SPOILER ALERT - Please be advised that these reviews may contain detailed descriptions of plot, character and dramatic conclusion. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER if you do not want SPOILERS!

CAPTAINS ORDERS

review by Ben Alpi

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an excellent Cap film. After I successfully avoided all reviews and trailers, my wife and I headed to the theater. We saw it in 'boring old 2D' in a theater equipped with the latest Dolby Atmos surround sound system. Overall, I really enjoyed the film, the music, the dialog, the overarching story, and the general plot. A fine effort by the Russo brothers, the writers, and the cast and crew. There was a lot of sophistication here; the film was more like a 70's spy film which is a very positive thing. There were some slight drawbacks, which I'll get into, but is overall a solid, fun film. Let's get started!

In the opening scene Cap, Black Widow, and a SHIELD team make a drop onto a SHIELD ocean-going vessel with some very cool action. This sets up Cap's current gig and the players that surround him. The only problem I have with this sequence is it ends with a video game-like boss fight, the French kick boxer Batroc. Although I know the character from the comics, his outfit is unforgettable, I didn't recall him by name. Even though I figured he was from the comics, he seemed just like some terrorist dude giving the orders. Batroc goes toe-to-toe with Cap after crashing through a few walls/windows and have a really cool fight where we get to see Cap's shield-based fighting form in full swing. On one hand I was wondering how this guy was able to keep up with Cap, but on the other I have always wondered if a martial artist like Bruce Lee could stand up, at least for a time, against a super hero like Cap so it seemed plausible. Then Cap tosses away his shield and helmet to prove he can go toe-to-toe. That didn’t really make sense, except for the fact that Batroc wouldn’t stand any chance otherwise so, all right. The fight is really well done but it does go on for a bit too long-- although I may not have felt that way if it wasn't so plainly a boss fight. Still, there's nothing bad in any of this and a lot of good. Start the film with a bang and some friction with Widow, cool. One last thing, Cap's dark uniform and dulled shield are great and create an excellent contrast. (Which is something Rick and I emailed about years ago.)

Chris Evans appears much more mature and assured in his role as Captain America. Really locked into the role. He also somehow looks more like Cap, perhaps he's actually leaner and he may have been shot better-- Cap should tower over normal folks and he mostly does in this film. Chris is six-foot tall so he's not small, but I feel that the last film, and perhaps even Avengers, didn't make him look big enough. I originally had reservations about him taking on the role of Steve Rogers, as you may recall, but this film proves he can do it.

We find out eventually that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) hired the terrorists as a cover for Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to uncover the real mission of the vessel. Okay, but that's pretty darn elaborate considering the number of dudes killed. Yes, they're likely bad men, but still... in the end this seemed a bit easy for this kind of team which should have made Cap wonder but, it's all in the SHIELD family so, I'll buy it.

Cap's conflicted relationship with Black Widow is really well done although, I feel the texture of Widow's character is missing. She's ex-KGB but you wouldn't know it. I don't see her past play on her face when she talks about it, for instance. Even though there are a lot of nice moments with her, I don't really feel her emotions. She seems like a normal person put in extraordinary circumstances and keeps fighting through thick and thin. That's not bad at all but should she herself seem more extraordinary? I think she was a more tactile character in Avengers even though she had less screen time.

Moving through the film, we find out that Cap is still kind of drifting and hasn't found a real purpose in his new life. So, when he finds Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) working with vets, that is just top notch. His reveal as Falcon was also bang on good writing. Also great fun in the film was the reveal of Dr. Zola (Toby Jones) who has been transferred into an ancient, but powerful super computer-- just fantastic! The scene with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) was heart breaking but was a great scene.

Jackson as Nick Fury was probably the best he's been in the role yet. He has the dynamism of his role in Avengers with added depth of being in peril himself. Really solid acting and excellent writing. Okay, I knew he wasn't dead, but that's just because I know way too much about this stuff!

Hydra, like many of the elements of this film, have been brought up-to-date. They're more like a loosely connected terrorist network which is cool. There really isn't a big mastermind pulling the strings, as of yet, just cells with their own leaders. Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford!) sets up a great dynamic with a powerful character who is not super and who isn't defeated in a fistfight. He's much more like Lex Luthor if he was a politician. The only thing is I didn't really feel anything special from him, similar to Black Widow. When you have an actor with the gravitas of Redford, you expect something special. I didn't get that.

The Winter Soldier. It wasn't tough to figure out what was to become of Bucky. In the first film he "dies" pretty easily, a give-away that he'll be back. (This is Marvel so, he'll be back.) Overall, I really liked him. He's a bit of a Terminator relentless killing machine but the film needed someone super for Cap to fight somewhere. As such however, it seems his role was smaller than it should have been to be listed alongside Cap in the title of the film. The film was far more about Hydra and Pierce than The Winter Soldier. The fights and gun battles were very good, though. I really liked how Bucky always managed to defend with his robo arm and how Cap chopped his shield into it at one point. All really well done. The funny thing is they kept his costume pretty close to the comic complete with red star. Red star. Er, uhh, red star as in Russia. I'm sure that no one was thinking that kids today would be confused by this but it is odd that Hydra would take the time to keep painting on a red star when there doesn't seem to be any relation to Russia-- unless I missed it. I suppose Hydra could have been involved with Russia too so, a small point.

Working up to the big reveal of Pierce, I didn't really feel the danger much of the time. Redford's performance doesn't change at all after his reveal as a villain and that contributes a lot to my feeling it was flat. It would have been terrible if he has suddenly started twirling his mustache and cackling, but I would have liked some kind of change. I didn't really feel why he was compelled to submit to the retinal scan and why he didn't 'zap' the Directors (and Widow) sooner except to serve the plot. It's possible that I missed something though, like his phone may have been on his desk and he couldn't get to it. I don't recall that fact being communicated to the audience though. Still, Wikileak'ing the SHIELD and Hydra files was pretty cool and very up-to-date story-wise. That's one of the great things with this film-- it has current ideas in it that fit the spy genre but haven't been seen in many films. To have a cutting-edge film with a 70+ year old character is superlative.

Finally, Cap gets a great speech to rally the troops. Well done. Although, I must also point out that I don't know if the film really built up to it. All the performances in Winter Soldier are decent although, as I’ve mentioned, they’re a bit bland. Cap never really gets choked up about anything. Black Widow is the girl next door. Cap's speech was awesome, but it feels sudden because folks are inspired by Cap more by default than being inspired through his word and deed. There was no Hydra agent who was like "You're right Cap, F Hydra!" Cap is from another generation, he should still be a fish out of water simply because his very code of conduct is different from today. Cap is not a regular Joe as this film portrays him. He's way more than that. Although, the setup from the first Cap film does not make him an idealist. That is perhaps a key to why I don't feel for these characters as much as I might, they just don't seem to be very passionate about what they're doing. Falcon is. Fury is. They have motivation. Everyone else is kind of going with the flow. They're very... normal. Would a real life politician risk death to complete his traitorous mission? Nope. He'd do whatever it takes to escape because ultimately he's just a guy taking advantage of his position. He's not an idealist, he's an opportunist. For a film though, that's kinda boring.

Overall though, I really like the concept of balancing the fisticuffs (Falcon/Cap/Bucky) against the battle of wits (Pierce/Widow/Fury) for the climax of this film. This is a capital plot. A-1. These days there are so many action movies with giant, drawn out action sequences-- so much so they simply devolve into tedious visual effects spectaculars with no human element (the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels are great examples). The only problem is Pierce is beaten as soon as Fury enters the room so, the rest of that side of the sequence drags because of it.

On the fisticuffs side, Falcon and Cap were a great team and I didn't mind that their objective was on the easy side-- all they need to do is swap two "blades" in the computer cores of the gun ships and poof, they’re under good guy control. It turned out to be a good balance though, it was really hard to get to the server, but then they could just plug them in and keep the scene moving. This felt a lot less Death Star than it could have, which is great. What happened to Falcon was well done-- he really kicked butt but was ultimately taken out by Bucky. But, he continues to help inside SHIELD HQ all in believable ways (since he has no super powers). Of course, the fact that no one except for Cap and Bucky has super powers, the amount of punishment everyone takes is a bit excessive but I guess no more than other action films. If I remember correctly, Widow comes back from her gunshot wound (nicely seen as a through-and-through) to help but doesn't do a huge fight. That worked well-- unlike some films... (Dr Shaw in Prometheus, anyone?) The visual effects were really great throughout the film with excellent digital doubles and the final cacophony of gun ships is epic goodness. Yay the heroes win! I have to say that Cap saying he won't fight Bucky any longer was a bit lame for an instant but his mission was complete so it makes sense he'd switch to his mission to save Bucky. He gives his all which is very Cap. So a pretty satisfying end to that battle.

Not quite so satisfying was the scene with Black Widow at the hearing. This is complete conjecture, but I wonder if there was a different ending but then test audiences showed a need for some closure from leaking the files. So, they did this as a pickup shoot. If this scene was shot with different people behind the camera and a limited budget, that could be an explanation for the lower quality. Widow's dialog is not great and it looks like they filmed on a small stage, possible against a green screen. The focus is shallow and the reporters are REALLY close to Widow taking notes (which is actually pretty distracting). Wait, why are they standing? Why aren't there chairs like any normal chamber? Do quick Google Image search for "congressional hearing" and you'll see there is always seating. Given the great lengths the filmmakers went to make everything authentic, this scene got no love and it leaves things a bit sour. So, when we get to the Joss Whedon-directed mid-credits scene, it stands in stark contrast and seems kind of campy. We got no super villainous monologues in Winter Soldier (except maybe Dr. Zola's?) so this scene really sticks out. I love Joss' stuff so I'm sorry to say it hit me like a commercial. The final post-credits scene is also kind of lackluster. It's cool that Bucky is learning about his past but, like Widow's hearing scene, it doesn't really add anything.

**WARNING** Now entering the director nit picky zone **WARNING**
If you'd like to skip to the conclusion of my review and to Rick's review, please look for the end-of-warning below. If you want to get down to some nitty gritty points, read on!

I've talked a little about the human aspect of this film. Fantastic human moments ground this film and ultimately help it succeed. The only thing is it's very human. It seems the prevailing notion is that audiences don't want to watch super human feats done by people with super human ideals and passions. They think that audiences will only be able to identify with characters who are normal, they just happen to have amazing powers. Spider-man is likely the mold that other heroes have been forced into-- he's just a normal kid who gains super powers. Is that true though? Sure, Peter Parker was a nerd and was picked on at school so when he got his powers, he used them for revenge. Then, through tragedy, he learned what the gift he was given truly meant. Peter was not a normal teen, he was extremely intelligent and cared deeply for his aging Aunt and Uncle. And, through the death of his uncle, he becomes very abnormal indeed. The reality is that although Peter sometimes wishes he was just a normal guy, he's dedicated himself to defending the powerless because he feels a personal responsibility to do so. He still tries to live a normal life on the side, but it's really tough going. In many films however, it feels more like the heroes have normal lives, or they're actually evil, and are trying to be heroes on the side. So, we're teaching kids to just to be average and maintain the status quo? Maybe someday something extraordinary will happen to you? NO! We have to show them that it's okay to be extraordinary! When I was a kid, we were taught in school that "I am special." We even had pins that said it. This is certainly true, we're all special but it's very easy to act like you're not. We all can be extraordinary but we have to take responsibility for it and make it happen through our word and deed. That's exactly what Cap signifies. He wasn't just a skinny kid who tripped over a super soldier serum; he was a skinny kid with such tightly held ideals that despite being under weight, he tried to enlist repeatedly. He went through boot camp and almost died-- because he was normal? No! Because he wasn't normal. He wanted to fight for his ideals and against tyranny and he was willing to die trying. This is who Steve Rogers is. Extraordinary. And you can be, too.

The human aspect is also reflected in the production design. Falcon's wings and jet pack are grey metal. Batroc is dulled. I know this is intended to make the film seem more realistic but to me, it simply makes it more humdrum. This isn't just a problem with this film, but pretty much all super hero films from Batman Begins to [insert many other super hero film here], the comic book design elements have almost been totally removed. I'm not saying they should have used Batroc's terrible costume, but everything is just so bland. Fury's in all black, Black Widow hardly uses her sting, Falcon has gray goggles. The sets overall for this film were very nice, though.

"PDA"? It’s so odd that they listed PDA's in what they can track people with being PDAs have been widely obsolete for years now-- replaced by smart phones.

Many scenes in the film become static. It's expected that there will be scenes where the actors enter, plant themselves in a spot and simply have a conversation. Often times we'll give the actor something to do while they talk, called 'business,' or move them around the set motivated by their mood or a need to do something. This film seems to have a lot of just talking-- Cap and Fury in the office, Cap and Fury in the elevator, Cap and Fury in the hangar bay, Cap and Widow in the kitchen, Cap and Widow in the truck... these are not bad scenes but there is a sense that the directors wanted to get the actors to their marks and get into the closeups as fast as possible. In television, this is the norm so, perhaps since the directors came from TV their staging is like that? It just felt a bit stilted and made the dialog a bit dry in spots. It's a bit more like running through the lines to get to the next scene rather than those lines really meaning something to the characters (and thusly to us).

I'm pretty sure digital filmmaking did not help this movie. I haven't been able to confirm it yet, but this film looks like it was shot digitally and likely projected digitally. I say that because I noticed what boils down to a lack of resolution-- the image degrades when projected onto the big screen. Many shots seemed out-of-focus and artificially smoothed. That blended with the over-saturation and brightness of the overall film (for 3D?) it just did not look good at points. Some shots, especially the ones of the uniforms in Cap's museum, looked like cheap video-- overly sharp with no motion blur. Also, any slight misstep with makeup was magnified. In several scenes Widow's makeup was apparent and looked muddy. Many folks looked like they had blush on and the whites of their eyes were pink. Some closeups of Cap where we should be swooning, feel very brightly and flatly lit making the shot and him look normal instead of fantastic and inspiring. Film emulsion and film grain work in such a way that when a 35mm frame is projected much larger on the screen, it still looks fantastic-- even magical. It’s high latitude and excellent falloff mean the contrast between colors and between light and shadow look quite pleasant. The grain breaks the image up in an organic way which actually fools the eye into thinking images and motion look nicer than they would without it-- like digital. Also, the softness of film and the way it handles color give some degree of leeway with makeup and makeup effects. It can even help ‘sell’ some visual effects (help em look real.) I’m surprised that actors who see their makeup look so poor don’t demand they be shot on film. I wish they, along with cinematographers and directors, would do so and also demand a standard frame rate of 24 frames (with some caveats). Otherwise, there is a very good chance we’ll be stuck trying to not notice bad looking makeup and movies that look like a poor approximation of film. I love Peter Jackson's work and am thoroughly enjoying the Hobbit series, but even with the amazing amount of talent and craft brought to bear on those films, shooting on digital pokes holes in the fantasy and delivers a substandard image. Just like my point of making the heroes more 'normal' takes something special away, having an image so sharp and unforgiving takes away from the concept of suspending disbelief instead of bolstering it.
**END** Now exiting director nit picky zone **END**

To sum up, I recommend Captain America: The Winter Soldier for its sophistication, action, and humor. There were some things I didn't like, but they're relatively small and shouldn't hold anyone back from seeing this film. Thanks for reading! I'm really glad Cap got a solid film and an excellent characterization by Chris Evans, the Russo's, and writers.

Let freedom ring! (The real kind, not the under threat of death kind, k?)
Ben
Los Angeles - 04/06/14

SHIELD v SHIELD: MARVEL FILM MYTHOLOGY

review by Rick Arthur

I enjoyed the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier. From the beginning it flexes it's action hero muscles with dazzling choreography and breakneck pacing. The fight scenes are interesting, exciting and contain plenty of twists as well as quiet moments to intensify the impact. I would recommend it for adrenaline junkie film goers as solid entertainment.

The film as a whole carries some heavy weight as it tries to lay another building block in the foundation of The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here, the preoccupation is with badass Nick Fury played by Sam Jackson as he uses Captain America, Black Widow and others to do his dirty work for him. The "secret" agency of SHIELD, a run amok version of Homeland Security on steroids, has been infiltrated by members of HYDRA. This would make for an interesting mix except in order to tie HYDRA into the story as previously set up in Captain America: The First Avenger, gigantic leaps of faith have to be made. There is a thin explanation of how this supreme subterfuge can have existed for 70+ years and gone undetected. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) still alive even in computer form and undetected? Really? The entire ends justify the means "practicality" as presented by Nick Fury and Alexander Pierce, Robert Redford's character is borderline ridiculous and paints the whole reason for the characters and subsequently the story with a super wide brush.

The first Cap film is very deliberate in creating depth of character and motivation. Here in the second Cap go round - a spies, heroes, technology, ideology smash 'em up, strong characters and motivations are replaced by a plot composed of putting everything in a mix master. The fact that such strong character actors can be piled together to say their lines, hit their marks and scowl on cue is a testament to the casting department. Having Robert Redford even loosely associated with the film is a huge feather in the cap for Marvel. Yet, the demographic of those under thirty consuming the film probably don't understand who he is and why they should care. Check out Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Brubaker, The Natural, Sneakers, Out of Africa, The Electric Horseman, Three Days of the Condor, The Sting, The Candidate, The Way We Were, Tell Them Willie Boy is Here. His body of directing and producing work is also vast. In his role in Cap, Redford gets to mug with holographs for most of the time and strike Winter Soldier across the face. I am not sure why he ever consented to work on a serial action film as a paper thin villain. Perhaps he always wanted to be a Bond villain.

For that matter, Toby Jones is a fantastically gifted character actor with a longer history than playing Zola or appearing in The Hunger Games. Does the target group know Sam Jackson from his credit card commercials, Snakes on a Plane or Pulp Fiction? How did these actors and more get roped into the production of Marvel movies which are essentially high quality, never ending Saturday morning action serials? It wasn't the script. These are not intelligent, tightly scripted masterpieces that will enhance an actor's career. In Captain America's case, it is the presence of these higher calibre players, ably assisted by strong turns from Chris Evans as Cap, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon that elevate otherwise flat material. I wonder what this same script would look like as brought to life by lesser known or unknown players and it is not so hard to imagine something slightly better than than direct to video. Much of the success or failure to these films is owed to the casting department. They should get a round of applause.

Again, as entertainment, Captain America: Winter Soldier is fast, hard hitting fun. While the first Cap is a character piece, this second film is totally different in concept, execution and style. It does not build on the strengths of the first film or even the strengths of Chris Evans as the lead. Instead, it happily wallows in a large, confusing cast involved in self referencing pseudo spy intrigue played out in massive scale in broad daylight. With so many explosions, gunfights, missile launches, fires, car crashes and gigantic air craft carriers falling from the sky (actually all the fun parts...) it would be impossible to be involved in anything stealthy or spy-like. SHIELD supposedly lasted 70 years to this point? Doing what? AND they were infiltrated by HYDRA for the whole time?

Yet, this isn't going to be a pile on for how many things don't make any sense in what is basically a thrilling escapist exercise. How does this stack up against the comics? I will leave that debate for others. What I am mostly concerned about is Cap himself. How did he fare in his own movie? To answer that question, I will simply add that Sam Jackson and SHIELD hijacked Cap's movie in which he becomes an important bit player. Larger story arcs like fast moving glaciers, have overtaken Captain America. I always thought it would be great for Cap to have his own movie with stories that showcased him and maybe a few extra characters folded in. Why shouldn't Cap take center stage in his own film? Instead, we are treated to MARVEL: THE MOVIE also featuring Nick Fury, Black Widow, and dozens more - with some patriotic guy toting a shield. It is a little disappointing from that regard.

Back to some more positive sounding examples from the film!

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon is a standout. A natural. He carries in his few brief scenes a charm and innocence that echoes yet is not the same as Steve Rogers. I think that is why the bond is so great between the two men. Both have gone through different yet equally hard circumstances and have come out the other side respectful and thankful. Mackie grounds Evans and reminds him of how the idealism he once held can be healed. It is a strong message which is unfortunately buried underneath all the action. This is the center of Sam Wilson's character, and Cap's and should be the undercurrent at the heroic center of the film.

I was cheered by the inclusion of a scene in which Cap finds a single microphone (This zone is for loading and unloading only, people) and gives the "traitors among us" speech. After which, Sam Wilson is unabashedly inspired, asking Cap if he wrote that down first or just came up with it off the top of his head. It is a great heroic moment and reveals more about what is in Cap's and Sam's heart than all the gunfire ever could. Unfortunately these moments are too far in between. This film needed more human moments, more inspiring moments. Cap, unlike many of his other superhero counterparts has a unique role as a symbol to inspire.

Bucky Barnes is experimented on during WWII and ends up becoming a character called the Winter Soldier. He is totally badass with a mechanical arm buts spends nearly the whole movie being speechless and wearing a mask and goggles which cover his face. This is too bad for Sebastian Stan, the actor playing him. He gets to do nothing but scowl and use a variety of weapons against Cap and other opponents. Still there is something plucky about the character which Stan has been able to add. This is a solid action movie performance. From the film, not the comics, does anyone know why Barnes is called Winter Soldier or why he is part of the title? If I only look at the title for the film, it may be confusing that Winter Soldier actually refers to someone other than Cap. I am sure this is explained in the comics but in the film, I feel it is a mystery.

THE SHIELD!!!

Captain America flings his shield around as he never did before. These scenes are well choreographed as well as exciting. I was very impressed with this aspect of the film. First, it captures the feeling of the comics very well and second, the shield is handled in a way that it only could be done on film. I would state that this really brought the character to life and created a signature defensive/offensive weapon that made him unique. Sure, Captain America has thrown his shield before but this movie really integrated it into his fighting style in a way that captures the excitement of the comics. Well done! All the choreography in this film is very skillfully done and seamless as far as supporting the needs of the story. The fights are sharp, thrilling and have a natural feel to them which can be hard to obtain.

The closing credit sequence is unique and worth commenting on. The silhouette images bleeding into one another create a strong visual which really captured my attention. During the first movie, the motif was WWII era propaganda posters during the credits which I greatly enjoyed. Here, the images tell the highlights of the Winter Soldier story in graphic, comic style silhouettes. Very nicely designed and executed.

Does Marvel/Disney have any plans to donate Cap money toward the physical and mental rehabilitation of U.S. soldiers returning from combat? They don't need the cash. The veterans do. Services are so poor for those heroes and it would be a tremendous gesture that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would have endorsed.

You won't see me carrying a protest sign in front of theaters saying "Hail Hydra!" Yet, maybe a strongly worded email to Marvel/Disney might be in order. More Captain America in his own movie!

I will leave that as my parting thought. Check out the rest of the blog if you haven't already.

Liberty and Justice For All!

RICK
New Mexico - 4/6/2014

There you have it. We hope you have enjoyed the movie review double shot for Captain America: Winter Soldier. We encourage you to browse through our almost 90 posts delving deep into the background of one of America's most exciting, mythic heroes.

Captain America vs. the World!!

2013-02-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

To mark our second anniversary, Rick writes a few whimsical comments from his sand-filled bunker in central New Mexico. Then! Ben sends a communiqué from somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean...

Cap blog at its second year. A look back. A look forward.
by Rick Arthur

I just like the title, Captain America vs. the World!! I have been looking for an opportunity to use it and this post concerning the second year of the Captain America: Redefining Modern Myth blog seemed like a great place. Ben and I will take a look back at both Cap and our own personal lives in the last two years as well as sound off on what is to come in the future. Grab your star spangled shield and hang on for adventure!

Ben Alpi and I have been friends a long time and like a lot of people have stayed in touch by phone and internet. We have a lot in common including a love of movies, comics and writing. Two of my favorite things about Ben are his imagination and his willingness to explore new ideas. These talents have come in handy as he builds his career writing and making movies. I am excited to collaborate with him and the Captain America: Redefining Modern Myth blog is one great example!

The Cap blog actually arose from a long, complex series of email and phone conversations that spread out over several years. One thing which quickly escalated was signing off our emails using Captain America sounding quotes. Instead of saying "later dude," "talk to you soon bud," or "your pal," we began trading sign offs like "Liberty, justice and freedom for all..." or "Tyranny must be stopped at all costs." It didn't take long until we were giving Cap things to say and do. It must be noted that I seem to recall we dabbled with Iron Man quotes and scenarios around this time as well. The first Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man movie directed by oddball choice Jon Favreau was catching on with both comic fans and the public. There was some speculation as to which Marvel characters would get their own movies especially considering that Iron Man was not a natural choice and nowhere near as well known as Spider-Man, Hulk, or the Fantastic Four. Captain America had not been announced yet nor Thor nor the Avengers. We continued to write back and forth.

Ben produced a short six page script entitled Captain America: A Beginning which appears in the blog labeled Emails #1: THERE IS NO TEA!! I think from this point on, especially after Ben wrote the short script, we were off and running. Finding bits and pieces of dialogue, script or discussion about Cap in my inbox from Ben on a regular basis was often the high point of any day. We dreamed about the era, the challenges, the villain, the clothing, weapons, campaigns - and all the banter became a way of shaping the answer to the central question, what could a Captain America movie be like with almost 70 years of background material to pull from? Both of us knew that an examination of what made Captain America tick was also an investigation into the mechanics of modern myths, storytelling, filmmaking and writing. It wasn't until we were very far along that it began to dawn on us just what our friendly, meandering, banter was producing - a document on redefining myth for the current era.

You may find wedged into the discussion such topics as the exact origin and motivation of Steve Rogers wanting to enlist. What event jump started the scramble to create a Super Soldier Serum? Just how did the Red Skull come into being? How big a role did symbolism play in the fighting of WWII and where did the shield come from? Or Bucky? Was there a Bucky? I would like to think we had pretty exhaustive talks about these and many other issues. I know that we meandered or changed direction quite a few times or came back to revisit an idea we had discarded earlier. So, we both have favorites of our own and each other's.

What resulted was the blog you read now which was created by combining email correspondences and fitting them into post-length sizes. Our temptation to explain or pare down entries was resisted and only minor changes like pulling out family names or contact information kept them from being 100% as originally posted. Spelling errors, sloppy grammar and faulty logic, mostly my own, are preserved as both Ben and I had originally intended. While not written as a blog, once we had decided that there was too much email material to keep to ourselves, arranging the material was a relatively easy task. See for yourself how more than 80 posts comprise this meaty glimpse into the creative process and many posts include exclusive artwork designed to compliment specific entries. Read as we puzzle together fact and fiction onto the cinematic bones of a modern day telling of a story originally set in WWII by comic book pioneers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

The Red. The White. The Blue.

I had the unique opportunity to work as both designer and art director of Annin, the world's oldest and largest flag making company. It was there I met friend and artist Mark McMurray. Part of my enjoyment, especially as a designer, was drawing eight solid hours a day. As a result, my outside cartooning work improved dramatically. My curious mind also thrilled at seeing pieces of history tucked away in the art department files which contained historic designs, letters, purchase orders, drawings, blueprints and more. Annin had designed the flag that flies on the moon and the famous flag at Iwo Jima for example. I also started work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles around this time which was one reason I reluctantly left that job. A curious up-tick in American themes and depictions of flags show up in my work after this. Annin had been quite a patriotic experience for me and I would recall this as I wrote about Steve Rogers' drive to enlist. I made a point to have an all female welding unit craft the first Cap shield from Pearl Harbor battleship scrap. I had taken several tours of the Annin applique and embroidery departments and the sight of all the work stations filled with foreign women turning out various flags never left me. That is what inspired the inclusion of the welders in my version of the Cap story.

I recalled hearing just a few stories from my own grandfather about WWI. He hardly ever talked about it. No one did. Yet, he had been in France in the midst of mustard gas bombs and had gotten THE flu more than once. Somehow he survived and came home. It wasn't until much later that I would read of the horrific number of dead during 1918-1920 of the Spanish Flu. When working on the Cap emails, I unearthed a poorly accepted rumor that biological warfare was responsible for the deadly flu outbreak. Rumor, maybe. In the fictional tale, the government launches a massive program to create soldiers who are immune to such biological weapons and that is how the Super Soldier Serum came to be, I theorized. It fit the time frame and had the delicious ring of plausibility you need when concocting fictional history.

Certain images kept finding their way into the discussion. My contribution to post #3 entitled Terrible Times Demanding Terrible Sacrifice is a brief outline of what a Captain America movie trailer could be like. Cap frozen in ice was used in the comic series to bridge the Captain America of the Timely Comics and Marvel Comics and was never too far from my imagination. Later I would try to conceptualize it during the final conflict with the Red Skull. Cap's main villain must be defeated and escape. Cap himself must win the battle yet be trapped in ice until he can spring forth in a new era. Some of the conceptual fallout might have been too much to handle for a casual moviegoer. There would be strong depictions of concentration camps. The use of atomic weapons would have horrified Cap and the Russians would not have been viewed by him as potential enemies in waiting but as heroes who sacrificed more than all others, gave blood, heart and soul to defeating the Nazi menace.

Skipping ahead to post #7: Red Skull. Yeah Baby. This is the first post to sport a full color collage and I like the way it came out. Also, in a comment on the post, I lay out the corrupting motivation of the Red Skull and in many ways a lot of comic book villains. Ego. Red Skull was evil. Good guys don't have bright red skeletons for heads. Doctor Doom, Galactus and every Spider-Man villain tried to pull off elaborate, grandiose stunts, coldly delivering invitations for our heroes to try to stop them, narrowly defeated yet always to return again. Red Skull boiled in his hatred of Captain America and his goals of ultimate victory would never be realized as Cap always thwarted him. He would love to crush this man, this wretched American mongrel and at night it is all he can dream about. It wouldn't have taken much at all, a superior gloved hand tightening on Cap's throat. Maybe a minute, only a single minute. Yet the Red Skull does not let his mind rest there. From defeat there is a plan, a brilliant plan fully formed and he sneers to himself. This time... this time things are going to be different. The go for broke audacity of a master villain like Red Skull is what makes Captain America's ability to overcome him a heroic virtue.

I wrote a scene called The Cold which appeared as Emails #28 and it is kind of a trailer. Cap is pursuing the Red Skull through the snow toward their final conflict and he is praying for divine guidance in the middle of a storm. Cap has a dream/vision/memory of discovering skeletal survivors at a concentration camp. The desolation and wail of the train whistle hammers home the need to combat evil without restraint. I really wanted to show Cap defeated, perhaps even inching through the storm about ready to give up. In doing so, I create an opportunity for Cap to choose the heroic path and in essence be willing to sacrifice everything in the pursuit of evil. Along with Captain America: The Beginning, it gave me an itch to think about writing a screenplay based on our ramblings. It is fun to think about even now.

Post #37, among others, is great for a reread. Entitled, 1918 Epidemic and the Super Soldier Serum, Ben and I lay out in pretty inelegant terms what the probable timeline would be for the development of a Super Soldier Serum and where Steve Rogers' involvement would be. This is important because it is the grounding that both a comic book and movie version never had. It cements the relationship between the first war, Cap and the second war. Once this is anchored, many aspects of the conflict between Captain America and Red Skull start to fall into place. You can also see my own hand holding a vial, some cologne, in the collage sketch.

Our movie reviews seemed to be quite popular. We tackled THOR (between post #40 and #41), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (between post #53 and #54), CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER (posted July 25, 2011) and THE AVENGERS (posted May 13, 2012). These were enormous fun to do and Ben and I both wrote our reviews independently of one another allowing some basic points to echo. Story, for both of us, seems to be the important element and character development is the only way to get there. The reviews are a good way for us to keep score with the real world filmmakers on the Marvel characters' major plot points. Our most popular review was for the THOR film. The thunder god sparked our followers to tune in and read not one but two reviews which broke down the sweeping saga. Captain America seems to be at the center, along with Thor and Iron Man of a Marvel movie universe build on classic archetypes. The successful movies will all have a strong story and well defined characters as a solid base.

Lastly for me, I wanted to poke around with The RED SKULL. As we got closer to the end of our previously written emails, it became obvious that neither Ben nor I were going to have the time to devote to writing a screenplay AND Cap was already announced as a Marvel film so it seemed moot. Still, there was an itchiness to tell the tale of Cap defeating the Red Skull. So, I gave it a shot with a series entitled, Red Skull: Endings (Part 1 of 5). I came to realize over the course of our blog that the Red Skull was not just a great villain for Cap but a great villain period. He oozed evil, arrogance, power and corruption with a single minded quest for greatness that strictly put him on top of a short list. I wrote him in many ways to be the opposite of Captain America, vain, greedy, lustful, immoral, and more than willing to sacrifice others to further his goals. These qualities in a living, breathing villain were fantastic for Cap to act as a heroic foil - and without which, Cap's ascension to being a living legend, an icon of hope and freedom, a symbol of purity would be for naught without a master villain to have conflict with. I made the Red Skull stronger, smarter, more cunning, more evil than Cap could handle and it is inevitable that he should triumph soundly over Cap. It is then that Cap assumes his true heroic nature and rises against all odds, all expectations to face his much stronger nemesis in a last battle in the snow.

I would love to say I pulled it off and created a dramatic conclusion with Red Skull: Endings but the drafts needed a lot more work, more input from Ben's creative influence, and stronger editing. I think perhaps the action could have been compressed into one long scene or two smaller ones. Weak plot elements needed to be dropped or pumped up. The Red Skull's final words and actions also needed to be cranked up into something powerful and memorable. This is his humiliating defeat after all. Ideally, that is what would have happened. The first draft would have gone to a second, a third, etc. and Cap would have become more heroic in the process as well as a more tragic figure. He will not be around to understand or enjoy his victory. It was fun to write though. Fun indeed.

In the past year, my wife and I, along with our dog and a mountain of books, furniture and clothing have moved to New Mexico from central New York and it is beautiful here. Stunning. I have had some time to write and draw but have started teaching a college level drawing class (Drawing For Comic Books) which is an exciting first for me. I've had a couple of pieces of artwork hanging at a local gallery show too which is something else I have never been involved in. Thanks to all of you for reading this blog. Ben and I tried to blend as much research and historical fact as we could into the characters to make them breathe. The blog stands as a great testament to our efforts and shortcomings in developing these characters. Of course Captain America is never too far from my thoughts...

Liberty, Justice & Freedom,
RICK
2/2/2013 - New Mexico

Making it real with a little help from my friends
by Ben Alpi

Cap could totally take the world! But he wouldn't because he's not that kind of guy.

Holy Toledo! Has it been two years?! I miss working on this blog quite a lot, mostly because of the collaboration and exchanging of ideas with a troublemaker like Rick Arthur. Don't tell him I said this, but he's one of the most creative people I know and his passion for story and character is unmatched. I also miss the blog since it's so forward-looking. Talking to Rick and writing these emails was and is still truly inspiring. The long chats we had about character, storytelling, and structure mostly in relation to films, comic books, and literature were not daydreamy musings, but deep discussions about applying what we spoke about. I learned a lot from him and his encouragement helped me push forward to write and direct my first short film, Silver Lining. That production played on television in both the US and Canada and got distribution with Ouat Media in Toronto. From there I became second unit director on Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II and got to work with some amazing people including John Carrigan who you'll read about later.

After several more projects including the blog, I recently directed my second short film, Cowboy Creed. I’ve loved Westerns since I was very young—I mean horses, guns, and fisticuffs, where can you go wrong?! My siblings and I grew up watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood as well as slightly lesser known Spaghetti Westerns like Django. (It was too funny watching Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained—complete with a special appearance by the original Django, Franco Nero.) For Creed, one of my main objectives in writing was to incorporate what Rick and I had been talking about in the last few years—including what we’ve written in this blog. Westerns are well and truly America’s myth, and since I happen to live in the area where many Westerns have been made, it was the perfect project. Cowboy Creed is a short about Phineas Creed, a young cowboy trying to find his place in a post-Gold Rush world. When the international criminal “Limey” kidnaps his ladylove Miss Graves, Phineas faces the most harrowing showdown of his life. The script actually began more as an action scene. From that, similar to how Rick and I worked on Cap, I started researching the time period and began developing not only a more involved short, but also the groundwork for a feature-length film. The short script actually expanded and contracted a few times as I tried to find the right balance to encapsulate the new, broader tapestry I developed but keep it to 10 minutes. (And keep the budget down!) Rick kindly read one of these drafts and gave notes and even agreed to do pre-production concept sketches for the film. Given how busy he is I was surprised and doubly glad to be working with him again—an artist with genuine professionalism in addition to talent and skill. As anyone who has read this blog knows, we spoke at length about the underpinnings of the story. Over the last 100 years, American culture especially has marched slowly but steadily toward the anti-hero. A lot of care goes into the creation of villains because we need a complex one to keep us interested and make us believe he or she is a challenge to the hero. This quest sometimes leads to a much more interesting character—perhaps an even more likable character. Doctor Doom for instance is really only looking out for the good of his precious Latverians, right? Magneto is really only trying to protect his fellow mutants, right? These villains need a reason to do evil things and over time audiences have become increasingly sympathetic, so sympathetic that they start to side with them more than ‘droll’ heroes. What is good? What is evil? Today the difference is no longer a matter of black and white hats. We have gone from Flash Gordon, beacon of good in the universe to Dexter, serial killer who tries to keep his murders limited to criminals. As tantalizing the thought of attempting to cast a villain as a hero may be, we should not call Dexter a hero. The concept targets the chinks in our armor, our dark fantasies of revenge on those who do wrong. Dexter leaves behind the ideals of societal justice and replaces it with a kind of personal perversion of justice. My intent is to knock the pendulum in the opposite direction. I don’t think audiences will believe a character is all-good with no dark side. We all have one of those. But, I think we still need someone to look up to. As interesting a show like Dexter is, he is not someone to emulate. He is not someone who is standing up to adversity and changing the course of history for the oppressed. I sought to create a hero who is as complex as a villain and who is still a hero worth emulating. Funny enough, as I worked towards this goal, the feedback I was getting about the script was the villain wasn’t complex enough. Oops! I put my nose to the grindstone and kept at it until “Limey” was the fully formed character he has to be. I was making edits to the script right up until filming in December 2011—which was partly funded by Kickstarter Backers from the US and UK. Thanks again to them and our other donors! We had a fantastic crew and an amazing cast led by Kendall Wells as “Phineas”, John Carrigan as “Thomas Michael ‘Limey’ Lyme” (whom I mentioned before), Tara Platt as “Miss Graves,” and Anthony De Longis as “Sheriff Eli Graves.” The film also stars Leandro Cano as “Rook,” and Wayne Webb as “Bishop.” I’m currently submitting the film to festivals internationally and we’ve shown the film in private screenings now in Hollywood and near London (with the help of John Carrigan.) The feedback has been very positive. In fact, viewers so far have been surprised at the high level of polish and refinement the project has, despite being a short—nicknaming it a “mini epic.” That’s great to hear and is a credit to all those who have helped make this film possible. I hope this story and these characters will continue and I get to direct a heroic feature film with them. To keep up-to-date on Cowboy Creed-related happenings, keep a look out on http://runicfilms.com/.

Along with the film, I’ve been busy in a lot of divergent areas and in the middle of it all, my girlfriend Dr. Jyotika Virmani and I were married in the Spring of 2012. Jyotika has also been a great inspiration and is a great help as a producer on Cowboy Creed. She happens to be an avid reader of classic literature and avid watcher of film, which is great. (And she puts up with my constant working on film!) She is also an expert in tropical storms and maintains an excellent blog during hurricane season here: http://jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/.

What’s next then?!

I’m glad you asked! I’m currently working on a few scripts ranging from sci fi to fantasy to drama. It’s a wonderfully electric time and I couldn’t be happier plugging away at new ideas. This includes collaborations with friend Tom Mercer as well as my brother Bob on two winning scripts we will complete this year. Also, I hope to direct another short, this time a mind-bender—more details to come of course. I do wish I still had time to work on the blog here and explore mythic storytelling all the more. Perhaps we should do something bi-monthly? Please pipe in down in the comments and let Rick and I know what you think! As always, thanks for reading folks! And hold high those ideals of life, liberty, and happiness. That’s what Cap would do!

Sincerely,
Ben
02/04/13 - Somewhere over the Atlantic

The Avengers (Some Assembly Required)

2012-05-13T00:33:00.001-07:00

Don't let the quirky title fool you! I loved the Avengers movie as directed by Joss Whedon. I went to view it on Sunday afternoon and since it was showing on so many screens in both regular and 3D versions, as I was walking in, a large crowd of pumped up moviegoers - many families with young kids - were walking out. I couldn't help over hear parts of the conversation and how one character in particular captured their attention.

SPOILER ALERT!! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF:

You haven't seen the film or you care about the plot to The Avengers being given away.

I will discuss my idea of how Cap specifically fares in the Avengers. This is after all a blog about Captain America... Along the way, I will touch on plot, character and screenwriting - and the rest of the Avengers team.

I was happy to report that the Captain America appearing in the new Avengers movie has a lot of similarities to the Cap in Captain America: First Avenger. Chris Evans really comes across as feeling comfortable in this part and he plays it well. I was afraid he might get crowded out of this cast which includes but is not limited to Nick Fury and female assistant, Agent Coulson, Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Loki. Each character gets the opportunity to take several turns at the front of the class. Cap is allowed to show his natural leadership qualities as well as his courage and resolve.

A few solid lines are made as to Captain America's transitioning from WWII via a block of ice and how much time had past. While he was called a relic more could have been done with this to show the character growing and coming to realize his place in the modern world. I understand that this was not Cap's film and that there wasn't three hours to play with. It brings into focus Cap's conflict with Iron Man. At one point in a heated argument, Cap asks Stark what he would be without his armor. A millionaire, playboy inventor was the response. Immediately, Stark comments that the best part of Cap was from a test tube. It is an interesting exchange and it serves several functions in the script. I took Cap's question as meaning: without the fancy armor what values or character did Stark really have? On the flip side, Stark's remark meant that Cap was nothing without the super serum - his moral center meaning nothing. It showed a lot about the way the characters view the world.

Chris Evans reacts to these remarks with a certain mixture of hurt. I take it to mean that Cap is pained by the loose, morally ambiguous culture he is now dropped into. Everyone else in the script including Thor seems to be inoculated to the back stabbing having come from a world of spies or the military. Cap hails from a time when actions and ideals were more straight forward, direct and had personal consequence. In his day, taking a stand and sticking by your decisions meant the measure of a man or hero. Iron Man with his compromised values bothers Captain America. It is only later that we discover that Stark uses a lesson he has learned from Cap while confronting Loki. You will not succeed because you lack conviction - paraphrase. The climax of the film also shows Iron Man making a decision to sacrifice himself for the rest of humanity - a position Cap had also endorsed.

There are a few opportunities for Captain America to show his leadership abilities but these didn't hit the mark completely. By the time the big finish was in progress, Cap really had nothing to do except smash nameless hordes of aliens inside the "video game" storyline. There are a few instances where Cap is put in a position of mediating between other heroes. These touches lack punch because the director has made a conscious decision to shy away from using closeup shots in favor of the medium shot. What this ultimately means is that all the heroes including Cap are treated fairly evenly and so it might not be obvious that Captain America emerges as the team leader.

As a side note to Cap's story inside the Avengers... He should have given the "Avenger" speech to Loki instead of Iron Man. It would have further defined him as the FIRST Avenger and cemented the moral standing of the group as a whole. Stark delivers the speech including the tasty line, "We have a Hulk." Cap could have delivered the same line better AND hinted at the fact that he probably knew during WWII that the U.S. had the A-Bomb. Of course I think that the director was trying to go for the whole chaos angle as far as group dynamics. This is only fine if those same dynamics allow for the individuals involved to put aside their differences and become a real team. Only Captain America is poised to be the leader that is needed. His reason for being in the group is to knit it together. Unfortunately, that does not come across on screen. Perhaps it is hinted at or talked about between explosions but it is not expressed as a major point in the story. It is not simply personal bias, Captain America should have been the one character to lead the viewer and ultimately tame the competing interests of the team. None of the other characters can do it.

Agent Coulson, Nick Fury and the bloody trading cards. Wow. What a mess built contrivance on top of contrivance. This makes Fury look like a huge A-hole for manipulating the death of a man to influence others. It is more than a cold hearted move. It is the stroke of screenwriting magic, improperly set up that should have nothing but a negative effect on the team. As an audience we are expected to not only bite but swallow the lie. The fact the Fury confesses to the manipulation only makes it worse. The only one in the room who is going to react to the stunt is Cap. The cards are a reminder of his past shilling war bonds before he got into the fighting and they are a direct link to him. There was not enough set up of Agent Coulson in relation to individual Avenger members to say that he was loved, adored and therefore should be avenged. This is designed to be a turning point in the story and it certainly feels like something that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I felt this was poorly executed and not needed as far as motivation.

It is difficult to discuss the overall "story" of the Avengers movie because it comes across as a patchwork of screenwriters creating set pieces. Loki comes into possession of the Cosmic Cube and enlists an alien race to raise an army to crush the humans of Earth, as a starting point to galactic domination. This is established early on in a breezy, mostly wordless mind numbing series of effects shots. This premise is tired plotting having appeared in countless science fiction writing, films, comic books, etc. Loki, who is played with dramatic flair by Tom Hiddleston, schemes in a very non-specific way. The filmmakers only roll out enough information to satisfy the story at hand. There is no suspense or foreboding other than how certain Avengers will join the growing team. When will the Hulk appear? Thor, meanwhile who has the most at stake personally in Loki's plans is neglected in the same way the other characters are: not by being excluded but by being included in a large cast and presented on film in medium or wide shots. The audience does not make the emotional connection it needs to make.

I was bored by the Black Widow (Johansson) spy stuff. Not too concerned about Hawkeye (Renner). Wished Fury (Jackson), Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the Helicarrier had found their own movie to be in. Not that I disliked any of them but this would have cut an hour of screen time best used for the conflicts and resolutions of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk. Loki could have made a fantastic villain instead of spending half the film in a glass cage. When the final conflict arrives it is not that exciting to watch and not really an important part of the story. The aliens were pretty generic and not really threatening. I am failing to see how they thought they could take over the planet. The fighting was "furious" but signified nothing and the menace was easily dispatched.

The Hulk as played by Mark Ruffalo is perhaps an unexpected treat. The motion capture CGI is great and the few scenes with the Hulk can barely contain the character's strength, rage or enthusiasm. Banner playing against Stark teases us with the promise of an unstoppable force of nature seething under the surface. It is unfortunate that the Hulk had nothing to reveal other than he was angry ALL the time. His character is the least exposed out of the cast and maybe it is for good measure - keeping the glimpses fresh and powerful.

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Avenge what exactly. Again? Quit mumbling. Avenge? Really?

Captain America

[directed to Tony Stark]

This 'living legend' signed up to fight evil during the darkest days of WWII. Time may have past but I still know courage, honor, sacrifice and duty when I see it....

Tony Stark/Iron Man

You're a relic Mr. Rogers, a broken down soldier who just follows orders and never questions the sacrifice you are asked to make. Isn't that what you are asking me to do? This team? Make a sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds?

Captain America

Frankly your selfish attitude is what I have come to expect but not for myself. My generation did not have that luxury. People were being killed, starved, burned and pushed out of there homes by an evil that wouldn't compromise until the whole world was an ash heap. This alien army intends to do the same and if I must strike alone I will but if ever we were needed to be a team, to stand against injustice then it is now!

[Cap pushes past Stark and the others in the room heading toward the open hanger door]

Tony Stark/Iron Man

You don't have the guts. They are too many...

Captain America

Avengers assemble!

[Cap jumps out the hanger door - twenty thousand feet above the earth. Heroes collectively gasp and no one moves. Sound of rushing air.]

Thor

This mortal shows more courage than a dozen warriors.

[Thor picks up his hammer and turns it, catching the light. Inscription reads: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."]

Tony Stark/Iron Man

How about one for the road?

[Downs a mixed drink then shutters his helmet]

We better assemble before Cap disassembles.

During the time the Avengers comic book first appeared (Lee/Kirby), rivalry between comics publishing companies was pretty fierce. Characters, stories, artists and writers were swapped back and forth, especially if they were successful. Copy cat comic books were usually of lesser quality and did not do as well financially. This was a common practice however for the times as rivals tried to capitalize on hit books. The Avengers owed a debt to another team book from another company.

The Avenger movie has generated a huge pile of money for Marvel/Disney. I am sure there will be sequels and copy cat films for the next decade. The movie is well crafted and carefully designed while proving to be entertaining. One of the great strengths of the film is it's ability to stroke in the broad shots both in scenery and in character. It is hard to create any meaningful growth or depth however with 10+ characters clamoring for screen time. This is something that is lacking here and it makes me wonder why half of the action takes place on the heli-carrier. Why is Nick Fury lurking in the scenes or Agent Coulson? Their task was to launch the story not be a continual part of it so their involvement is flat and unneeded. Hawkeye does what exactly in the story? He advances the plot how? I love Jeremy Renner but his character could have been cut without affecting anything. Ditto The Black Widow. She is fun to look at but her scenes ultimately take the action of the story nowhere. Neither she nor Hawkeye were in the original team either. I suppose that doesn't mean much. Like a lot of comics, there have been so many layers of revisions that the truth just isn't important.

Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America all certainly belong. When writing this script, it must have been a high wire act in keeping certain things the studio wanted in or out and trying to write a fresh take on characters that are long in the tooth. Additionally, any script simply must make sense and pack a punch as a movie. In this case, the superhero/action genre demands certain conventions on it's own in order to get butts in seats and sell buckets of popcorn. Writers today have the threat of toy lines and fast food tie-ins looming over their head. While usually they don't directly deal with these concerns, upper management does and directives get sent down to fix things that don't really need fixing. I would like to have seen the rough draft, final draft or shooting script to see what got axed. Extra scenes that don't make the film are now usually bundled together in a sort of blooper reel on the DVD release. Some scenes are even shot as teasers for the audience or to test the ratings board.

In the final analysis, what can you really say about the Earth's Mightiest Heroes? When assembled they can defeat just about any foe. So, if you want to watch two hours of special effects to come to this conclusion, be my guest. I enjoyed this movie. The Avengers tried hard on a lot of levels and had varying degrees of success. The costumes, sets, backgrounds, motion capture CGI Hulk and fights were all well done. Where it lacked was in the difficult task of creating drama and real characters from paper thin source material. I kept hearing rumors about what great dialogue Joss Whedon was going to contribute. I know that it is hard to do with all the constraints a massive picture like this exacts but the scripting should have been a lot sharper.

Maybe next time and there will be a next time.

RICK

4/5/2012 - Central NY

Myth Blog Retrospective: One Year Later

2012-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Back for more! A special Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth double post marking the one year anniversary since we launched on February 4, 2011...

Heroes Lost, Heroes Found

by Ben Alpi

What’s in a year? So many wonderful things, unfortunate things and horrible things happened. In the time from February 4, 2011 and February 4, 2012 the world changed. Dictators fell and freedom rang out. The waters of the Pacific rose up trying to swallow the rising sun. Speech was tread upon, privacy eroded and liberty constricted. Teachers of children had to defend their profession. Veterans came home from war. Great and beautiful minds left our world to travel beyond the veil. That unfortunately includes the venerable Cap co-creator Joe Simon, age 98. And around the globe people took to the streets in great numbers to protest tyranny.

Can you recall any one name who led the charge? A man stood against his government and made them listen. Do you know what country? Do you know his name?

These days, it seems like we’re almost afraid to even use the word “hero.” One of the main attributes of a hero might be someone who doesn’t quite fit into society. Not fitting in is of course one of the best ways to get yourself reprimanded by society in some way—beaten by bullies, fired by your boss or skipped over for a job or promotion. A hero finds the courage to raise his or her head above the parapet. Of course, doing so is the best way to get it cut off by society. If you don’t run with a ball, crunch financial numbers or make good investment bets or if your job involves marker boards, pencils, keyboards, or test tubes, you had best walk on eggshells.

In the entertainment world, as I’ve spoken about at length, there is a perception that a mythic hero is simply unrealistic-- ‘No one is THAT [insert positive trait here]. No one is perfect.’ It’s true, stories often skip over many hardships a person would normally face, but that doesn’t make the character obsolete and sure doesn’t mean the ideal is not worth pursuing. I mentioned to Rick what I was thinking of writing for our anniversary here and he offered that I could mention how in the dark days of WWII, they looked for heroes “to extoll the nobler qualities of man.” In all times previous to the twentieth century, art and stories drew out dark forces for a reason. Many of the most horrifying of images, a painting, sculpture, illustration, photo or film, held beauty and optimism within it. But it seems our society would rather snuff out the flame for fear it might burn too brightly.

Such movements as “conceptual art,” perhaps begun with Dechamp’s Fountain (famously, a urinal with “R. Mutt 1917” scrawled on it,) sought to break tradition by passing mundane objects off as art. This style still greatly influences contemporary art today although it’s grown more grotesque. The amateur and the defamer has been elevated to a higher place than the master. Best not ask a master because they’re just so set in their ways anyhow and/or are just elitists who would rather hold their mastery over us than help. Is that true? Are we so afraid of looking like we don’t know as much as someone who has spent years of their life to become an authority that we’ll avoid them or tear them down? Nope.

I must admit the thought of Cap’s heroism and brilliantly clear intentions always give me a heavy heart. Whilst growing up I never thought superheroes were real, but when I realized that real people didn’t emulate them, something kind of broke inside me. This year I wrote a short animated film called Looking Up. In the film, a son sees his father as a mighty superhero but is ultimately let down when his dad abandons the family. This leaves the son grasping for a role model. Even though real people can let us down, concepts like Cap remind us that there is an ideal worth striving for. I feel that to the bottom of my soul. And that’s why I write about heroes and not anti-heroes or villains masqueraded as heroes. It seems our society as turned upside-down where degenerates are lauded for risking their reputations for fame (read: infamy) and crude behavior is applauded and encouraged for our entertainment. This past year, more scripted television and documentaries were replaced by “reality” television; poorly shot and executed programs wherein reality is re-written in the editing room to enhance conflict. Oddly, but not surprisingly, many people seek to emulate the celebrities created by these destructive shows and in some cases, it seems they imitate the soap opera-like drama in their own lives. Some say these are signs that our society has dropped off the precipice, our Golden Age is over.

The last hundred years saw us trying to redefine ourselves after incredibly rapid changes. Modern art has reflected this by widely rejecting tradition and deconstructing it. Art has become anti-art and heroes anti-heroes. Again and again Rick and I returned to the question ‘Could a film about Cap still reflect his purity and stand up to society’s new-found anti-goodness tendencies?’ I see now that this tendency is almost a form of self-loathing. Producers fear that showing a good-intentioned and noble hero could make the audience feel inadequate. It’s true that our young people have been coddled overmuch and our society has been softened by cheap goods, technology, and credit cards, but do I think that we should capitulate to this anti-idealism? Over. My. Dead. Body.

Have our intentions in education, art and entertainment changed so much that we’re no longer interested in challenging our children and ourselves? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the story of a sickly boy who endured and persevered even though more of his days were filled with pain than not. Steve Roger’s pain gave him a core so absolutely strong, no one could break it. His pain also opened him to empathy and later as Cap, he could identify easily with the weakened and downtrodden. Cap knows better than most that folks just want to be free. Free to live, love, move, enjoy their lives and to be free of oppression and pain. People want to feel they’re a part of society and feel like they’re contributing, not to live in fear.

Cap is also a student of history. He knows this all has happened before. He knows that lessons were once taught harshly with starved lions eating prisoners and slaves in the Colosseum. I don’t think he’d want us to go back to that, but I also don’t think he’d want us to try and deny the existence of right and wrong let alone avoid all matters of violence or reality say, in children’s television. It’s interesting how it seems we’re trying to avoid teaching our children about reality while we also try to tamp out their imaginations and make them grow up quicker. And once we’re older, somehow we crave only guilty pleasures? Well, back in Cap’s day gluttony was not a favorable trait and that’s not changed. Heroes cannot make you feel bad about yourself; they can only make the guilty feel so. Challenges cannot destroy character, they can only build it. Being exceptional is not shameful or a curse or a burden. It’s a gift. We’re all exceptional at something and we all should delight in that. And we shouldn’t need the darkness of war to show us the light.

Although he sits at the microphone like any other American testifying to a Congressional committee, the Senators are uneasy at the presence of the imposing figure of Captain America.

The Senator from Nevada who chairs the committee shakes his head.“I’m sorry, but you’re 70 years too late, Captain. Our job is to root out government waste and I see no reason to continue funding a project like yours which is simply beyond its usefulness. We don’t need symbols anymore. We won the war.”

Cap looks him and the other Senators in the eye as he speaks. “I wish I could agree with you, Senator, but even the founders knew we had to seek a more perfect union. Perhaps I’m out of my time, but my message, our message, has never been more important. We’ve won many battles, but as long a one child goes hungry or one person is hurt for being different, there will still be work to be done. And I’m here do my part.”

Be exceptional. Stick your neck out. Help someone in need. Be gentle, but don’t blind your children. Drink less, stop smoking and get more sleep. Spend more time talking to your loved ones than listening to newscasters and talk shows. That’s what Cap would want you to do. He’d also remind us that a democracy is not a concrete pillar; it’s a Liberty Garden that needs our constant attention. It needs to be tended, watered, and sung to. He’d also say don’t be afraid of heroes.

The man I mentioned before who stood up to his government was Anna Hazare. He went on a hunger strike to protest corruption in the Indian government. After eleven days of only water, his actions shamed parliament into agreeing to at least give credence to his anti-corruption plan to make public servants accountable for massive scandals and end their culture of bribery. India is the largest democracy in the world with a population of more than 1.2 billion, has six national political parties, and 21 languages recognized by its constitution. I know about Hazare only because I traveled to my future in-laws in England during his protest. Anna Hazare is a hero and we should know his name. There are more. And what about you? Are you a hero?

Over this past year I was blessed to work with Rick on this project as well as my short film Cowboy Creed. Thanks to Rick and a host of other kind backers, professionals, and artists the film is now in post-production. Cowboy Creed will not shy away from displays of heroism and villainy and I think you’ll like it. I absolutely loved writing this blog with Rick and opening his sketches each week was a joy—which has been wonderfully relived today! And there is so much more to discover! The next twelve months will be a challenge just like the last twelve, but let’s all make the most of them. With Cap running out in front showing us the way, we can’t fail! Thank you all for reading!

Keep your dreams alive,
Ben Alpi
2/04/12

Captain America and Heroism - One Year Later

A Blog Anniversary

by Rick Arthur

February 2011 was the official start of the Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth blog. Ben Alpi and I ran some blog tests in late 2010 and Jan. of 2011 to measure the format and work out some technical issues. Some of these posts became the “Preamble” to our blog about Cap. Having spent several years exchanging emails, deciding to collect them, and based on the super hoopla from the Big Football Game which included both a Thorand Captain America movie preview, we created the first official offering after the game as a sort of “kickoff." So, in the shortest month of the year, wedged in between Ground Hog Day and Valentine’s Day and just after a 31-25 Green Bay over the Steelers win in game XLV, Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth - the blog which became about truth, justice, freedom, patriotism and liberty debuted with a post entitled, “There Is No Tea.” We set out to ask “How do you make a modern film about a character with almost seventy years worth reference material?”

Ben and I achieved a growing success as we rolled out the posts like clockwork three times a week. After a few weeks, I proposed we add more color to the posts and set about with Ben’s help to recreate the background graphic and layout. Ben’s vision for the look had been full of WWII browns and tans also designed to work well with the type selected. Several artistic efforts proved to be unsatisfying. What did we end up with though? Small color “sketches” to grace the posts themselves. While I created a majority of these color sketches, Ben also tried his hand - plus gave invaluable advice on much of the others. This solidified our graphic layout.

Content proved to be fairly easy. We had made a decision early on NOT to edit the text much. What we got was a conversation with a very natural sound that reprinted in most cases our exact emails. I split the emails into segments and gave them post titles. Topics ranged from discussing Simon and Kirby to WWI, WWII, Steve Rogers as a boy, what is patriotism, who is the Red Skull, what would it be like to film certain scenes. My favorite parts include the scenes, the dialogue and reading what Ben would write back. His action filled opening script with Cap parachuting larger than life onto the battlefield is astonishing and set a lot of the tone for what would come next.

It is the “what comes next” that concerns us here. We could not have predicted any of it. Emails about Cap took a decidedly sharp turn. Who was he and what forces shaped him? What constituted heroism? Bravery? Patriotism? What did WWII really mean from the perspective of the time - just how dangerous was it, how close to loosing it all? What was the nature of sacrifice?

An important aspect of the character was how he took the arc of a heroes’ journey. This is more important than jumping from “cool visual” to “big explosion here.” Reading the blog you will be able to follow the sometimes contradictory steps we take in building Steve Rogers from the ground up, laying the foundation of WWII from the aftermath of The Great War, having him engage in battle and having him come up against an opposing force in the shape of the Red Skull who tests Cap’s mettle and makes Cap question his beliefs. Despite all of the strengths a hero possess, the villain must always appear stronger, often besting the hero before the hero discovers an important truth about himself. Only with that can the hero claim victory.

Our emails began to build toward us actually writing a screenplay. This would have been a logical extension of our searching for character and a great deal of fun for me because my script partner, Ben, is a filmmaker and would have taught me a lot about the process. This type of writing though is not light and fun, not something I could do in just 15 minutes a day. A screenplay would require more dedication and time than I could give. While a lot of material was available to work from, solutions for scenes would consume brain power, trial and error, and time. Just for a first draft. Marvel announced a Cap movie while we were still emailing. I worked a job as did Ben. We had to be content with amassing background information and knowing that the character had gotten a fair investigation by us.

Ben also writes and reminds us that being heroic and following your instincts are an important part of the human condition. What can I do? One man or woman can make a difference. Standing up for individual liberty, freedom and responsibility is what Captain America as a fictional character was all about. Tales of heroes remind us time and again to strive for a perfection of our inner virtues and live entirely without fear - the kind of life that could shine as an example to others. Honest. Open. Selfless. Compassionate. Devoted. Despite all our struggles and failings, heroes stand before us and say “Get up.” We are reminded of how life’s trials are both a sprint and a marathon and some obstacles will knock us down in the dirt. Cap got up again and again when he could have stayed down, when avoiding a stronger opponent would have kept him safe...

I am very happy with the resulting blog. I feel it represents much of the thinking we had developed on the character. As we finish our first full year, I am able to see the body of work for what it is, a love letter to Cap, to our superhero youth, and more importantly a proud remembrance of the sacrifices made by the greatest generation of Americans to secure freedom and liberty in the darkest chapter for mankind. Thank you to all who serve.

Thank you too, dear reader, for embarking on this journey with us and discovering a different Steve Rogers and a revitalized Captain America. If you have read this blog before, discover it again and if you haven’t then be prepared for a treat!

Let Freedom Ring!
RICK ARTHUR
2/4/12

Captain America: First Avenger - Double Barrel Movie Review

2011-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

This double barrel film review represents Rick and Ben's separate opinions after viewing the Captain America film. Neither knows what the other will write. It contains plenty of spoilers so don't read these reviews if you haven't yet seen the film or unless knowing details of the film won't bother you. Please enjoy and leave your own comments or reviews for us!

First Avenger: First Impressions.

Review by RICK

You Need To Go See It!
Captain America: First Avenger is a fun movie which I highly recommend. Joe Johnston needs to be credited here for succeeding in making the era and the characters come alive. I recommend it for Cap fans, comic fans, families and just about everyone - as it is designed and executed with a great deal of care toward making the story accessible. When I spoke to non-comic people who had seen the film, opinion was very high and almost universally all were surprised with just how good it was to watch. This is the sort of film that hasn't been made in a while, a thoughtful character heavy summer action blockbuster. And it also has a very sweet love story woven through it. Hats off!!

Like many movies, ambitious or not, all the cylinders did not fire properly. This is not meant to denigrate the total achievement but when they go to make another Cap film some fine tuning is in order. As evidenced by the entirety of the blog Ben and I have amassed, we might have done things a lot differently. I would like to keep my focus just on what the filmmakers themselves present, it's own logic, execution and how elements work in the whole film. I will try to keep away from blog comparisons for now.

Transformations
I was really quite impressed with the visual effect of Steve Rogers being scrawny. As the director has rightly pointed out, watching the character as played by Chris Evens as skinny and then puffed out as superhuman lends a lot of credibility to the transformation of the character. Unfortunately, later, the same trick can not be applied to show Cap changing from U.S. war bond shill to leader on the battlefield. While I feel that Chris Evans pulled off what he was asked to do, the story itself did not convincingly portray him changing to fill that role or commanding with any kind of authority later. This is too bad. One of the important parts of the character is his presence and this was not successful.

Red Skull Forever!
In the comics, this character has not always been treated as top shelf. For this film and under the direction of Johnston, Hugo Weaving makes a dynamic, complex Red Skull with a portrayal as evil, menacing, brainy and ambitious. The fact that his full reveal does not come until later in the film was masterfully done and suspenseful. I was rooting for the Red Skull to be a high class villain and was not disappointed. As far as the Skull was concerned, the only cheesy moment came when he and Cap fought and talked on the catwalk over the flaming munitions factory. The special effects were so distractingly bad that it was hard to take the dialogue seriously. Both characters also seemed to be in no real danger from the flames so as was an attempt at drama this fell painfully short. The Red Skull should command more screen time as he was very watchable thanks to the talents of Weaving.

To Be Or Not To Be?
With minor exceptions, I greatly enjoyed the acting in Captain America: First Avenger. Hugo Weaving, as stated above nails Red Skull. Chris Evans is to be congratulated. Aside from handling the obvious physical portions of the film, his expressions, tone and demeanor showed a much more subtle and reserved side that was needed to capture this character. What resulted was a performance that carried a complex, action heavy drama. There is only one quibble I will get to later. I think he performed very well as both civilian and super soldier.

The supporting cast was very solid and helped move the story along. Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter portrayed a very convincing combination of brains, strength, guts and softness. Her admiration for Steve Rogers not only seems genuine but her noticing of his character traits makes us as an audience take notice. Very skillfully done. She is beautiful and tough and you wish she had more screen time and more to do. While it is no surprise that I have liked Stanley Tucci for a long time, his brief but pivotal role as Dr. Erskine is light and masterful. The scenes where he and Evans discuss motivation really set up a lot of the rest of the movie. He is warm and genuine. Nicely acted! Many of the other supporting positions are filled with good actors giving solid turns. Toby Jones as Dr. Arnim Zola, Neal McDonough as 'Dum Dum' Dugan, Sebastian Stan as 'Bucky' Barnes all created nice little characters to fill out the action.

Disappointment was what I felt with Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Philips. Jones mailed this one in and the tone was all over the map. He looked pale and uninterested and his magnificent voice seemed to be on vacation. I expected a little more from him and was let down. Samuel L. Jackson is also a personal favorite but in his very minor scene Jackson was extra flat in no part due to his delivery. By then, Cap's story had already been told and it was really just a lead to The Avengers. If his cameos in Marvel films get any more paper thin, you'll be able to see through him. Lastly there is the curious case of Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark. I enjoyed his performance a lot but the whole inclusion of this Howard Hughes-like boy inventor/flyer/showman skews the film. He gets plugged into every plot hole and seemingly follows Rogers/Cap around through the whole movie. There is also a serious time frame issue going on as is established in the Marvel films. Won't he be way too old to be Tony Stark's father in Iron Man?

Period Piece. Marvel Fantasy.
Energy weapons during WWII? Aside from the enlistment section, it never really felt like being inside a WWII movie. When the story takes us to the streets of NY, the sets were lovingly cluttered with era artifacts, newspapers and comics. If the vehicles weren't so showroom clean, I might have been absorbed by the time period. Now I liked the fact that Cap is seen using a gun or grenade from time to time. It gives a bit of battlefield realism to his circumstances. The audience is removed from the war by focusing only on Hydra and Red Skull and they exist in a pure fantasy bubble. Before too long, everyone is running around with high tech weapons, tanks and planes. Because the real thing is scarcely established, there is no "wow" factor. Since Howard Stark is cooking up high tech of his own, there seems little desperation that forces will be decimated.

Character Revealed
One of my favorite scenes in the movie involves Col. Phillips tossing a grenade into a group of trainees. All of them scatter except Steve Rogers. He reveals by his actions that he has the most hero in him. Earlier Stanley Tucci's Dr. Erskine explains to Steve Rogers that a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power. It is meant to demonstrate that power requires responsibility. It would have been great if this theme were more intentionally echoed in the character of Captain America and the Red Skull. Wasted opportunity.

The End, Beautiful Friend, The End
The ending to this film was simply 'okay.' Believe me I wanted to like it more. The filmmakers worked incredibly hard to bring the audience to this pay off point and then seemed to not know how to finish. Sure Red Skull is vaporized by the Cosmic Cube and Cap crashes into the ice but it was done in very ho hum fashion. I was not thrilled, excited or blown away. The main reason is that despite spending a lot of time building up the characters, when the moment came they did not feel in jeopardy. Since there was no peril, I was not invested in the outcome. Cap spent more screen time chasing the spy after his transformation than he did actually fighting the Red Skull at the end.

While this was a missed opportunity, another quickly followed. Cap decided he had to crash the flying wing and spent his last ninety seconds on the line with Peggy Carter, the girl he loves. Their exchange could have been dramatic, filled with tension and heartbreaking but it was none of those things. Flat acting, directing and dialogue did not give us the nail biting relationship between two people who had come to love one another but only had a few precious seconds left. Again the tension is absent. The theatre should have been moved when Cap's transmission is cut off and Peggy is left alone. Your heart should have skipped a beat. I think about a scene in Pride of the Yankees (1942) where Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright are horsing around, both knowing that he is going to die and in a short exchange of dialogue the tension and emotion are incredibly strong. Only a few strokes to create that portrait of courage. This too was a missed chance. Not to worry. More missed chances for drama and meaning are next.

Steve Roger's reintroduction into the modern era is poorly planned and poorly executed. Although this is just a brief scene to stitch between the WWII Cap and the Avenger's Cap, it fails and contains a flat Sam Jackson and Evans uttering the line "I had a date..." I do not get the sense that he is lost and confused in the modern era and when he does deliver his line it has virtually no meaning or punch. Here is a guy who minutes earlier, in his mind, was on the radio with his sweet heart, flying a plane and knowing he would die.

HandiCap
Don't let the details fool you. I really liked this film a lot and highly recommend it. It has action, wide scope, character development, a sweet love story, solid period feel in the New York scenes and lots of heart. If Steve Rogers teaches us anything (besides how to take down a flag pole) it is that courage is a special and unique quality we should all strive for. Many happy returns Mr. Rogers.

Thanks for tuning in,
RICK

CNY - Sun., July 24, 2011

Captain America Makes Star-Spangled Splash

Review by Ben.

I made it! I made it! I just saw Captain America on the big screen! It was a mad dash (okay, not MAD, but did include some precision driving, jogging and some luck...) to the theater, but I made it to Cap and none too soon! I didn't miss a frame of Joe Johnston's fine effort. Overall, I liked the film a lot. It was fun and bold. Comparing to THOR and X-Men: First Class, I'd say I liked it as much or a little more than THOR. I have to admit though, I left the theater with the phrase "Conflict! Conflict! Conflict!" Both THOR and Cap films sagged in the middle with a lack of conflict-- that is not a lack of action, but a lack of obstacles that push the protagonist back and change the direction of the story. Captain America: First Avenger is a rubber band being stretched back...

I liked the start and the film sets up things well both in present day and back in time. Of course, it was easy to tell what the men lowered down into and what, well WHO, they would find there in the arctic. I had a flash of mixed feelings with the "present day" opening because I guess I'm was hoping to grow up with Steve rather than look back at his former life. As I say it was only a flash, but considering we spend a whole lot of time developing Steve and "Cap the Performer" and not a whole lot of time with "Cap the Soldier," we could have used the extra few minutes elsewhere. A very minor oddity involves the premise that Steve got beat up a lot is underscored to tell us that not only can he take punishment, he's not gonna give up. That's neat and all but the point is kinda' beaten into us. Being someone who was bullied when he was a scrawny kid, I oddly didn't really identify with him. He can take so much punishment... why? Because he's beaten up so much? He's not even bruised when he goes on the date, how? It doesn't quite seem to match up for me. Where does his confidence come from? Why doesn't he have any fear? There are throw-away lines about his father was a soldier who died and his mom who is/was a nurse. That's cool, but why so little about them? I guess I feel like a character from their era has to have roots and if you're in NYC, your roots are right there telling you that you have to eat more. Still, it was fun. I don't think the scene with Stark really added anything and frankly, the World of Tomorrow doesn't really fit Cap's mythos. "Come on Steve, we got a date with some hot dames." "Sorry Bucky, I told my Gramma I'd get her groceries and I'm already late." That sounds a lot more like Steve in New York to me... The face mapping putting Chris' face on the smaller actor Leander Deeny was pretty darn well done. The green screen sets were done well enough, too.

Red Skull played by Hugo Weaving was pretty cool. Commanding. They trick you into thinking he's going to have the red face, but doesn't. I loved how they stretched out his reveal. He walks in and finds the cube without any trouble really, but that's fine. Wait, who is the Hydra? Wait, does Skull believe in Hitler's plan? Wait, Skull already believes he's the master of the universe so, wait. Where's his arc? Oh well, he's cool! I really liked the fact he was Austrian. It wouldn't have been my choice, but with so many German villains, it was a cool turn.

Rubber band streeeetches... Everything with the transformation was pretty cool. I really, really liked it when Steve tells them not to stop the super soldier process and that he can take it. (His voice sounded uninhibited by the massive diving bell thing he was in, but...) He's a bit surprised by his transformation, but I never got that burst of emotion from the discovery of one's new, massive power. Similar to THOR before and after his banishment, the contrast between Steve before and after his trials is minimal. If this is so, then what drives him to be a hero? Why DOES he want to join the Army? To do is part sure, but what/who gave him that desire? I loved his run as "Cap the Performer" which was a really clever twist, but he doesn't really get all that dissatisfied with his predicament. He now has the physical ability to do what he wanted, but he's being kept from it. Again and again he tried to enlist and he wasn't going to be satisfied collecting scrap metal. Why is he only slightly bummed he's spending so much time out of the fight? After the USO scene, I would have to think he'd have been really pissed. The men he believes in and wants to join more than anything in the world jeer him. Gads! Yet, it's not until he hears Bucky and others are trapped (and he happens to be in Italy) does he finally make the break.

Streee-e-etch... I think when Steve heads to free the men is probably around the halfway point time-wise. He's easily able to infiltrate the base even though we've never even seen him so much as punch a guy as do a tumble. (Speaking of, why didn't he do any acrobatics in the film?) He frees the men and then all heck breaks loose including zappy ray guns. Red Skull watches the action through video security cams (which did exist although would have been much larger) which pushes him a bit further toward the mustache-twisting villains of serials. I love, love, love serials and actually enjoyed the serial aspect of the film, but we need real conflict here folks! The image of serial villain is solidified when Skull and Cap meet for the first time. Biff, bam pow, moo-ah-ah. Skull whips his cape and escapes. Then we get treated to a cool little cliffhanger, which was great, but the lead-up is ho hum. And Cap returns with 400 men! Hiphip, hooray! Fun stuff. Oh, and Cap has a memory for maps...

Streeeetch...... WHOOSH! The rubber band is released and film explodes into a montage that doesn't ever really stop. Once Cap assembles his team, they begin crushing all the Hydra's bases like cans a spinach. (Isn't there a war on? Shhhh! There are no Nazis...) Hydra is apparently Cobra from G.I. Joe with massive amounts of resources and enough metal and large enough factories to make ultra/mega-sized tanks. Good thing Cap and his Howling folks are so awesome, those tanks are about as hard to cut down as butter left out on a hot day. Hydra never knew what hit them! But don't they have ray guns?! Actually, I had the same reaction to that really bad G.I. Joe live action movie. Cobra somehow had ray guns, but were unfortunately really bad shots and severely disinterested in taking obvious opportunities to kill the good guys. It's never explained how Cap's shield is impervious to the also ill explained cube energy, but it sure works well. I had to look passed the UN special forces team we figured was coming. I welcomed the inclusion of non-Americans but considering America's Isolationist policies and the American internment of Japanese and Germans, it seemed a bit odd. (Shhh! That's like... history stuff!) I guess it just comes down to there being no back story for these folks. They come in and start kicking ass. Yo Joe!

Red Skull is mad. His bases are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Twist mustache. Before or after that, Bucky falls to his "death" (Hey, Cap found him being experimented on, right? Yep, he's comin' back...) in a very anti-climactic scene. By this point, I have no idea what bombed out WWII vacation spot they're in. I'm still enjoying this ride, but it seems to be heavy on the explosions and low on the emotions. We continue the near-romance with Peggy which isn't really explored, just used as a peripheral element. Everyone has started listening to Steve, which is fine, but I don't totally see why. Frontal assault. Gets them every time. Infiltrate through capture. Time honored tradition there. Then suddenly it's Star Wars. Speeder bikes are replaced by motor bikes. A huge attack force has managed to take the last base by surprise. Like, er, uhh, and we're just blaming this all on Dr. Zola not being a good tactician? Red Skull is not seeming to be the sharpest corner on the cosmic cube. ZAP! ZAP! There is ray gun fire everywhere and then... "Foiled again!" Skull just runs away again twirling his 'stashe, but this time into the really big Valkyrie flying wing. Vroom! What green screen! The Colonel drives Red Skull's fancy car with Peggy and Cap on board a hundred miles over its top speed to catch the massive aircraft (pause for kiss. Okay fine, I'll buy that cheesy goodness) and... we're on the ship. And we're off the ship flying around in X-Wing fighters complete with (robotic?) turrets firing blasters. Crash! Back on the ship. This is when I suddenly realize it's the end of the film. Wait, what? This is going to be the final fight? Already? But we just started the rapid series of action scenes... And so Cap and Skull have a pretty short and not very tense fight and WHAMMO Skull makes the mistake of beaming himself across the galaxy or somesuch with the cube thing. There's an almost touching Cap "death" scene and... the end. Crashing the airship wasn't really all that climactic because although Cap sacrifices himself, we already knew the airship failed to complete its mission (because, well, there is a future.) It just feels kind of impersonal I guess. Maybe if Red Skull had managed to drop one of the bombs on a city and we saw the devastating effects it would have felt more tense, but they're just unarmed, nonvolatile nuke-looking things with city names printed in English on them... The sequence where Steve sort-of wakes up from a dream they did to transition him to modern day was almost cool, but very see-through. Not only did we not get to see him come out of the ice a broken shell in need of healing, he just wakes up laying on a bed on top of the blankets in similar clothes as before. A half-drank lemonade on the side table. I just don't why they chose that. It's so... nothing. There is no character, no tension, no drama. Perhaps it's a Twilight Zone nod? Just seemed trite. After the credits, I was hoping for another cool scene. Unfortunately, all there was was a commercial. Really? An Avengers trailer after the credits? Really?

Although there were a (ahem) couple things I didn't like, I want to say that I did enjoy the film. Seeing Cap up on the screen was awesome. Their efforts to capture the times were great although, they seemed to forget it at times. The performances were pretty good with only a few cheesy moments. Chris did well in the role although, it seems they had trouble keeping him looking bigger than other folks. The suit turned out looking fine, but the shoulder pads on the sides never looked right. Also, it didn't work to accentuate his size I mean, he looked bigger in his performer suit... Kick-ass agent lady "Peggy" (Hayley Atwell) was well played although, her relationship with Steve was awkward at best. Her place as a woman of the world didn't really play into her almost immediate attraction to teen Steve. I totally bought that she was looking into him though which was cool, but they didn't really get enough screen time to develop the love the film makers tried to say existed between them. Tommy Lee Jones (character name unnecessary) plays a fun role even though we're not breaking new ground here. The rest of the cast was really great, Dominic Cooper was excellent as Stark. Richard Armitage was completely wasted in such a small role, but it was nice to see him. Hugo Weaving of course was great with his well done Voldemortian lack of nose. His eyes also looked huge in the red which was cool. He just didn't have very much to do. In the end, I think there were many missed opportunities and the whole lack of Nazi's and WWII was pretty lame. It places the story firmly in fantasy and loses all that possible historical and mythical weight. I was a fun film, though. Shield-flinging, serial throwback goodness worth watching!

I hope you enjoyed another double-review from Rick and I!

Thanks for reading folks!
Ben

LA - Mon., July 25, 2011

ReCap! BEN

2011-07-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Though I've reached a signpost,
It's really not the end,
Like Old Sol behind the mountain,
I'll be coming up again...
(Rush - Caress of Steel, "The Fountain of Lamneth")

Life is interesting in its endings and beginnings—especially these days how quickly they come and go. Even if you don't know where you're going, all roads lead somewhere so it's best to pay attention! And what a trip it's been. As both Rick and I have said a number of times, neither of us expected to write all these notes and emails on myths and shields and Cap, let alone a blog. There was just something that felt very right about asking these questions. Cap is a character largely viewed out of step with modern characters and we dared disagree—to the extent of saying Cap is exactly the character we need right now. There is nothing wrong with real patriotism or being proud of freedom and democracy. It just takes... tact. You can't force someone to believe in freedom. There's a wonderful line in the venerable western film High Noon which says it pretty dern well...

"People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it."
-Lon Chaney, Jr. as "Martin Howe"

I believe that people can get so run down they can't see that there's another way, but you can't force them to see it. Cap's power is his ability to inspire and that's what I would love for this weekend's film to say.

Right this moment, I'm sitting in the epicenter of the pop culture universe—San Diego Comic-Con. No joke! Tis' a wild and wooly, crazy and amazing collision of fan, creator and Commerce. (One can't help but hear Commerce pleading 'Please buy this. We love you all and you'll love us, really you will...') I'm happy to report that Cap is out in force with many fans dressing as the classic AND film version of the character. That's just great to see and shows how much impact this character has—that is, for folks to put so much time and effort to create a costume, that's pretty neat. It's great to see him get some deserved attention. I hope they all get out to the movie this weekend! Looking around the Con though, it reminds me that right now there is much less money being invested into any venture that's not seen as profitable in the short term. Areas such as the humanities—art, language, history, writing—and even scientific research, other than pharmaceuticals, have seen a big

drop in investment and grants. Creative types and researchers alike must invest more of themselves to compete for less money. Also, the quality of the art, whether it be film, comic book, video game or novel, varies widely with much more product hitting the market, yet most of it being lower in quality. Joseph Campbell said, in his 1988 interviews by Bill Moyers in The Power of Myth series, that interest in myth was waning and that disinterest would be an increasing detriment to our culture and our quality of life. I think he's quite right. Myths are essential to our cultural identity and even inspired JRR Tolkien to dedicate years of his life to writing a new myth for England in The Lord of the Rings. Star Wars is often referred to when talking about modern myth as well as the fact that it is one of the biggest franchises ever and also set the 'blockbuster' mold. We can add to that a number of other popular billion dollar franchises including Lord of Rings/The Hobbit, but perhaps none is larger than the mythic phenomenon of Harry Potter. Decades younger than Star Wars, the worth of the Harry Potter brand is already estimated at around $15 billion, about half of Star Wars' worth. JK Rowling has almost single-handedly sprouted an entire generation of new readers from her books alone—an absolutely wonderful achievement. An achievement directly inspired by myth. My hope is that this generation will bring about a rebirth of myth although, it will never happen without your help. Encourage young creatives to continue and take heart that while their work may not be seen for how much it contributes to the human race today, but if we all work together and keep trying to create the best art possible, it will happen.

So Ben, what's next? Next is actually another film! This Fall Runic Films will be going into production of our first Western short film named Cowboy Creed. A genuine article, the screenplay was influenced in part by my conversations with Rick. The old west is more mythic than some may realize. It's an amazing genre to work in and I think folks will really enjoy the visuals (a mix of beauty and grit), the dialog (bold, yet crafty) and the gun-slinging action (with a twist!) but also indelible characters who you'll truly care about. I want to hear cheers in the theater again! We'll have lots more announcements about Cowboy Creed soon so, please keep your eyes peeled on http://runicfilms.com.

All right partners, I'll wrap it up here. Many thanks to all the travelers who have come with us, will come with us and the many who made this journey possible. Love and comfort to you all and as always, thanks for watching.

Ben Alpi
7/21/11

ONE TITANIC POST LEFT!!

MONDAY!! DON'T MISS OUR DOUBLE BARRELED
Captain America: First Avenger Movie Review!!

ReCap! RICK

2011-07-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Thoughts and Thanks by Rick.

Before we get too far along, there are two BIG posts left in the series after this one. Friend, collaborator and filmmaker Ben Alpi will have some space of his own to say thank you and then we will have a double trouble film review of Captain America: First Avenger. Do not miss these upcoming posts!

I would like first of all to thank God for his many blessings. Without His love and guidance none of this would have been possible. Ben Alpi deserves a huge round of applause here as well. For more than four years, he worked tirelessly, patiently and helped provide an environment where my constant questioning and tinkering were acceptable. My brother, Doug Arthur, also an artist, filmmaker and musician constantly supported my efforts with his own wild brand of enthusiasm which has been of tremendous help to me through the years. My parents, who have watched me go through a lot of different phases, have always told me to get a real job but supported my decisions when I didn't. Simon and Kirby who created Cap at the right time and the right place. Wife Lynn whom I love most of all for putting up with my extremely late nights, especially this past year. Thank you one and all.

Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth did not start out as a blog at all. Ben and I simply traded emails back and forth for three years, then collected them, then made posts out of that. Our original intent was simply to have fun and explore what Cap might be like if we were going to make a two hour movie. I have told Ben many times that the best part of the blog was the conversational tone. He gave me a lot of leeway to run with plot or character points that were off the beaten path. Taken as a whole, the blog paints a rich picture of not only Steve Rogers and Captain America but the time in which both exist.

We discovered many things along the way. First that the Super Soldier serum was in the works since the end of World War I and The Flu Epidemic of 1918. This is important to the story because Steve Rogers will not be a random recipient of the serum. Rather, he has been in the testing pool since birth and has been very sick his whole life. Next we see that Captain America is used as both a symbol and a target, to inspire hope in the troops and draw fire from the Nazis. Lastly, Red Skull is painted in the darkest possible light, evil to the core. His plans for power stem from his complete feeling of superiority. In the end, Cap defeats the Red Skull only to be frozen in ice himself. The serum in his veins being the only thing that saves him until he is rescued in the modern era by the Avengers.

I like a lot of the details we were able to create and how even with the inclusion of real world facts, the Cap myth can easily be adapted. His journey follows the course laid out for mythic heroes. He travels to a foreign land in order to defeat an unbeatable foe. He is victorious but is hampered in returning to celebrate his victory.

I ask the question often in the beginning, "How do you write a character with seventy years worth of background for a two hour modern film?" With respect to all that we have written before this, the answer has got to be that staying faithful to the comics is impossible. Each comic writer puts their own stamp on Cap and details are very often contradictory. Writing the character and capturing the spirit of the material is a much better bet. It makes more sense from both a writing perspective and as a practical matter for writing a screenplay. So having undertaken this project, it is more apparent to me than ever why film does not faithfully follow the comics they adapt.

This has been a tremendous experience. I have learned a great deal working with Ben on this project. The amount of writing, research and creative thinking required leads me to the conclusion that preparation for the characters in a script can not be too exhaustive. It was only after delving into Cap's childhood and building his background scene by scene that I was able to understand Cap/Steve Rogers as a person. I know this is the first time I have ever constructed a character in this fashion or worked on a collaboration of this depth. In the end Steve Rogers became a real person as a boy, a young man and as Captain America. We built him from the ground up. At this point the exercise of creating Cap, which could be used to develop any character, is what would have allowed me to write a draft of a screenplay. Alas, this challenge will have to stand for now. The amount of brain power and time required to pound out even the roughest of drafts is enormous. Personally I can not justify doing so on a piece of spec - especially a property owned by someone else and already being developed into multiple properties.

I would have loved to have done this too. The fleshing out of the script using the version of Cap we had just made would have been fantastic. I think between Ben and I, we could have written a decent first draft... Writing an actual script would have taken quite a while longer and chewed up all my "free" time. I understand that profoundly. I have several projects that have been waiting quietly, patiently for me to finish this one. If I started a script it could be several more months or a year or more (combined with time already spent) and I can't be away from illustration and comics projects for that long. I am heartened by the fact that my combination of creativity and visual storytelling would suit me well writing in a screenplay environment.

I want to thank all the readers who have found this blog. Sharing our little gold mine of Cap information was made more enjoyable by support from dedicated readers. Those who followed us went on a journey of discovering in which they were treated to real discussions about character, place, plot, theory, practical writing and filmmaking. I am happy to have been involved and was able to contribute to the degree that I could.

I also recommend going back to the beginning and rereading the posts. It is one of the first things I will do when this is concluded. I particularly like the scenes we drafted but I also find myself drawn into the discussions as well. I think Ben and I are planning to leave this blog up for a while. It will be monitored and tweaked regularly, comments will be posted and art added from time to time. The same way in which our original emails were not intended for a blog, this content too may find itself reshaped. It seems wasteful to let such intense examinations sit idle. No promises but while we conclude... I don't think we are exactly finished with young Steve Rogers.

Again, I thank you all.

RICK
12:25pm, Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Central NY, U.S.A.

My talented brother Doug has a few links:

Official Tales from the Dougside Fan Club Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49113940114

Tales From The Dougside - Doug's gallery of comics. Great stuff!
http://www.dougside.50megs.com/homepage.html

The Flaming Schwarzkopf Experience Official Facebook page - Doug creates music!!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94862724188

TWO TITANIC POSTS LEFT!!

Enjoy Ben's ReCap and our finishing big double
barreled Captain America: First Avenger Movie Review!
Don't miss them!!

There are three movies that I am exceptionally proud of in my life, and I rarely commit to a list of films that I like, that I've made, ... but these are the three films that I was passionately connected to. The first was ET, the second Schindler's List, and third is Saving Private Ryan.
-Steven Spielberg

The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.
-Alfred Hitchcock

Cap Reference Archive

2011-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Links. Books. Film. TV. Thoughts. Some influences and suggestions.

This section is an eclectic collection of links and suggestions for books and films. Some of them have to deal directly with Captain America while others deal with WWII, myths, screenwriting and a lot of influences that inspired the collective work that is Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth. It should be noted also that certain items have been included just to get the mental gears turning or for entertainment value.

For example, we didn't use this to inform our overall opinion but for entertainment purposes, check out Matt Salinger in the 1990 Captain America film. This is the IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103923/

Pre-WWII History

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison,"it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."
Quick George Washington bio from the official White House site.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington

Benjamin Franklin bio
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/franklin.htm

Timeline for Declaration of Independence
via Google Images

Revolutionary War flags
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&q=revoltionary+war+flag&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1000&bih=755

1776 the Musical: The Film - IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068156/

Quick bio of Thomas Jefferson
http://www.biography.com/articles/Thomas-Jefferson-9353715

Abe Lincoln bio
http://www.biography.com/articles/Abraham-Lincoln-9382540

Abraham Lincoln was the president that held together the union—by force
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln

1918 Flu Epidemic timeline
http://www.twoop.com/medicine/archives/2005/10/1918_spanish_flu.html

PBS site re: 1918 Flu Epidemic
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/influenza/

Flu Epidemic additional info
http://www.zkea.com/archives/archive02002.html

The Great Depression timeline
http://www.amatecon.com/gd/gdtimeline.html

WWII History

Post WWII History

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower bio
http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_leaders1

Statue of Liberty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

Film

Article about the black and white serials.
http://www.conquerorword.com/cap_republic_serial.html

The Empty Mirror. A great narative film about how imagery was used by Hitler and the Riech.
http://www.emptymirror.com/

Interview with Syd Field
http://www.absolutewrite.com/screenwriting/syd_field.htm

Detail how to write a screenplay
http://www.screenwriting.info/

Few words about Steven Spielberg
http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/steven-spielberg/biography/119

Few words about George Lucus
http://www.biography.com/articles/George-Lucas-9388168

Comic Books

Wiki for Joe Simon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Simon

Joe Simon website
http://www.simoncomics.com/

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics
http://blog.newsok.com/nerdage/2011/07/01/captain-america-co-creator-joe-simon-tells-life-story-in-new-book/

Kirby Cap moments in comics
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/02/15/jack-kirby-captain-america-awesome/

Illustrated biography of Jack Kirby
http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/kirby.htm

Jack Kirby Comic Art Community
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=55

Jack Kirby v. Marvel
http://www.thecomicarchive.com/archives/771

Comic Wars. Fascinating read about what killed Marvel and brought it back...
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/comicwars/timeline.html

Images for Captain America (lot of covers)
via Google images

Literature and Myth

Joeseph Campbell Foundation
http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php

Joseph Campbell biography
http://www.biography.com/articles/Joseph-Campbell-9236309

Thomas Paine
http://www.biography.com/articles/Thomas-Paine-9431951

University Writing Center

http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/2008/how-to/creative/character-develpoment-creative-writing/

Brent Weeks gives writing advice
http://www.brent weeks.com/extras/writing-advice/

Character arc & Development
http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Character.htm

Writing Character Driven Fantasy. This guy has an interesting take.
http://www.mythicscribes.com/interviews/writing-character-driven-fantasy/

There you have it! We have left plenty of things out. For example, Steve Rogers was interest in the Revolutionary War and the Founding Fathers but by no means have we offered enough links exhausting the subject. Let us know what you think. If you have additional links, let us know and we may post them.

Some of our favorite links are for the found footage, much in black and white. It really brings the war up close and personal. The same can be said for the holocaust survivors' footage. You connect with this part of history unlike any other. WWII provided dark challenges and dramatic choices. There was no shortage of famous players who stepped in at the right time to prevent world destruction.

We hope this odd listing of links and suggestions goes a long way toward underscoring the importance of research when putting a character together for any reason. Captain America happened to be born in extraordinary times when change swept the entire globe. Most of what we looked for involved developing an idea we started with and using research to confirm and or augment it. Case in point, the 1918 Flu Epidemic which wiped out 20% of the world's total population. We wanted some huge cause to fit with the effect of developing the Super Soldier serum. This important historical event was one of the first triggers that developed the story of how Captain America came to be. Without the research, he be just a lucky, scrawny, sickly kid pulled out of an enlistment line...

Vist this Reference Archive as often as you like and feel free to send suggestions.

Thanks!
Ben, Rick & the folks at Runic Films

THREE BIG POSTS LEFT!!!

Don't miss them!!!
(That is, before you have to start over and read from the beginning!!)

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 5

2011-07-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: I think y'all get the picture so I'm going to add a couple of notes at the end. Enjoy the show!

SUMMARY PT. 1, 2, 3 & 4
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap. They come face to face and must fight. We pick up the story as Cap has just beaten Red Skull.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 5

Continued from last post...INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
...Cap lands a flurry of lefts and rights until Red Skull collapses on top of a stack of crates.

RED SKULL
(weakly)
How far will you go? What are you willing to do to stop me...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Until I have beaten you. That is how far.

RED SKULL
You have proven to be rather resilient Captain America.

Cap turns to find Red Skull standing, leaning heavily against some crates. He is obviously injured and cupping both hands against his chest.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
You are defeated Skull and I will take you to justice.

RED SKULL
My scientists argued against it. Said it could never work. He understood. When
I went to him with the idea of this craft, he wanted thousands of them to fill the
skies over London as troop and ammunitions carriers. It would have been
victory plucked out of the jaws of defeat.

Cap prepares to launch his shield.

Red Skull takes out a fresh cigar, pinches it and lights it taking a big puff.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Come with me now.

RED SKULL
This prototype was almost ready in the spring of this year but I could see
where things were going. Imagine forcing 60 year old men and teenage
boys into combat. It was one of many signs Steve Rogers.
Do you follow my meaning?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
H-how do you know know my name?

RED SKULL
Your name? I know many things about you. Your parents, where you are from
and I know your many illnesses. Yes I do. This should have made you bitter
about your country I would have thought.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I love my country.

RED SKULL
...And you have proven it many times over.
(Takes long puff on cigar)
Do you ever ask yourself, "why me?" Has it ever occurred to you to question
your fate? How did you find yourself at Project Rebirth. Surely, there were
other candidates more qualified than you...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I was pulled out of line at an enlistment center...

RED SKULL
Why? Why do you think that was? You were so frail. Why did you get pulled
aside? Wouldn't everyone else in that line have been better?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
You are trying to confuse me. They wanted to offer me a chance...

RED SKULL
A chance? What if I told you it was no coincidence? What if I told you you were
picked out of that line because I, the Red Skull, wanted you picked out?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Just keep quiet.

Cap takes two steps forward and clenches a mighty fist. Red Skull leans even more heavily.

RED SKULL
Project Rebirth was started by three of my German researchers in 1919, working
in America. Did you know that? The secret nature of their undertaking gave them
free reign. One is still alive and working for your government. Can you believe it?
The first batch of subjects was selected at random in 1924, the year you were
born. When you were three a bad strain wiped out all of the other subjects.
Yet, you survived, curiously.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Are you saying I was born into the program? I don't believe you.

RED SKULL
No. I am saying you were the program. Batch after batch produced high mortality
rates yet you always seemed to survive each test. Your parents could not have
been any more concerned for you. You are 17 and trying to sign up, Japan
had bombed Pearl Harbor and we were now all in the war together.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Why are you telling me this?

RED SKULL
Don't you see Stevie, that's what your mother called you. I started the program!
I knew who you were and working in America was the only safe place to keep
the formula and the research away from the prying eyes that would have
perverted it. I wanted it for the Fatherland, for myself. I needed just one
more test. I needed you Steve to perfect my formula. When you
succeeded I had the equation for the serum sent to me.

Do you know what I had in my hands? Do you realize what I had gone through to get it?
Yet something got lost. In haste, mistakes were made. People got killed. Something vital in
English didn't make it to Germany or through Enigma. My experience, the hope for
power and glory, did not kill me but left me like...
(motions hand over face)
...this.

For the first time, Cap seems to know what Red Skull is telling him.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Why would you do this?

RED SKULL
Have you not been paying any attention? Why? Building a master race
is just a stepping stone. Your chemistry and mine are almost identical.
We are a lot like brothers....

CAPTAIN AMERICA
You disgust me. Millions have died. Millions. For what? Petty dreams of power?

Red Skull pulls his lighter out of his vest pocket. With a flick of his wrist the lighter opens up into some kind of gadget.

RED SKULL
Never liked the cold. To produce a flash freeze heat exchange effect...

Cap launches himself at Red Skull, covering the distance in a heart beat. He smashes the Red Skull with a powerful right upper cut. The lighter flies from his hand as the Skull sprawls on the deck.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
How do I shut it off? What is it doing?

The temperature in the craft has gotten noticeably higher. Cap picks Skull up by the shirt collar and brings his face in close. Barrels of fuel begin exploding one at a time in the background. Fire is now everywhere.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!

RED SKULL
(Whispering)
You have beaten me today Steve Rogers but you'll never
take me alive...

Cap looks and sees the girls have vanished. The steel of the structure groans and pops. Enormous waves of heat cloud Cap's vision. Wings of aircraft are now engulfed in flame.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
How do we get out of here?

RED SKULL
The girls have taken the only escape pod. We are a quarter mile underneath the
surface of the ice. I am going to brave the heat. You'll want to get out soon.

Red Skull opens a panel in the floor. Flames shoot forty feet upward. The Red Skull grits his teeth and salutes Cap.

RED SKULL
See you in Hell my boy...

Red Skull slides himself into the opening and immediately starts screaming. It looks as though he becomes charred ash before Cap's eyes. Cap tries to get close to where Skull was but it is impossible. Flames are now eating everything. Crates are going up. The area is a hellish inferno. Cars explode, ammo explodes, fuel explodes, paint starts melting off the tanks. Underneath Cap's feet he hears gears whirring out of control.

The only way out looked like the water in the middle of the structure. As he takes a huge gulp of air, makes the leap, feet first, arms at his sides and before he hits the water, the flash freeze effect kicks in. The temperature drops rapidly. By the time he hits the water, he is already encased in a layer of four to five inches of ice. The entire vessel is frozen solid in a block of ice - not to be distinguishable from an iceberg from the air.

We pull back to see the surface with all the ice and snow. There is not a human being stirring and Captain America is nowhere to be see.

A plane flies overhead.

PILOT
These the coordinates?

CO-PILOT
There's nothing here but ice.

PILOT
If he's out here, he's a popsicle.

CO-PILOT
Old man wants a search. We gotta' give it to him.

PILOT
Enough fuel for one more pass. Get the charts out.

CO-PILOT
Seems to be a magnetic disturbance.

PILOT
Call it in. We're no heroes.

CO-PILOT
Roger that...

END PT. 5
RED SKULL: ENDING

The scene you have just read was actually written to be more narrative than in a screenplay format. Also, it is very long compared to the amount of time on screen. To make this screen worthy, it needs to be cut in half and then cut down again in half. The action should be tighter and more dramatic. The dialogue should be crisper, shorter and more compact. In short, this acts more as a narrative guide for doing the actual first draft than as a stand alone. Still, the story of Cap's descent into the bowels of the ship to confront the Red Skull is a great place to start writing.

The action begins after the Teaser Trailer: The Cold (Emails #28). Cap has been severely beaten by the Red Skull who no longer sees him as any threat. As we discover, Bucky has been killed before these scenes start. Since the entirety of the narrative is not known, it is hard to say what is appropriate to include. This would definitely be rewritten but I place Cap specifically in three water related dangers before the final situation. First, with water over his head, Cap must retrieve the SS dagger. Second, after battling the two huge Nazi soldiers, Cap must dive in icy water to open the hatch to the lower level. Third, Cap is struck by the auto and forced into the circular opening. Each time he escapes. His final encounter ends him in a block of ice to be thawed later by the Avengers.

Red Skull must perish by fire! Fire is kinetic, hot, passionate, cleansing and symbolic of sacrifice. It also makes his exit different than Cap's. It is also a nasty, horrible way to die and decidedly painful. This can't really kill him however. His healing factor will kick in to repair the damage but could take years to do so... Think of him as a poisonous black snake with red and white markings who sheds several layers of skin to escape his enemy and fight again some day. Red Skull is power hungry, evil and arrogant. Yet, with these qualities comes paranoia. He has backup plans, escape plans, hidden weapons, hidden allies and an over abundance of ruthlessness. What is not to love?

At the end of this scene, many questions remain. In subsequent drafts more of these questions could be answered and the story chopped down and put into a more suitable screenplay format. Writing is always about taking ideas and crafting them into their finished shape. Sometimes this process is easy and other times it is extremely difficult. The act of writing demands a keen eye for detail, patience, tenacity and a willingness to sacrifice material that doesn't serve the whole.

The journey we have taken here with Cap and the Red Skull (take a bow, gentlemen) has now reached a fork in the road. Either way you go, the important lesson of searching for character and using creativity to stretch the limits of imagination in shaping those characters has been paramount. Some, including writers, dismiss the idea of using guides like the outline for the hero's journey proposed by Joseph Campbell or the three act screenplay method described by Syd Field. There is a difference in those who write FOR structure and those who start with structure. I can't think of a better way to learn anything than to start by studying proven methods and actual cases.

VE Day! What a newsreel folks! I hope you have enjoyed this Saturday matinee 5-parter featuring Captain America and his arch nemesis the Red Skull! Next we will present a cartoon and a dusty western featuring Gene Autry!

THANK YOU!!

Rick Arthur, Cartoonist, Central New York - 06/30/2011.

Bravo Rick! Well done, my friend. In today's post I would only say that it needs to be a little clearer as to what kind of structure they're in, what Skull drops into and what the freeze effect is. Of course, in any other situation, we'd have an entire film to prep the audience for this so, no biggie. It was fun! Thanks for writing. Onward to the draw-up to the First Avenger release! Hey, funny you mention Gene Autry...

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 4

2011-07-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: Like 1-3, I'll comment after the first go-through of Rick's script.

SUMMARY PT. 1, 2 & 3
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap. They come face to face and must fight.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 4

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
Cap and the Red Skull stand a few feet apart. Cap is looking for an opening.

RED SKULL
You are totally out matched. Why don't you simply give up. No one would
know except you and I. If you found yourself back in Europe or in the
States and told them I got away, it wouldn't be a lie.

Cap swings with his right and connects hard then follows it with a knee to the chest and another right. Red Skull staggers.

RED SKULL
Is that all you've got? (Wipes trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with
the back of his hand) That Super Soldier Serum you have in
your veins is only going to make you my punching bag.

Red Skull springs into action and chops Cap on the neck before he can bring his shield up. Then several lefts to the torso and a powerful right to the gut. Cap buckles and collapses to one knee. Red Skull places a mighty kick behind Cap's ear and he is down on hands and knees. Red Skull stands over Cap shouting. Spit flies with every word.

RED SKULL
Is this what you wanted?! Weren't you going to take me back for justice? Your friend put up
more of a fight than this. Nobody cares about you and your pathetic laws. You are weak
and inferior. I will crush you Captain America. Who are you doing this for anyway?

"Who are you doing this for anyway?" echoes high in the rafters.

RED SKULL
Stay down and I will get my butcher's knife and section you up right now!!

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Gypsies, homosexuals, Jews.
(raises to one elbow)
Undesirables.
(raises to one knee)
The German people, all the people of Europe, all the people of the world
(stands)
Everyone rounded up and tortured, raped and murdered.
For Bucky, for Hilda. But I do this for myself Red Skull because I believe in Justice.
(clenches fists)

Red Skull is aghast. How can this man be standing right now? Cap launches at him and tackles the Red Skull in his mid section sending both of them tumbling. Before they hit the ground, Red Skull draws one of his guns and starts firing. The bullets ping off Cap's shield. Cap rolls to get away and finds cover behind rows of crates. Red Skull continues firing until he runs out of bullets then grabs his second gun and continues firing.

RED SKULL
Don't hide from me!!! You are too brightly painted and garish to remain unseen.

Red Skull stops at one of the crates, opens it and grabs new guns and ammo. This time they have bullets that will pierce Cap's shield. Each shell makes a distinctive sound when fired and the wooden crates disintegrate when hit. Cap runs dodging shrapnel.

Red Skull fires at where he thinks Cap is. Wood splinters again and again until finally, Red Skull starts shooting at cars. On the second shot, an engine explodes in a fireball. Cap is thrown the the steel deck. Both men pause at the introduction of fire.

RED SKULL
These bullets can punch holes in your shield! I'll put one through
your heart. I'll put one through your eye!

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Can't they also go through the hull of this ship?

Red Skull fires at the sound of Cap's voice. Then he looks around. The fire is spreading A hull breach could spell the end of his plans. Red Skull now runs for the front compartment. He jams the controls "forward" and grabs the three girls and brings them out. They are crying.

RED SKULL
Save them Captain America. Like you saved Hilda. Come out where I can see you.

Captain America launches his shield at the Red Skull and hits his wrist so hard it nearly takes his hand off. But, the shield fails to return.

RED SKULL
(Makes injured hand into a fist. You can hear bones grinding)
Electromagnetism, that is what drives this ship. Your shield will not return to you.

Red Skull runs full tilt at Cap, jumps a stack of crates and knocks Cap skidding to the floor. He lands punch after punch, striking as hard as he can. Fire burns around them and has caught more of the vehicles. We see flame lick toward a single barrel marked fuel in German and then the camera pulls back to reveal a large number of barrels.

RED SKULL
I alone. I - AM - SUP - ERIORRR!!!

Cap twists and is able to throw Red Skull off. He follows this with a powerful kick which sends Red Skull reeling. Red Skull scrambles and is lost in the smoke and flame. Now Cap can not see his foe. Suddenly, a flaming car parked in the row comes to life and speeds toward Cap, hitting him and throwing him into the open circular area of water. As the car sinks beneath the waves and vanishes, Red Skull peers over the edge satisfied that this has killed Captain America.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Water can't seem to kill me today Red Skull.

Sopping wet, Cap appears a few feet away. He pulls himself up and out and rolls once on the flooring before coming at the Red Skull in a half crouch. Red Skull throws off the attack. Red Skull then lands a kick to Cap's face and follows with a barrage of punches. Cap sways on his feet but won't go down.

RED SKULL
I'll offer you one of the girls to leave now. You have my word that it is not a trick and they are all quite...flexible... My plans require me to be elsewhere.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Bribery. I can not take your offer. That is beneath such a superior man. Getting tired? Your Super Formula is going to make you my prisoner today.

RED SKULL
Never. I will never be your prisoner. You disgust me with your weakness and
your dreams of justice and liberty. Only the strong will be allowed to live...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I will not give up.

Cap presses forward and grabs Red Skull's hand before he can fire his gun. He crushes the hand and you can hear bones snap. Cap smashes Red Skull several times to the stomach and doubles him completely over in pain. Cap lands a flurry of lefts and rights until Red Skull collapses on top of a stack of crates.

RED SKULL
How far will you go? What are you willing to do to stop me... (weakly)

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Until I have beaten you. That is how far.

Cap punches Red Skull directly in the face, dislodging a tooth. He is down for the count. Cap walks over and picks up his shield. The girls are huddled next to a car crying, flames still burning in the background.

END PT. 4
RED SKULL: ENDINGS

This was not what I had originally envisioned for an ending yet I find this conclusion somewhat satisfying as far as utilizing elements from the character write up. If Ben and I were to write this, it would get many facelifts or total reworks. Some of the questions we might ask are:

What is the major action, theme and dialogue in this scene?
How do the personalities of the two characters create a situation where their conflict MUST be resolved?
Does the action follow an ascending rhythm?
Do the characters take risks?
How will it translate to film?
Does the finish justify the previous two hours of build up?
Can it be condensed? Then condensed again?
Does this satisfy a hero's journey?
Have all the major ideas in the film lead to this point?
Is the conclusion predictable and dull?
Does the emotional content hold the reader's/viewer's attention?
Is there a specific response that the ending of this film calls for from the viewer?
How many times does it need to be rewritten?

Indeed. Now, on to reviewings!

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
Cap and the Red Skull stand a few feet apart. Cap is looking for an opening.

Cap swings with his right and connects hard then follows it with a knee to the chest and another right. Red Skull staggers.

RED SKULL
Is that all you've got?
(Wipes trickle of blood) <<can end here or similar
That Super Soldier Serum you have in your veins is only
going to make you my punching bag.

"Who are you doing this for anyway?" echoes high in the rafters. << Perhaps HIS WORDS ECHO THROUGH THE HANGAR.

RED SKULL
Stay down and I will get my butcher's knife and section you up right now!

RED SKULL
Don't hide from me!!! You are too brightly painted and garish to remain unseen.

Red Skull stops at one of the crates, opens it and grabs new guns and ammo. This time they have bullets that will pierce Cap's shield. Each shell makes a distinctive sound when fired and the wooden crates disintegrate when hit. Cap runs dodging shrapnel. << Just need to trim this a bit.

Red Skull fires at where he thinks Cap is. Wood splinters again and again until finally, Red Skull starts shooting at cars. On the second shot, an engine explodes in a fireball. Cap is thrown the the steel deck. Both men pause at the introduction of fire.

RED SKULL
These bullets can punch holes in your shield! I'll put one through
your heart. I'll put one through your eye!

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Can't they also go through the hull of this ship?

<< I didn't know they were on a ship-- that would need to be more clear. We have to know the geography so it's easy to imagine the events.
Red Skull fires at the sound of Cap's voice. Then he looks around. The fire is spreading A hull breach could spell the end of his plans. Red Skull now runs for the front compartment. He jams the controls "forward" and grabs the three girls and brings them out. They are crying.

RED SKULL
Save them Captain America. Like you saved Hilda. Come out where I can see you.

Captain America launches his shield at the Red Skull and hits his wrist so hard it nearly takes his hand off. But, the shield fails to return.

RED SKULL
(Makes injured hand into a fist. You can hear bones grinding)
Electromagnetism, that is what drives this ship. Your shield will not return to you.

Red Skull runs full tilt at Cap, jumps a stack of crates and knocks Cap skidding to the floor. He lands punch after punch, striking as hard as he can. Fire burns around them and has caught more of the vehicles. We see flame lick toward a single barrel marked "FUEL" in German and then the camera pulls back to reveal a large number of barrels.

RED SKULL
I alone. I - AM - SUP - ERIORRR!!!

Cap twists and is able to throw Red Skull off. He follows this with a powerful kick which sends Red Skull reeling. Red Skull scrambles and is lost in the smoke and flame. Now Cap can not see his foe. Suddenly, a flaming car parked in the row comes to life and speeds toward Cap, hitting him and throwing him into the open circular area of water. << Okay, this is new. To set this up it would probably be easiest to go into some detail back when Skull first enters this location. As the car sinks beneath the waves and vanishes, Red Skull peers over the edge satisfied that this has killed Captain America.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Water can't seem to kill me today Red Skull.

Probably move this portion to before he speaks. <<Sopping wet, Cap appears a few feet away. He pulls himself up and out and rolls once on the flooring before coming at the Red Skull in a half crouch.>> Red Skull throws off the attack. Red Skull then lands a kick to Cap's face and follows with a barrage of punches. Cap sways on his feet but won't go down.

RED SKULL
I'll offer you one of the girls to leave now. You have my word that it is not a trick
and they are all quite...flexible... My plans require me to be elsewhere.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Bribery. I can not take your offer. That is beneath such a superior man. Getting tired?
Your Super Formula is going to make you my prisoner today.

RED SKULL
Never. I will never be your prisoner. You disgust me with your weakness and
your dreams of justice and liberty. Only the strong will be allowed to live...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I will not give up.

<< I like that Skull tempts him, but probably could be cut way down in future drafts.
Cap presses forward and grabs Red Skull's hand before he can fire his gun. He crushes the hand and you can hear bones snap. Cap smashes Red Skull several times to the stomach and doubles him completely over in pain. Cap lands a flurry of lefts and rights until Red Skull collapses on top of a stack of crates.

RED SKULL
(weakly) << goes here/before
How far will you go? What are you willing to do to stop me...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Until I have beaten you. That is how far.

Cap punches Red Skull directly in the face, dislodging a tooth. He is down for the count. Cap walks over and picks up his shield. The girls are huddled next to a car crying, flames still burning in the background.

Ouch! Nice! A good first pass. Of course, there could be a lot of trimming in subsequent drafts and I think Skull's motivations could be clearer-- like if he does have the upper hand, why try bribery? It's not bad to be sure, but I feel like Skull needs to be beaten down a bit more before he's desperate enough for that. All in the rewrites! What happens next?! Can't wait 'til Friday for the finale!

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 3

2011-07-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil bent on destroying the world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice AND the Red Skull must get away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat.

BEN: Like last time, I'll comment after the first go-through of his script.

SUMMARY PT. 1 & 2
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine.
Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull. We soon discover that the Red Skull has other plans for Cap.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 3

INT. SUBMARINE - BRIG
Captain America stands in the doorway of the compartment, shield in hand. The stinging, icy water filling the area and the hallway is now just above the knee. Lights flicker. The sound of rushing water and twisting metal becomes louder. Cap sees a pipe overhead marked "Hot Water" in German and decides to take a right down the corridor. No sign of Hilda or the Red Skull.

He goes through a hatch which he has to force open because of the water and comes to a shaft leading downward. He slides down using just the handrails. This level has less water in it, up to the shins. The ship gives a great shudder and the groaning and breaking of metal can be heard everywhere. Cap only has minutes to get out. At that moment, the electric lights go out and Cap is in pitch blackness with the water rising rapidly. Which way to turn?

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
The Red Skull walks the girls into a front compartment.

RED SKULL
Mein Fuhrer did not like to retreat but it is time for me to get started and pop the champagne.

INT. SUBMARINE - CORRIDOR
Cap closes his eyes.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Heavenly Father, grant me strength for what I must do...

Cap hears a loud scream, a young woman.

At the end of the corridor, Cap sees the only light. A sign in German marked "ACHTUNG" and he heads toward it. In the rising water, he is not alone. Two huge shapes come toward him wielding a fire axe and a huge wrench.

FIRST NAZI
You shall die here, weakling Amerikaner.

SECOND NAZI
Do you bleed red, white and blue? Let's cut you open and see.

RED SKULL
I expected you earlier but you Americans are decidedly late for everything.
(Still 30 yards away - there is an echo)
I knew I could count on Hilda. She was always, shall we say, sensitive.
You on the other hand were quite a gamble.
(10 yards away)
I had to find out how strong your desire to kill me was and now I know.

Red Skull now stands three feet away and Cap still has to squint. Just then a loud metal on metal scraping noise came from above. Cap's eyes adjusted. The Red Skull was dressed in black shoes, black pants, black shirt and black tie. A skull clasp on his tie and a cigar in his mouth. A glass of champagne in one hand.

RED SKULL
The submarine was actually docked to us and not the other way around. The craft we
are on now is a prototype. We will not sink like the Titanic in iceberg infested waters.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I have come to bring you in to stand trial.

RED SKULL
I am sure you have. I am in the middle of a going away party. Don't darken my mood.

Cap rises to his feet, shaky.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
For crimes during war you must be brought to justice. For crimes against humanity you must be
brought to justice. For killing Bucky you must be brought to justice.

Red Skull sips his champagne and smashes the glass against the floor.

RED SKULL
Only the victors get to decide what is a crime! The Nazis are defeated but I AM NOT! Your weakling
friend dared challenge me. In the end, he begged me for mercy and I gave it to him, point blank in the head...

Cap takes a giant swing at Red Skull but he catches Cap's fist and holds it in a vice-like grip.

RED SKULL
I was going to offer you a duel at twenty paces (glances at two guns on hip) but now I am going to
teach you a lesson. I am superior to you in every way. I am going to enjoy crushing you and
keeping you alive long enough so I can cut you up a piece at a time.

Red Skull blows a smoke ring in Cap's face then releases his fist while pushing away.

END PT. 3
RED SKULL: ENDINGS

Deep under the Arctic Circle, Cap and Red Skull meet again. They square off and are ready to fight to the death. What happens next? We know that Cap wins this fight. Don't we? Here his facing a foe of greater strength, speed and cunning. A foe who has already beaten him easily and who killed his partner Bucky. With the war concluding and Hitler already dead in his bunker, Cap goes to face evil in the flesh in the form of the Red Skull!

Onward true believers! To the review!

INT. SUBMARINE - BRIG
Captain America stands in the doorway of the compartment, shield in hand. The stinging, icy water filling the area and the hallway is now just above the knee. Lights flicker. The sound of rushing water and twisting metal becomes louder. Cap sees a pipe overhead marked "Hot Water" in German and decides to take a right down the corridor. No sign of Hilda or the Red Skull.

He goes through a hatch which he has to force open because of the water and comes to a shaft leading downward. He slides down using just the handrails. This level has less water in it, up to the shins. The ship gives a great shudder and the groaning and breaking of metal can be heard everywhere. Cap only has minutes to get out. At that moment, the electric lights go out and Cap is in pitch blackness with the water rising rapidly. Which way to turn? >>Just remember through here, keep it in first person perspective and just give us the details we need to picture it.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
The Red Skull walks the girls into a front compartment.

RED SKULL
Mein Fuhrer did not like to retreat but it is time for me to get started and pop the champagne.

INT. SUBMARINE - CORRIDOR
Cap closes his eyes.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Heavenly Father, grant me strength for what I must do...

FIRST NAZI
You shall die here, weakling Amerikaner.

SECOND NAZI
Do you bleed red, white and blue? Let's cut you open and see.

The fight commences. Cap uses his shield to block the wrench and the axe. Both Nazis land terrific blows to Cap's body with their meaty fists. Cap swings and knocks out the Nazi with the wrench. Before the fight can be renewed, a new sound comes from below, a loud humming. The lights flicker back on at half strength and Cap sees Hilda floating face down in the rising water. The fighting continues fiercely until Cap clobbers the remaining man and he too lies face down in the water. >>Fights are an interesting beast in scripts. It's a constant balance between speeding it along and getting enough detail to understand it. You don't need to preface etc the fight with "commences" or "the fight continues" just give us some highlights. That said, I've read some scripts which provide very little detail in fights (not much more than "they fight".) I prefer to give some description to keep the reader interested and give my ideas for what's behind the fight, but I know a fight coordinator's going to go to town on it. Lemme take a crack at it here...

The two rush forward. Cap blocks the wrench and the axe with his shield, but expecting the move, both Nazis land terrific blows to Cap's body with meaty fists. Cap swings and knocks out the Nazi Two.

Suddenly, A LOUD HUMMING COMES FROM BELOW. The lights flicker and dim to half strength. Cap sees Hilda floating face down in the rising water just as the remaining Nazi comes at him. Cap bashes the axe away and they fall into the water. They roll until Cap jumps up, gasping for air, then clobbers the big man. The one more Nazi lies face down in the water.

With the water up to Cap's shoulders, he dives looking for the hatch on the floor. He finds it but it won't budge.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - FRONT COMPARTMENT
Red Skull is pouring champagne with the girls in a front compartment. One of the girls lights his cigar. One by one, he moves ten levers to full power and the humming sound grows louder. The girls giggle. >>Dang those are some girls with lose morals!

INT. SUBMARINE - CORRIDOR
Cap gulps a huge lung full of air. There are only a few inches of air left now and he is pressed against the roof of the hallway to get it. He dives and returns again to the hatch. This time he finds the wrench. >>Don't need the rest here which has floated to the bottom.>> The hatch opens against the water pressure which then pushes Cap through and forces it closed.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN BASE - HANGAR
Cap's flushed down the ladder and lands with a thud on the steel deck. >>Don't need He is now inside the Red Skull's other ship.>> He gasps long and hard for air, spitting out water.

Suddenly he is blinded by giant glieg lights. They pop on one after another. In the distance a voice coming closer.

>>Probably don't need both of those parentheses, but not bad-- perhaps a little shorter. If you want to break it up with boot falls (action) that might be cool, too.
Red Skull now stands three feet away and Cap still has to squint. Just then a loud metal on metal scraping noise came from above. Cap's eyes adjusted. The Red Skull was dressed in black shoes, black pants, black shirt and black tie. A skull clasp on his tie and a cigar in his mouth. A glass of champagne in one hand.

Cap rises to his feet, shaky.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
For crimes during war you must be brought to justice. For crimes against humanity you must be
brought to justice. For killing Bucky you must be brought to justice.

Red Skull sips his champagne and smashes the glass against the floor.

Cap takes a giant swing at Red Skull but he catches Cap's fist and holds it in a vice-like grip.

Red Skull blows a smoke ring in Cap's face then releases his fist while pushing away.

Great stuff Rick! Only two parts left to end it all!

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 2

2011-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's villain during WWII and an evil, sadistic man bent on destroying the whole world. Red Skull must be defeated and Captain America must win. Yet, Cap must also end up frozen in ice at the end AND the Red Skull must limp away to plot evil again. To portray this in terms of film, each scene must balanced or the ending will be flat...

BEN: Like last time, I'll comment after the first go-through of his script.

SUMMARY PT. 1
Somewhere below the Arctic Circle the Red Skull holds Cap inside a submarine. Cap is weak and bound, an easy kill for the Red Skull...

RED SKULL

What was motivating you to crawl to me on your hands and
knees? You are simply too weak for me to care about.

He leaves Hilda to slit Cap's throat.

An now for PT. 2!

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 2

INT. SUBMARINE - MOMENTS LATER

Red Skull can be seen walking through corridors, sliding down ladders to lower levels until he catches up to the two large Nazis and the three remaining bar maids.

FIRST NAZI
Where is Hilda...?

RED SKULL
She volunteered to stay with the American. She won't be joining us.

They reach a hatch going down. It has a warning "X" on it. The Red Skull spins the handle, opens it and motions for the girls to go down the ladder.

RED SKULL
This is as far as you go soldiers. I need you to scuttle the ship
when I have gone. You may also encounter our visitor and I am ordering
you to do what is right for the Reich. Do not let anyone pass.

FIRST NAZI
It is our honor to serve you Red Skull...

SECOND NAZI
The American is a weakling.

FIRST & SECOND NAZI in unison
Long live the Red Skull!!

RED SKULL
Danke.

Red Skull blows a smoke ring at the two men and descends. The hatch clangs shut and the handle turns.

FIRST NAZI
Why didn't Herr Skull finish the Amerikaner? Why did he leave Hilda with him?

CUT TO: XCU of SS knife. We are back in the chamber with Cap and Hilda.
Hilda is playing with the knife, changing her grip nervously.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Cut me free.

HILDA
My father and mother died in Allied bombing...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Red Skull must pay for his crimes...

HILDA
My older brother was shot in the head by an American soldier...

She draws the knife close to Captain America's neck.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
The war is over. You don't need to do this.

HILDA
My sister Helga was fourteen. Do you know what they did to her?
Can you even guess?

The knife starts to dig into his flesh. Cap becomes very still.

HILDA
Red Skull promised me that someday I could take my vengeance,
someday I could show the Allies my strength, someday my
family could rest in peace...

We see only her face as she makes a mad slash. Flecks of blood cover it. She is laughing.

CUT TO: Red Skull and the three bar maids. They are inside a giant housing underneath the submarine. It is actually many times larger than the sub itself and consists of a broad steel floor dominated by a gigantic circular sunken area filled with sea water. Pieces of ice float in portions of it but the area is not lit up and only a fraction can be seen. The steel floor stretches in every direction hinting at a its size. It is loaded with all manner of goods from automobiles to racks of clothing, crates of alcohol, food, munitions, aircraft, tanks, artworks, gold bars and more.

Red Skull looks down the circular walkway and motions towards the remaining three girls. They approach as ordered. He reaches into a wooden crate and pulls out three bottles of French champagne.

RED SKULL
Tonight we celebrate. Put these on ice and slip into something more comfortable.

They depart leaving Red Skull alone on the walkway. He strides briskly to another set of crates, opens them and pulls out pistols and ammunition. As he loads the weapons he talks.

RED SKULL
Captain America. I can not kill you when you are so weak.
It does not prove my superiority to do so. Whatever power
on earth brought you here, you will regret it.

Finishes loading pistols. Heads in direction bar maids went.

XXXXX

We return to Hilda and Captain America. She is speckled with blood and sitting on the floor holding the Nazi dagger. Captain America is unmoving and bound on the floor.

HILDA
I need to know something. Why did you come here? Herr Skull is much
more powerful than you. He will beat you and leave your bones to bleach.

She pauses and becomes more serious. Perhaps realizing that a life is in her hands.

HILDA
I slit your throat. Not deeply but I did it, as requested by Herr Skull.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Cut my rope.

As he says this a loud alarm sounds on the submarine. Somewhere above there is a sound like thunder. The whole compartment shakes.

HILDA
What is it?

The noise is getting louder. she stands and looks up at the ceiling. She can hear pipes creaking. Then, it is unmistakable, the sound of running water in a torrent.

HILDA (turns back to Cap)
Will you kill him? Will you kill Herr Skull?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
He is a war criminal. I must bring him alive to justice...

HILDA
I need to know. If you can't take him alive? What then?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I will take his body back to show the world that he is a threat no more.

Icy water is running down the walls and starts filling up the compartment. Cap can barely hold his head above water. Metal groans even louder. Hilda holds the knife carefully.

HILDA
I can't cut your ropes. You will find a hatch on the lower deck marked with an "X".
That is where he will be. If you are as courageous as you see, you must face him there.

She tosses the knife at Cap and runs through the hatch as the water covers his head. Cap wiggles and picks up the knife with his tied hands. He manages to cut himself free before his lungs burst. The water is ice cold and waking him up. He grabs his circular shield and slides through the hatch to look for Hilda but she is long gone.

END PT. 2
RED SKULL: ENDING

This "ending" is one of those "write it to get it down" numbers. Very rough and not all the logical or dramatic moments have been work out. Hilda's character represents the innocence of Germany that was hijacked by the Nazi regime. Since this represents the last few minutes of the movie, a lot of the action and dialogue would be compressed. I am leaving everything in without much edit to give a flavor of what the last scenes could be like.
in without much edit to give a flavor of what the last scenes could be like.

BEN: Cool! And now to review...

INT. SUBMARINE - MOMENTS LATER

Red Skull can be seen walking through corridors, sliding down ladders to lower levels until he catches up to the two large Nazis and the three remaining bar maids.
We can cut this a bit to "Red Skull walks through corridors and slides down ladders into the submarine's lower levels. His two Nazi henchmen and the three remaining barmaids await him." I removed the "we" POV (which again is my style) and the reason why I make them wait for him instead is catching up with them kind of give power to them in that Skull is behind and has to catch up.

FIRST NAZI
Where is Hilda...?

RED SKULL
She volunteered to stay with the American. She won't be joining us.

His henchmen throughout this scene seem a little forward. Skull must have respect for them to allow them to question him, yes/no? Either that or Skull would shoot them dead, me thinks.

They reach a hatch going down. It has a warning "X" on it. The Red Skull spins the handle, opens it and motions for the girls to go down the ladder.<<This action is a little confusing. Just need to be clearer on where the hatch leads..

RED SKULL
This is as far as you go soldiers. I need you to scuttle the ship when
I have gone. You may also encounter our visitor and I am ordering
you to do what is right for the Reich. Do not let anyone pass.

FIRST NAZI
It is our honor to serve you Red Skull...

SECOND NAZI
The American is a weakling.

FIRST & SECOND NAZI
(in unison)
Just a reminder, for stage directions like this, put in a return and wrap in parentheses.
Long live the Red Skull!!

RED SKULL
Danke.

Red Skull blows a smoke ring at the two men and descends. The hatch clangs shut and the handle turns.
I think this section could be more subtle and that Skull should appeal to them in some way-- either they will do as he says out of utter devotion or some such to make their motivation clear. That's in order to make them more human than just cardboard like most films with henchmen. I'm sure Skull thinks they fear him sufficiently to do as he says, but the smoke-ring kind of indicated he has to show it. If he has to show it, is he really confident? Of course, writing powerful villains is probably much harder than writing heroes!

FIRST NAZI
Why didn't Herr Skull finish the Amerikaner? Why did he leave Hilda with him?

Here of course we'll want to return us to the brig with a slug line and nix the mention of shots.

INT. SUBMARINE - BRIG
CUT TO: XCU of SS knife. We are back in the chamber with Cap and Hilda.
Hilda is playing with the knife, changing her grip nervously.

She draws the knife close to Captain America's neck.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
The war is over. You don't need to do this.

HILDA
My sister Helga was fourteen. Do you know what they did to her?
Can you even guess?

The knife starts to dig into his flesh. Cap becomes very still. << Keep it definitively in the present tense, perhaps "Cap freezes."

HILDA
Red Skull promised me that someday I could take my vengeance,
someday I could show the Allies my strength, someday my
family could rest in peace...

This is a tough scene because it's expository dialog, but you don't go too long which is very good.

We see only her face as she makes a mad slash. Flecks of blood cover it. She is laughing. << I'm not totally sure why she laughs. I kinda get it, but I'm not totally sure it lines up with what comes later.

INT. SUBTERRANEAN HANGAR
Don't need the Cut to >>CUT TO: Red Skull and the three bar maids. They are inside a giant housing underneath the submarine. It is actually many times larger than the sub itself and consists of a broad steel floor dominated by a gigantic circular sunken area filled with sea water. Pieces of ice float in portions of it but the area is not lit up and only a fraction can be seen. The steel floor stretches in every direction hinting at a its size. It is loaded with all manner of goods from automobiles to racks of clothing, crates of alcohol, food, munitions, aircraft, tanks, artworks, gold bars and more. << This description would have to be trimmed, but no prob.

Red Skull looks down the circular walkway and motions towards the remaining three girls. They approach as ordered. He reaches into a wooden crate and pulls out three bottles of French champagne.

RED SKULL
Tonight we celebrate. Put these on ice and slip into something more comfortable.

They depart leaving Red Skull alone on the walkway. He strides briskly to another set of crates, opens them and pulls out pistols and ammunition. As he loads the weapons he talks.

RED SKULL
Captain America. I can not kill you when you are so weak.
It does not prove my superiority to do so. Whatever power
on earth brought you here, you will regret it.

I like the idea that he talks to himself. At first I was thinking it's a bit cheesy, but Skull (or at least his ego) would indeed believe no one can understand him, except him (and maybe Cap.)
Finishes loading pistols. Heads in direction bar maids went.

INT. BRIG
Don't need >>We return to Hilda and Captain America.<< Hilda is speckled with blood and sitting on the floor holding the Nazi dagger. Captain America is unmoving and bound on the floor.

HILDA
I need to know something. Why did you come here? Herr Skull is much
more powerful than you. He will beat you and leave your bones to bleach.

I like the twist, but I'm not totally convinced of her motivations. It's tough without all the scenes leading up to the end of the film for sure, but I feel like we need to know why she didn't do it. We don't want those around Skull to forsake him too easily.

She pauses and becomes more serious. Perhaps realizing that a life is in her hands.<< I'm not sure we can show this. Or at least it can't be "perhaps."

HILDA
I slit your throat. Not deeply but I did it, as requested by Herr Skull.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Cut my rope.

As he says this a loud alarm sounds on the submarine. Somewhere above there is a sound like thunder. The whole compartment shakes.

HILDA
What is it?

The noise is getting louder. she stands and looks up at the ceiling. She can hear pipes creaking. Then, it is unmistakable, the sound of running water in a torrent.

Icy water is running down the walls and starts filling up the compartment. Cap can barely hold his head above water. Metal groans even louder. Hilda holds the knife carefully.

HILDA
I can't cut your ropes. You will find a hatch on the lower deck marked with an "X".
That is where he will be. If you are as courageous as you seem, you must face him there.

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 1

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: Red Skull is Captain America's badass villain during WWII. Without a doubt an evil man bent on destroying the world. I wanted to do a version of the climatic last scene with the two characters facing off. This is rough. If you understand the dynamic it fits nicely with how comics operate as a serial form of storytelling. Red Skull must be defeated soundly and Captain America must be triumphant. Yet, Cap must be frozen in ice at the end which is not much of a victory. AND the Red Skull must be able to limp away to plot again, which also is not much of a victory... Note the cliffhanger moments and pulpy, movie serial feel.

BEN: What I'll be doing afterward is commenting on Rick's rough here about character and dialog and refining it into the film script.

The following five part series takes place after Teaser Trailer: The Cold (Emails #28). Cap has been soundly beaten by the Red Skull, Bucky has been killed and all seems lost even though Hitler is dead...

RED SKULL: ENDINGS - PT. 1

ARCTIC CIRCLE, EXT. NIGHT.
The wind howls and tears at the camera. We are in the frozen wasteland. It is snowing very hard.

CLOSE UP
A single open pipe measuring four to five inches around sticks up out of the ice.

CAMERA
Goes into the pipe and we follow it down a long way unto we start hearing voices, German voices. We now CUT TO the interior of what appears to be a compartment on a submarine. It has metal portal doors and bolts everywhere. Cap lays unmoving on a metal bunk bed and four beautiful girls dressed as barmaids are moving about the room taking turns kissing Cap and giggling while he sleeps.

SOUND EFFECT: Loud knocking at the door, metal on metal. The hatch handle spins and a giant man in Nazi uniform steps in followed by another. The girls line up against the far wall. Next through the hatch is the Red Skull looking very menacing. He gestures with his hand for them to be quiet and steps toward the bunk where Cap is motionless. He produces a cigar, lights it and takes a few long drags.

RED SKULL
Wake him.

The two burly Nazis pound Cap mercilessly with their fists. Cap snaps awake and it is then that we realize he is bound hand and foot. He gasps for air and blinks. It is obvious that he does not know where he is. One goon pulls off Cap's face mask and continues the beating.

RED SKULL
Nein. Hold him up. [Takes a long drag off the cigar] Hilda, fetch him some water.

The goon holds a very groggy Cap. Hilda returns with a metal pail of water and a metal cup. Cap is so tired, water spills out of his mouth. At last he takes a full metal cup and drinks it greedily. Hilda smiles at Cap. The Red Skull notices this and knocks the water from her hand and it clangs against the far wall.

RED SKULL
Enough.

Red Skull grabs Cap by the jaw and turns his face in every direction.

RED SKULL
Why were you able to keep your face? Plain, ordinary. Blond hair and blue
eyes. I am the only other survivor of the Master Race Formula yet
I am hideous, grotesque. Why are you so lucky? Was your formula so
different? It is only a question, only a curiosity.

Cap's eye flick all the way open.

RED SKULL
Awake now. Perhaps some answers are in order. To the staging area. Everyone except for you dear Hilda.

The compartment empties out.

RED SKULL
I told mein Fuehrer over and over again to leave Russia alone or wait for
summer weather. He was too proud and wouldn't listen. Now it appears
that he has shot himself in disgrace. The Allies have taken over
everything and the war is over.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
M-must take you back-k, to ssstand trail... (Cap exhausted)

RED SKULL
The war is over but my dreams of building a Master Race have not died.
They live on in me! I am the Master Race. Soon I will raise an army of indestructible soldiers the
likes of which mankind has never seen. The answer is in my own blood. You want me
to stand trial like a common thief? The world will tremble soon enough at my might.
And you... your time has long since past. I was always superior to you. You must realize this.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Evil must be punished...

RED SKULL
Why are you alive right now? Who brought you in from outside? Surely you would have
frozen to death. Or don't you remember. The cold freeze your inferior brain? I want to know what
kept you going. What was motivating you to crawl to me on your hands and knees?

CAPTAIN AMERICA
You must pay...

Cap weakly lunges toward the Red Skull and falls face down onto the metal floor, still bound hand and foot. Red Skull uses his boot to kick him face up.

RED SKULL
Pathetic, weak American. You could never hope to defeat me.
You are beaten. Perhaps your inferior intellect will not allow you to
admit these facts. Perhaps it is pride that motivates you.

Red Skull draws a luger and presses it to Captain America's temple.

RED SKULL
Maybe you would like to share mein Fuehrer's fate? How humiliating for him.
You will be thrown out of a hatch and never found.

Red Skull cocks his weapon. Hilda covers her face in horror.

RED SKULL
You have been my only challenging opponent Captain America.
I admit to having dreamed of pulling this trigger many times. Yet I want the world to
see you die at my hand. I want the world to know you are inferior and
I am the one true Master Race. This is not mercy I give you nor a reprieve.
You are simply too weak for me to care about.

Red Skull turns away from Cap and kisses Hilda long and hard. She is trembling with fear. When they part, he speaks to her.

RED SKULL
Hilda, when I have gone I want you to slit his throat then join us
below for departure. It is what I command.

HILDA
I will do as you command Herr Skull.

END PT. 1

This is rough, rough, rough. First time through. Yet, it indicates several things. First it creates the setting - a vessel, perhaps a submarine somewhere under the ice in the arctic circle. I take the idea of Cap pursuing Red Skull in the snow and I push ahead a little in time. Cap is obviously hurting and has suffered a recent defeat to The Red Skull. While Cap is helpless, Red Skull explains his feelings on the "end" of the war and how he alone shall rise triumphant.

All right. Let's take a look! Some very cool stuff here, Rick. I understand the rough nature of what you've written but I'll comment on structure and other elements because it's a good opportunity. I won't get into page formatting (margins and the like) because there are many resources and applications for that. Let's begin!

ARCTIC CIRCLE, EXT. NIGHT. << For film, list Interior/Exterior first and add a hyphen:
EXT. ARCTIC CIRCLE - NIGHT
The wind howls and tears at the camera. We are in the frozen wasteland. It is snowing very hard. << Styles differ but for reading scripts, I was trained to not mention the camera or say "we" as in "we see" etc. The concept is that you're already tell the reader what they're seeing so, describe what's on the screen. It works just like this: "The wind howls and tears at the the frozen wasteland whipping heavy snow." That sentence could be refined further, but you get the point.

CLOSE UP
A single open pipe measuring four to five inches around sticks up out of the ice. << Be definitive! Saying it's five won't hurt.

CAMERA<< My script writing teacher would say "save shots for the shooting script." but in this case, it makes sense to tell the reader what you're envisioning. You may need a special Slug Line for this as well.
Goes into the pipe and we follow it down a long way unto we start hearing voices, German voices. We now CUT TO the interior of what appears to be a compartment on a submarine. It has metal portal doors and bolts everywhere. Cap lays unmoving on a metal bunk bed and four beautiful girls dressed as barmaids are moving about the room taking turns kissing Cap and giggling while he sleeps. << Sometime shorthand like "beautiful" works. This is probably that time, but you may want to single out Hilda and let us know how she stands out.

SOUND EFFECT: Loud knocking at the door, metal on metal. The hatch handle spins and a giant man in Nazi uniform steps in followed by another. The girls line up against the far wall. Next through the hatch is the Red Skull looking very menacing. He gestures with his hand for them to be quiet and steps toward the bunk where Cap is motionless. He produces a cigar, lights it and takes a few long drags. << Sound effects are bolded themselves like LOUD KNOCKING. Also, is Skull smoking a cigar in celebration? He's normally a cigarette smoker (with the holder.)

Putting it all together it might look something like...

EXT. ARCTIC CIRCLE - NIGHT
The wind howls and tears at the the frozen wasteland whipping heavy snow. A single open pipe measuring five inches around sticks up out of the ice.

CAMERA FLIES INTO PIPE.

INT. PIPE

The dingy metal pipe is long, rust and grime whip by. MUFFLED VOICES FADE IN.

CAMERA FLIES OUT OF PIPE.

INT. SUBMARINE - BRIG

The metal room is cramped with a thick portal door and bolts everywhere. Cap lays unmoving on a metal bunk and four voluptuous girls dressed as barmaids take turns kissing Cap and giggling.

LOUD KNOCKING AT THE DOOR, METAL ON METAL.

The hatch handle spins and a giant man in Nazi uniform steps in followed by another. The girls line up against the far wall.

The Red Skull steps through the hatch. He holds up a hand for quiet and the girls hold their breath. He steps toward the bunk unconscious Cap. He produces a cigar, lights it and takes a few long drags.

RED SKULL
Wake him.

Skull's first line is excellently trite. This informs us of the power he has over his minions.

The two burly Nazis pound Cap mercilessly with their fists. Cap snaps awake and it is then that we realize he is bound hand and foot. He gasps for air and blinks. It is obvious that he does not know where he is. One goon pulls off Cap's face mask and continues the beating.<< Interesting that they beat him. You may consider Mr. Rick waiting to pull the mask off. It's another opportunity for Skull to show power by making a point of pulling it off. Have them pick him up and then reveal him.

RED SKULL
Nein. Hold him up.
(takes a long drag)
Hilda, fetch him some water.

You can put in a return and (takes a long drag) in parenthesis or put that text in action and break up the dialog.

The goon holds a very groggy Cap. Hilda returns with a metal pail of water and a metal cup. Cap is so tired, water spills out of his mouth. At last he takes a full metal cup and drinks it greedily. Hilda smiles at Cap. The Red Skull notices this and knocks the water from her hand and it clangs against the far wall. << I may have gone with a metal ladle, but writer's choice!

RED SKULL
Enough.

Red Skull grabs Cap by the jaw and turns his face in every direction. << This is where Skull can make a point of unmasking him, I think.

Cap's eye flick all the way open.

RED SKULL
Awake now. Perhaps some answers are in order. To the staging area.
Everyone except for you dear Hilda.

The compartment empties out.

I really like this! Skull is smarter or more savvy than Hitler. Dang! Through the editing process of course we'd have to trim most of this dialog way down. The thing Rick pointed out years ago was that comic book scripts, with their very limited bubble space, and film scripts were very similar in that there is little time for talk. Interestingly television scripts, known as a writer's medium, can have much more dialog (whereas in film, they'd be called "too talky.")

CAPTAIN AMERICA
M-must take you back-k, to ssstand trail... (Cap exhausted)

RED SKULL
The war is over but my dreams of building a Master Race have not died.
They live on in me! I am the Master Race. Soon I will raise an army of indestructible soldiers the
likes of which mankind has never seen. The answer is in my own blood. You want me
to stand trial like a common thief? The world will tremble soon enough at my might.
And you... your time has long since past. I was always superior to you. You must realize this.

I think there is some great stuff here, but some of Skull's dialog through here could probably be saved for a later scene. We have to be aware that this little room may not afford a limited amount of visual interest. Overall though, the scene is excellently short and sweet.

Cap weakly lunges toward the Red Skull and falls face down onto the metal floor, still bound hand and foot. Red Skull uses his boot to kick him face up.

RED SKULL
Pathetic, weak American. You could never hope to defeat me.
You are beaten. Perhaps your inferior intellect will not allow you to
admit these facts. Perhaps it is pride that motivates you.

Red Skull draws a luger and presses it to Captain America's temple.

RED SKULL
Maybe you would like to share mein Fuehrer's fate? How humiliating for him.
You will be thrown out of a hatch and never found.

Red Skull cocks his weapon. Hilda covers her face in horror.

Red Skull turns away from Cap and kisses Hilda long and hard. She is trembling with fear. When they part, he speaks to her.

RED SKULL
Hilda, when I have gone I want you to slit his throat then join
us below for departure. It is what I command.

He tosses an SS dagger at their feet. Red Skull takes a big draw on his cigar. He blows a smoke ring in Hilda's face then turns and exits through the hatch. It clangs shut loudly. She picks up the dagger and holds it to her chest. Her voice is almost a whisper. << Interesting choice having him drop the dagger. Perhaps include how he looks down on her. That might cement the image in our minds.

HILDA
I will do as you command Herr Skull.

Excellent! I can't wait for Friday's installment!

Captain America: Independence Day

2011-07-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2011!!

Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in which we declared our independence from Great Britain. America's a young 235 today and this year, Cap turned 70! To commemorate this grand occasion, Rick and I would like to feature the actual documents that define the great American experiment and to treat you to one of our little original story sketches the blog here is known for. We know Steve Rogers would definitely approve.

As always, thanks for reading, folks! Have a GREAT 4th!

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
» Read More

The Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
» Read More

The Emancipation Proclamation

Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
» Read More

The Land of Fair Play

by Ben Alpi

It was a world of delights. Young Stevie was so used to being alone. And sick. And in bed. Mom, Dad, Grandma, they had always been his teachers. This. This was a Brooklyn city school. Stevie was still stiff and couldn't move very fast, but he was better (no crutches!) and going into the third grade. Stevie couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but perhaps for the first time in his life he felt something. Something special. Freedom. Playing with other children was a wonder although, he didn't get too close.

The slide. Oh, the slide! He couldn't get enough of the tall metal contraption; it was so high and what speed—it was like flying! Talking to other children was probably Stevie's favorite thing. There were light-skinned children and brown-skinned and all sorts of hair and eye colors, too. It had been quite a while since he had seen children this close-up. He often watched them playing stick ball in the street from his window, but that wasn't the same. This was wondrous. Until the day Ms. White started acting... different. She scolded Stevie harshly for talking in class. For taking too long in the bathroom. For day dreaming. For playing with his toy soldiers. She told him he was nothing special. Told him to smarten up or he'll end up working in a mine. What's wrong with being a miner? She accused him of taking answers from other children's tests. She made him read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation, but stopped there when she realized he liked re-reading the documents like old friends. She shook him and told him to pay attention or she'd give him reason to. What does that mean? She told the class to be careful or they would end up like Steve Rogers. For the first time in his life, Stevie felt an ache not in his bones or his muscles or his stomach. It hurt in his heart. The children began to laugh at him as the teacher did. Tommy, the big boy who had been nice enough before, started teasing Stevie. He called him names and pushed him, sometimes hard which made Stevie so very afraid because he'd had several broken bones before.

The amazing slide. One cloudy afternoon, Tommy wouldn't let Stevie up the ladder on the slide. He asked Tommy politely to move so he could get on the slide. Tommy refused. Stevie begged and the other children in line behind him started to complain as well, but instead of complaining about Tommy, they complained that he should step out of line. What? Stevie left the line demoralized. What a horrible, horrible place this is. These children are mean and terrible. Unfair. The sense of freedom left Stevie. Then an odd thing happened. Tommy stopped Laura, who Stevie had quite a crush on, from getting on the slide. Stevie watched Tommy stick his tongue out at her, push her a bit and fold his arms. She tried to push him back, but Stevie knew that only made it worse. Tommy got angry and pushed her hard to the dirt. Stevie saw the look in Tommy's eyes. He saw Tommy step toward Laura. That's when something coursed through Stevie's veins. He felt heat surge through him and his legs walked him toward Tommy and his hands balled into fists. Tommy grabbed Laura, then noticed Stevie's thin legs. He looked up and saw the scrawny little blond boy, the filtered mid-day sun shining above him.

"Let. Her. Go."

With that, Stevie twisted and drew his fist back and released all he had to give—all the fear, all the anger, all the heat—and delivered it to Tommy's jaw. Tommy spun and fell to the ground and pain rung out from Stevie's hand, but he knew pain. He boxed it and put it away as best he could and helped Laura to her feet with his other hand.

She smiled. He smiled. "Thank you, Steven." He blushed and was pretty sure Laura was about to kiss his cheek when Ms. White descended on him.

The tall, rail-thin, raven-haired woman yelled and yanked Stevie back inside the school. She pulled Stevie into the classroom, sat him down and slowly pulled a wooden ruler out of her desk like a sword. Such fear Stevie had never known.

"'He's been sick most of his life,'" she mocked. "'You have to be gentle.'" This was all happening too fast. Her eyes were large, filled with daggers.

"I have had enough of coddling you, Rogers. It's time you learned your lesson." The pain from punching Tommy returned to his hand and invaded his nerves, pounding with his speeding heartbeat.

"Hold out your hand. Now." Stevie obeyed, tears streaming down his cheeks. She raised the ruler.

"This is what happens to dreamers."

CRACK!

Dressed as two wool-capped dock workers, Cap and Bucky sit amongst boxes and shelves of wine in a cellar lit by two candles. Cap slides a finger across the back of his hand. "She broke all these. She never believed my parents, just thought they were over-protective."

Bucky shakes his head. "Man. I thought my melamed was strict."

Cap smiles and rubs his hand. "It never really healed. It hurt every day until they put me in the chamber. I still feel a tingle every now and then."

Bucky looks off into the darkness and smiles wryly. "If they could see us now."

Cap leans over and snuffs a candle. "They're here." Bucky snuffs the other candle and in the dark, they stand on either side of the cellar stairs.

Upstairs, a door unlocks and several feet step in quietly. A whooshing sound of a rug being slide aside. The door set into the floor creaks open.

A woman's voice whispers softly. "Bonjour?" A cat pads down the steps, stops and looks around, then continues into the dark.

A flashlight shines down. "Ello? Américain?"

Another woman's voice whispers, "Aallons-y," causing the first to huff.

Three women descend the stairs and the second two gasp as the darkness nabs them. The first woman shines the flashlight and finds Cap and then Bucky holding her friends and covering their mouths. The woman shines the light on herself.

"It is I, Bucky. These are my sisters in the Résistance," she says, a bit hurt.

The men release the ladies. Bucky removes his cap and smiles. "Sorry about that, Cherise. We have to be careful, you understand."

"Yes, of course." She shines the light up to Cap's full height. "And oo is dees?"

"This my brother, as you say."

Cap smiles and removes his hat. "Enchantee de te rencontr, madam. Je m'appelle... Joe."

Bucky smiles shaking his head...

Original content © 2011 Ben Alpi

Emails #63: Revisionista

2011-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: I just finished reading a particularly breezy "first look" article of Captain America: I am the First Avenger in the Avenger Movie Franchise! Hugo Weaving is pictured. His uniform bears a Hydra patch. No Swastika. No Iron Cross. No German emblems or otherwise mandatory Nazi symbolism. We wouldn't want to offend German movie goers by painting them as villains now would we? I bring this up because the director is quoted using the old two step. We wanted to stay true to the original source material. We don't want it to look like a comic book, too bright, winged mask... It is set in real world WWII. It is set in the Marvel universe. Oh, Cap will lead a group called the Howling Commandoes AND Tony Stark's father, Hydra and an international group will be part of Captain America's origin. In historical fact, the UNITED STATES FOUGHT NAZIS during WWII. They were German and they were evil (not all German people were evil then or now). Millions lost their lives in the struggle. Surprisingly, in Marvel events, CAP FOUGHT NAZIS!!! Lots of them. So many in fact that the theme of Cap fighting them carried for decades in the comics long after the real WWII had ended. Don't forget that Simon and Kirby had created Cap for the sole purpose of... you guessed it... FIGHTING NAZIS. Why is fighting NAZIS important? Because they WERE EVIL!! A greater example of non-ambiguous evil can not be found in recent history although you can certainly stack up quite a few regimes and failed states in the evil category. Yet Cap, who was created as a response to NAZISM by comic book legends Simon and Kirby, was punching Hitler and Tojo in the comic pages before America even entered fighting. But maybe I got it all wrong. I haven't done as much reading on the subject as it warrants. Maybe Hydra was the real enemy in Simon & Kirby's Cap. Maybe in Marvel lore, it is Hydra and not the Nazis...

As a plus side, Chris Evans seems to be quoted showing a great deal of respect and concern for the character. A few more stills in print show him looking much, much more Cap than I had previously thought. He is starting to look the part and I haven't seen anything in print attributed to him that indicated a poor attitude as far as the character was concerned. My concern that he not have enough gravitas to play a genuine leader still remain.

There are still a few places for surprises. Wolverine and Gambit can guest star as well as Thor, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Black Panther, Sub Mariner... none of whom ever appeared in Cap's origin before. In the revised origin I have crafted with Ben, the source material is not discarded but augmented by a blend of historical fact and logical extrapolation based on real events and Cap lore. I wish I had the skill and creativity of a writer like Alan Moore whose brain is able to combine factual detail, fiction and speculation into astounding, mind-popping new adventures. From Hell with Eddie Campbell. Watchmen with Dave Gibbons. The League...

It is in this spirit but quite clumsily that my efforts to integrate Cap into a modern mythological framework have been directed. How do you make Cap into a modern movie? A character this rich in background will leave many dissatisfied. Hey, why don't you reject the cornerstones of the character? I don't want him to be "comic booky" because that is immature. If you are embarrassed to be making a project about a comic book character, then why are you doing it to begin with? You've got $140+ million dollars of renovation on a 70+ year old house. Rather than gut it entirely to showcase today's trendy marble, chrome and open spaces - shouldn't you accent to existing details and be proud that you found a property in such great shape? Hurry up though. That pesky family "The Avengers" from out of town is moving in and their name is already on the mailbox...

BEN: I guess the only counter-point I could bring (although I completely agree) is what one soldier who fought in the war to end all wars said. When his daughter asked him if he was going to go see Saving Private Ryan, he said he was not. He added that films that showed war as it was don't make sense because they fought so hard so their children wouldn't know what it was like. Not that's a pretty Utopian view and in my opinion whenever we forget what war is like is right when we start one, but it's an interesting viewpoint. I don't think any subject is taboo unless it's treated in a way that is really inappropriate. Taking the symbols Nazis twisted for their own gain out of the film doesn't do anything but harm. Symbolism is SO important in comics and film, graphical symbols especially. Missing this opportunity to remind people about the real America breaks my heart, but there is a chance the film will still inspire. And I will certainly do my best to put those values into the films I do-- including a super hero story that is taking shape in the back of my mind. I don't know how strong the concept is, but our talks certainly inspire me to create a hero for a new age-- that doesn't have internet-derived powers :) The interesting thing is that when I mention it to people, they want to know what powers the hero has. It's interesting that as I tell them what the character is like, they're kind of like "yeah yeah yeah, what powers does he have?" My feeling is it doesn't really matter because all super powers have been done. To, me the origin of the character is more important although, my thoughts on powers have led me and my bro in some interesting directions. Anyhow! About the URL... I like modernmythdiscussionseries.blogspot.com although, it does kinda sound finite. That's actually fine, but I was interested in your thoughts.

So, like, what are the powers? The powers are a shorthand. If I were a veteran of WWII and someone asked me about Private Ryan, I wouldn't want to go because it would absolutely break my heart. I don't think I could make it through the Omaha beach portion. What if you had a WWII movie about WWII characters and it wasn't set in WWII exactly? I think it is entirely lame and revisionist in a negative way to try to tell the story about Cap without putting it in WWII as originally intended. If you want to claim it is "Marvel's WWII" then that is also revisionist. Nazis were always front and center even in any Marvel versions of the war. Trying not to offend movie goers? Make a good movie so they don't feel like they wasted 12 bucks. Hey, Abe Lincoln just gave speeches during the Civil War. It wasn't the war with the highest American body count. The Revolutionary War was misunderstood. The English weren't all the bad. We couldn't show the atrocities or even suggest them. That would be foolishness. MORE talk about the URL soon. What do you mean as in finite? Too specific? Did you want a more general title?

Yeah, I can't support the lack of Nazis in the film. I mean, it's a perfect opportunity to connect kids with history. Seems like a no brainer to get kids interested in history. And obviously it would lend a textured canvas to tell your story from. With the character Bob (my bro) and I are musing about, we're looking into deriving his powers from Norse mythology. I'm still not sure if it will work, but it immediately led allowed me to envision a whole story arc for a film, TV season or comic series. URL: Yes, I'm not sure if specifically saying it's a discussion series is what we want if we have any intention of doing anything more on the blog after this discussion is complete. Or... when we finally get winded :)

Tell the story of Jaws in a swimming pool. Tell the story of the Titanic without the boat. Tell Star Wars without the Death Star. Tell Cap's story without Nazis.

"Discussion series" sounds formal and official. I am actually going to beg off on this discussion. All of the current suggestions sound good. Pick one Ben that you like and go with it. What feels right to you? I have faith that you will make a good choice.

Bob. Robert. Robby. Bobby. Norse God. Catchy.

Dear Readers,

You've made it! This is the final post of the Emails series! That's not the end, however. We covered a LOT of ground and we hope you're enjoying the blog. We have a landing-craft full of GREAT stuff coming in the weeks to come. We have an official wrap up, a special July 4th edition, suggested reading and of course, a double dose of Captain America: The First Avenger film reviews. Also, a very, very special send off: A special peek at the ending we never wrote for the script we never wrote - Cap vs. Red Skull!

For us, it is time to return to the beginning and read it all back to back and enjoy our discussions, musings and wanderings for the creative collaboration that they are. Visit us as often as you like. We'll be here for questions and comments. Watch closely to see what projects we unveil next. Adventure is just over that hill so stay tuned!

United we stand,
RICK & Ben

From Runic Films:

We would like to congratulate Rick and Ben on their massive achievement in this blog. We have been very glad to sponsor such a great exploration into myth, character and storytelling. We hope you'll enjoy these next weeks for the great posts these two have in store. Runic will also be making some special announcements so, keep your eyes peeled!

Sincerely,
Runic Films

Still to Come!

MONDAY: 4th of July Blowout!!

NEXT: CAP vs. RED SKULL winner take all series!!

THEN: First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

A filmmaker has almost the same freedom as a novelist has when he buys himself some paper.
-Stanley Kubrick

I couldn't sleep one night and I was sitting in my office and I realized that I was an independent filmmaker.
-Darren Aronofsky

I've always considered myself a filmmaker who writes stuff for himself to do.
-Quentin Tarantino

Emails #62: Working Title

2011-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Benito-

We are getting close to something. People throughout time have needed heroes. The world now, in its dangerous and cynical shape, needs heroes. America has had the wind taken out of it's sails. It too needs heroes. What better hero for America than Captain America? The need for heroes is so strong that if none are handy, we invent them. Where was Cap when the space shuttle exploded? Out on a smoke break? Cap represents American virtues. He is the kind of person we all want to be, compassionate, full of conviction, forthright, honest and moral. Where was Cap during Vietnam? Cap is also a leader who inspires hope. Does Wolverine or any of the 60,000 other X-Men inspire hope? Cap is the role model we need to help us pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and continue on...

Cap! A Modern Adapting
A discussion about film, storytelling and the American spirit
Ben Alpi - Director/Producer for Runic Films
Rick Arthur - Writer/Cartoonist

BEN: Cap! Modernizing Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and the American spirit.
Ben Alpi - Director/Producer, Runic Films
Rick Arthur - Writer/Cartoonist
You like?

Cap! OK
Modernizing Modern Myth I like the alliteration but it is too MODERN
A discussion about film, storytelling and the American Spirit SWEET
Credits GOOD
Let's fix the MODERN part.
Cap! Modernizing Popular Myth
Cap! Transforming Modern Myth close, but not quite
Cap! Rediscovering Modern Myth I like
Cap! Refining Modern Myth
Cap! Forging Modern Myth
Cap! Modern American Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and fighting spirit

Ok, good point. I think we're even closer now.
Cap! Recovering Modern Myth
Cap! The Rediscovery of Modern Myth

I think I'll sign on for this one. Nice title. Having a good title is key, like in film, like in life...

Cap! Rediscovering Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and the American spirit
Ben Alpi - Director/Producer, Runic Films
Rick Arthur - Writer/Cartoonist

Cap! A New Century of Modern Myth
Cap! Modern Myth for a New Century

Cap! Modern Myth in a New Century
Cap! Thawing Myth in a New Century
I think the American spirit one is the best still, but perhaps...
A discussion about film, storytelling and the spirit of freedom.

discussingmodernmyth.blogspot.com
discussingmyth.blogspot.com
discovermyth.blogspot.com
We can also make it something like "modernmyth.runicfilms.com" website although, I don't know if we'd want to do that. I like the idea of it being on a public/free blog service so it feels non-commercial. Also, I don't want to weight it towards Runic since it's both of ours. Blogspot is what I use now, but there are several free blog sites out there.

The only thing with using "freedom" is it is pretty broad. Do you think American spirit is to focused? I'm cool with either although, if we were going "freedom" I suppose we could use "heroism." What choo think?

Cap! Rediscovering Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and freedom
Ben Alpi - Director/Producer, Runic Films
Rick Arthur - Writer/Cartoonist

Captain America! Redesigning Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and patriotism
Ben Alpi - Director/Producer, Runic Films
Rick Arthur - Writer/Cartoonist
Part of the Runic Films Modern Myth Discussion Series

This one! This one! American spirit sounds like a cheap tobacco product.
web address becomes:
runicfilms.modernmythdiscussionseries.blogspot.com
or
modernmythdiscussionseries.blogspot.com

Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and patriotism.

Captain America! Redefining Modern Myth
A discussion about film, storytelling and patriotism.
Let's use this as a working title. I like it!

COMING SOON! 4th of July Blowout!!!

CAP vs. RED SKULL final conflict!! First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

The wastebasket is a writer's best friend.
-Isaac Bashevis Singer

Every writer I know has trouble writing.
-Joseph Heller

Emails #61: American Identity

2011-06-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rick, what do you think we might call the blog? I usually do a little brainstorming, a bit of word play. Let me see...

Cap and Trade (hmm, that might be kind of horrible)
Cap: Declaration of Adaptation
Cap: Culture War
Cap: Media Conflict
Captaining Across Media
Cap: Bridging Media
Cap: Adapting a Legend
Survival
Myth and Legends
Adapting Cap
"from a production based perspective" I'm not sure that's quite it.
"A discussion into the inner workings of creativity in film, comic books, writing and popular culture"
"A discussion about adapting comic books to film that transformed into a..."

Benito- Try these on for size:

Cap: Myth, Legend, Media Adaptation
A discussion into adapting an icon across media platforms

Cap! Adapting the Myth and Legend
The creative discussions to rethink an American icon for film and narrative media

I like this last one.We should have a big Cap star and a swastika on the front page as a graphic motif to symbolize the conflict...

Rick, very effective!

Please allow me to step back a sec and see if I can't define what we're after. Our original discussion was about how we would adapt Cap for the screen. Our discussion then broadened to include a critique of comics and films. Then it deepened further leading us to discuss the very essence of character and storytelling. Perhaps even deeper than that though, in these meanderings what we were really trying to redefine or rediscover is our American identity. WWII is a time when America saved the world. The Greatest Generation. Incredible changes occurred from that. Our reasons for starting this discussion may actually been borne out of our grief following 9/11 and our frustrations with the Bush administration. That and Obama's election certainly influenced our drive a little at least. We want to tell a real hero story using fantasy to make it more inspiring or fun or palatable or simply without political affiliation. We want to tell a story about the American Spirit.

Cap! Adapting a Modern Myth
Cap! Modernizing Modern Myth

A creative discussion about how to bring an American icon to modern media. A story about the soul of America.
How a discussion about adapting an American icon to film lead to finding the true essence of storytelling.
How a discussion about adapting Captain America for the screen became a rediscovery of the American Spirit.
A discussion about adapting an America icon for the screen and redefining the American Spirit.
A discussion about character and storytelling in today's film and narrative media.

Any of these work for you? I'm totally open!

COMING SOON! 4th of July Blowout!!!

CAP vs. RED SKULL final conflict!! First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
-Sylvia Plath

The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.
-Mark Twain

Emails #60: No Swastikas

2011-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

BEN: A collaboration sounds great, Mr. Rick. Question for you: Can and should we do a joint blog post which tells a bit of our story and includes parts of our letters and writings? You can see other posts I've done at http://benalpi.blogspot.com.

RICK: Do you mean a Cap blog? Since the original material was not designed for a blog, it will have to be edited.

If you mean a blog for a new project, I will have to think about it.

I was thinking of a single article (post), not a continuing blog. One thing we could do is work up a brief telling of our story and our findings. Another possibility is sort of interview each other conversationally and add in any other details we think relevant. I wouldn't want it to be very long as we're so busy, but I think the core of what we found is something worth telling the world about. Even if we don't talk about Cap at all, we could still talk about the state of the movie biz and our opinions on what we'd like to see in future films (of ours and others.) As an example of what I was thinking lemme try...

"Almost three years ago, two friends started trading emails about what that would do for a film based on the comic book hero Captain America created by... Knowing full well our ideas would probably never appear on the screen, we were driven by some unknown force to press on and explore our ideas and visions. Something in us would not quiet. (quote from notes) What we didn't realize is that we'd dig so deep as to find the very basis for what touches us in a story and what frustrates us in current popular culture... (quote from Rick)..."

Lemme know what ya think! No rush though. Thanks!

Some new photos have surfaced from the Cap film now in production. Look carefully at the Skull bikes and the automobile. Do you see anything missing? Anything at all? HOW ABOUT A GERMAN SWASTIKA?? While the Red Skull operates outside of Hitler's regular channels, it would be a requirement to adorn the vehicles with standard symbols. There is no way around it. Those effers want to tell a story set in WWII then set it in WWII. It is a disgrace to think that Cap only fought the Red Skull during this time period or that the Red Skull did not have to bow to normal conventions. Wait. What is that? Look closely. It is a Mickey Mouse logo...? Keep watering this down and it will have no resemblance to the Simon/Kirby Cap or even the Marvel Cap or WWII. Revisionist bullshit. There is sooooo much great source material if you simply examine the Cap legend closely. Scooping up a handful of Cap comics printed in the last three or four years and saying you have an understanding of it is like taking eight pages out of the middle of Steven King's The Stand and basing your knowledge of it on those alone.

A lot of the great quality of our Cap material is the bantery, easy manner in which we pick up and examine topics. The scene with Cap pursuing Red Skull in the snow and then he flashes back to the concentration camp is one of my favorites. There are a lot of tid bits that miss but the searching is the key which enabled us to unlock blocks of ideas, original ideas that would have kept Cap faithful to his original material, current for today's market and synthesized fact in fantasy elements in a believable way. When the dust settles, the only thing I might keep from the current Cap is Hugo Weaving. I love this guy and he could be a great actor to portray the Red Skull. Mostly, we ask why and how. What are the motivations?

The blog idea sounds pretty good although it would be lengthy. An interview segment might help kick it off. We might want to break up the body of it to provide additional commentary. Background on Cap, briefly, for uninformed readers. Links for suggested follow up reading. A lot of the work is already done thankfully. Get started by thinking of interview questions. What is this project? How did it start and why? What is it about the Cap character that captures your imagination? How do you take almost seventy years of material and decide what to distill into a modern film? What was it like working with with another artist/writer on a different coast? Why a brand new story versus a direct adaptation of a particular issue? And more... I think 90% of the material we have already amassed should be used whole cloth without an edit. Maybe we could simply frame it as a creative discussion which focus on one main topic, CAP, but stretches in every direction in modern popular culture. Like a snooty college paper except not snooty and not for college. We could add a few words about writing, film, art, comics and commerce. This is a great idea of yours Ben. I would not have thought to use our material in this fashion and it is exciting.

Send more ideas on what you think a stand alone blog could look/feel like.

I don't believe I didn't notice it before. No swastikas. That's insane. I wonder if there are any in the film. $200M in cash for one sticking lump of poo. Blah... To continue our blog conversation, do you mind switching to email? It keeps everything in my queue a bit better. LMK!

No swastikas or iron crosses... what are they thinking?

Yeah, iron crosses have long been the fall-back for kid's tv/movies and toys. Crazy.

COMING SOON! 4th of July Blowout!!!

CAP vs. RED SKULL final conflict!! First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

It's a loser's emblem (swastika), because the Nazis lost the war. It's ridiculous to suggest we are involved with fascists. All my best friends are black, gay, Irish or criminals.
-Johnny Rotten

I'm very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. There has to be a rhythm with it… Interviewers have said, you like jazz, don’t you? Because we can hear it in your writing. And I thought that was a compliment.
-Elmore Leonard

Emails #59: 1,000 Script Changes

2011-06-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sept 28, 2010

Dear Rick,

I'd like to respond to your letter now from back in August, although it will be brief since you've stated so eloquently feelings that so closely mirror my own. It has been a wonderful experience to work with you on this, Rick. We may come at things from very different angles and opinions, but creative nuance boils down to semantics. What really counts is our heart-ache at the current state of things we love. Graphic novels have become quite popular (and have always been exceedingly popular in the UK, I'm told) but comic books have languished. I don't think they're dead, but I think the mass media money, money, money aspect may finally do its damage and reduce the industry back to a manageable size. But I have to note that the art I see coming out is horrible. X-Men looks like a fringe indie comic by some kid just starting out or some hack who thinks he can draw. Re-hashed ideas just piling up and flooding the market with garbage. I look longingly back at writers like Chris Claremont who I kind of hated for being so dang deep and heart-wrenching. And so the fertile concepts grown over 80 years are now being farmed slash-and-burn style. The film industry has lost its way in the same manner. It bites at its own back for fleas they can remake. Meanwhile the indie market has been bought and packaged by the studios as tiny versions of themselves and no one is taking risks anymore. Forgotten are the out-of-no-where/never-going-to-work films that grew their companies into massive corporations. STUDIO: 'We have to make another Spider-man film right now or our profits will shrink by billions. Just make these 1000 script changes to expand the audience appeal, add this pop star and this other villain (our metrics show kids like this one) and get shooting.' RAIMI: 'Eff you.' Bravo Sam.

What I would like to prove is that films can still touch us in a real and meaningful way. When I go to the theater, I want that escape. I want to feel what the characters are going through. I want the hero to have to get dirty and be in trouble. I want to not-know how he's going to get out of this. And then, I want some excellent, intelligent writing to allow him to escape and get the next piece of the puzzle. Avatar made a mint, but it was at heart a story about immensly powerful imperialistic a-holes versus the underdog tribal folk of real merit willing to risk everything for their freedom and way of life. A super simple age-old story, but one that resonates with audiences. The spectacle brought them in and the human story kept them. Cameron did it with studio money, but did it all his way. In the end, the story was probably too simple, but I suspect he was trying so much new tech that he had to. If he hadn't, I think we would be saying he tried to do too much-- like Lucas and his Star Wars eek-quels. I guess what I'm describing is a film that went back to basics and in so doing created a story that transcends borders AND didn't even have a big money actor at the head! It certainly had visual effects as a main selling point, but it was more animated film than live action so, one would have to complain about animated films being too art heavy :) My point is, I don't think film is dead, but it's certainly sickly and lying on a death bed of money. But somehow the Coen brothers still exist while the sell-out Wachowski brothers do not. Somehow The Road was made. Best selling book sure, but it's not what we're used to seeing these days. No one said they were tent pole spectacles, but No Country for Old Men and The Road attracted a boat load of highly respected film makers. The heart of film still beats, just very slowly. I don't think I can change the world through film, but I know I can make people stop and think if only for a moment. And if I can create a wild ride and rewarding escape for folks, I will be happy. But I want them leaving the theater remembering moments that touched them even if it's not the widest audience possible. Beyond that, I just want to make a living at it!

So, I must thank you for this awesome and continuing journey. Continuing? Yes, it doesn't end with Cap. Cap is merely the beginning. The tempering of the steel. There is much more out there. Maybe we'll come back to Cap some day, but for now, I'd like to apply what I've learned to original projects. It's been fun and rewarding. And it will continue to be as we turn to the next exciting chapter!

All my best!

Thank you,
Ben Alpi

Sept 30, 2010

DEAR BENITO-

Thank you for your interest in Captain America. Your writing has caught the attention of studio execs who want more background on you....

Cap is kinda abandoned for now. I don't have the time to give it. Yet, we have a lot of material here. If only for mining, the experiment was worth it. We will try this again.

I think we should work on something brand new and flex our creative muscles. Lets keep it as a film project or web. I have enough comic stuff on my plate to keep me busy.

When the time is right. pitch me something. I think your ideas about audiences and material is true for the most part. Sadly. But forget that. If the new work isn't dreamed up, it can never be realized. You have an obligation to push your own boundaries and stretch and grow beyond what even you can imagine for yourself. Film can change the world Ben. It has been doing it from the beginning. But not all film. Not every film. Not Cap. Sadly. Or Transformers or Avatar or any 3D shit. A couple handfuls. A few dozen. A few hundred. I think for $65 million I could make a great Cap film and for $25 million it wouldn't have stars or locations but it would still be great. You and I both know that as storytellers, the idea is the paramount driving force. Not the effects or cast or opening weekend.

God Bless You Ben Alpi
and God Bless America

Rick

PS. Are you interested in any more eScape type teen material for the web? I have a friend who wrote a pretty good novel about young kids with powers. Easily adaptable to a series I think.

COMING SOON! 4th of July Blowout!!!

CAP vs. RED SKULL final conflict!! First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

The film industry is about saying 'no' to people, and inherently you cannot take 'no' for an answer.
-James Cameron

The challenge of screenwriting is to say much in little and then take half of that little out and still preserve an effect of leisure and natural movement.
-Raymond Chandler

Emails #58: Schedules - More Important Than Content

2011-06-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Note from the editors: Don't worry folks, there is more blog goodness to come! There are 15 posts (oh my!) to follow. Stay tuned!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: DECLARATION OF WAR
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

RICK: I STILL LIKE MY TITLE BEST!

The Avengers will get made. People, even those with blocks of ice for heads will understand that Cap is part of the Avengers team. The title is clunky and not very catchy. Maybe I will be just blown away by the Cap movie. Maybe my socks will actually come off. I kinda doubt it though. The technology exists to create just about anything for the movies, fully rendered and realistic if need be. This technology has developed rapidly in the last thirty years and the crunching power of computers to do the hard work of making special effects, backgrounds and composites and now actual characters has leap-frogged. The sophisticated matte shots thought up by George Lucas for the original Star Wars are kid's stuff compared to what the camera and computer can do now. I mention this obvious point to bring up the fact that it is good old fashioned storytelling that makes a movie great, not effects. The writing, the performances, the sound, the music, the direction, the editing... Labor intensive human efforts and collaborative at that. A tremendous amount goes into making a big budget film these days and it seems a shame that scripts get rushed through, too many hands are on the page marking it up, schedules are more important than content. Release dates are announced ahead of scripts or casting or even choice of director.

Captain America's origin could be a very inspiring, riveting tale. The story of Cap has already lasted countless cancellations, reimagining, restarts, rebirths, redirects, different costumes... but the basic elements have more than withstood the test of time. Cap has indeed become a symbol of America. The noble America. The good America. YES!

The America that stands for important principles and goes to war against evil in all its forms. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created a super patriotic hero who, in a star spangled fantasy world, could do what ordinary people could never do. Cap could fight the very demons that plagued us in mortal combat. A symbol-- a mythic hero!

He could punch Hitler, drop kick Tojo and smash Mussolini with his shield. The villains were racist caricatures seething with hatred and full of sadistic plans. While a lot of the content was dreck or worse Yeah, not different from other books of the time, the spirit of Cap struck the appropriate chord with both American and worldwide audiences. Cap is well known by a large slice of demographics. The specifics of his adventures may have taken more "realistic" turns of late in the comics but in the collective memory, Cap always stands for liberty and freedom which is a heck of a lot better than standing for revenge like most "heroes."

BEN: I was thinking that very thing today. Even Spidey fights for absolution and out of a sense of responsibility. Cap is more pure- which is why I think the closest other hero is Superman. Sups is not fighting for revenge or to wash his sins, he's an innocent alien who never asked to be mighty. But, through what his parents taught him, he himself chose to use his powers to right wrongs. Cap volunteered because he wanted to fight tyranny, as you said, before Pearl Harbor. Even in my earliest idea, Cap was sent in before the US was officially in the war. His appearance on the battlefield sparks instant legends on both sides, no one being able to confirm.

While many of the whimsical story points I have suggested will not ever come to pass it is forever my hope that writers, directors and producers ask themselves the question,"What is the essence of the character? What is the pure idea of this story?" Before committing expensive resources to a project, wouldn't it be a great idea to think about the characters and dream what it would be like to be in their shoes, to be able to do incredible, dramatic things, to be poised to make a difference at every turn. Real life is seldom so super charged. That is why, sitting in a darkened theater for two hours with strangers laughing or crying at our hero's exploits is such an escape. It is a brief period where the movie goer can disconnect from everyday living and experience something dramatic, something funny, or something awe inspiring. How many times have I left a theater all charged up or sad or numb? Going to the movies can be a fantastical, thought provoking experience. Film has demonstrated this power over and over again.

I am not expecting Cap to be a transformative movie. Unfortunately, I doubt it will even be inspirational. The motivation Simon and Kirby brought in creating the character over 60 years ago will most probably be long lost because it will be feared that today's "sophisticated" audiences won't go for the antiquated ideals of a bygone era. Why not put Cap in outer space? Today's kids love outer space. Too much revisionist and not enough history. The dramatic story of outright evil and WWII as told through the eyes of a hero who was sick and powerless and who became powerful and symbolic. What more could you ask for? Tie-ins. Sequels. Buddy movies. One liners. Product placements. Cap drinks Coke! Shouldn't you! And F@%#&*K the easter eggs. Make me the grand slam breakfast instead! I am sick of the rich history of comics being glossed over in favor of tiny, condescending snippets being crafted into the background to nod at the original source material. I would pay anything to see a Cap movie that simply inspired millions to leave theaters and visit the graves of WWII vets, to thank Vietnam vets or amputees coming back from Iraq. Somehow, in this Coke and Pepsi world we live in, the values of liberty and freedom will end up instead being used as a punch line in the closing credits. Yeah, yeah, yeah Cap is about freedom but we can make the bullets bounce off Cap's shield in 3-D using 100% CGI. The talk is already focused about the ensemble Avengers movie. It has been built into the other Marvel movies in one form or another and perhaps the idea of a group movie with infinite product tie-in and something for everyone is already overshadowing the unique stand alone quality that made Cap a success during one of the darkest periods in human history. Cap gave hope to millions. He was a fiction dreamed up by two Jewish kids during wartime and the power and energy of their creation is primal and evident.

I could continue to write about Cap. His many adventures and technical hurdles. Where he goes as a character. But I feel like finishing here. What started as an email correspondence blossomed into full fledged reimagining. I am thankful for the process. I am thankful Ben has spurred me along and helped create several web-doc sites. He has provided invaluable insight with his numerous comments and critiques and his director/writer point of of view. The two of us have veered off into other territory often and I have greatly enjoyed the adventure of thinking about Cap in both abstract and practical terms. What would Cap be like if he were real? How would he really come about?

I don't have the energy to pound out a screen play based on these disorganized rantings. That is the next logical step for me to take but one I am not prepared for. There are many other projects screaming for my limited attention. Comics, writing, illustration and design. There is not enough time to do it all. Cap was fun for a long time to toy around with. I have an acute affinity for Cap, especially the larger than life Kirby Cap, the one with sledgehammer knuckles in your face. I am going to end here for now. Let liberty and freedom prevail.

Thank you.

God Bless America,
Rick Arthur
8/3/2010

RICK: Note from the present day (July, 2011)....

At this point, #58, there are 15! more full posts scheduled to run including a 5-part Cap vs. Red Skull fight to the finish!! Everything up until now came chronologically BEFORE Ben and I even decided to create a blog, this exact blog which you are reading now. The blog has been up and running for over eight or nine months. DID I QUIT CAP? The fact that you are reading some of the 100,000+ words Ben and I exchanged means no, I did not. We had just been developing Cap with an eye toward a screenplay for three full years and maybe longer. Marvel had announced their version, the real version, to come out now. I had other work stacking up like cord wood waiting for me to finish with Cap...

I honestly wanted to write a script. Having an editor, writing partner, coach and critic of Ben's caliber was something that wasn't going to come around too often especially for a dyed in the wool cartoonist like myself. Realistically, I knew that another whole year to churn out the first clumsy draft was probably wishful thinking. My time is short. It could have taken two years. At the end of which people will have forgotten that I was ever an artist and no one would know I was a writer. Plus I would have a script I couldn't sell about a movie that was already made; Cap's origin. What was I to do???

Put a bookmark in it. Learn the lessons Ben has patiently taught and apply film techniques to comics storytelling. Will I ever write a Cap screenplay? Piece by piece. A scene here and there. I could wake up one morning with a solution to a character problem I was thinking about years ago. It has happened before. Sometimes entire stories come spilling out and this has happened a lot with Cap. The Teaser Trailer: The Cold #28 tumbled out 90% complete.

Ben has a different approach. It is one of the things that makes bouncing ideas off him so great. He writes, does computer work, directs, produces, reads scripts, does lighting, sound and special effects, acts when needed. When he is not raising money for a new shoot which is never, he is knee deep in advertising, casting, marketing and branding. The guy just happens to be energetic and really into film! Through his work with Runic Films he has accomplished some pretty amazing things.

Enjoy the remaining posts and keep in mind that having a critical eye and a little skepticism is a good thing for a storyteller.

Thanks,
RICK

Okay. I am not sure if I included this anywhere. Steve Rogers has just become Cap. In order to "hide" his existence from the Germans, he is being ferried aboard a regular ship packed with other freshly minted soldier

On the docks, a commotion erupts between sailors and infantry. Heated words between enlisted men escalates into fists and wrenches. Cap wades into the boiling pile of men, pulling them apart, to find out what is wrong. In the center of the fray, Cap discovers that the ship's anchor has broken free and is lodged firmly under the dock and won't allow them to leave. He commands the men to grab the anchor rope and pull when he gives the signal. Cap dives head first into the oily black harbor. With a tremendous effort he frees the anchor and resurfaces. Sailors and infantry alike pull on the rope. Cap climbs back on the dock, soaking wet and jumps in line, pulling as hard as he can. The anchor rises and is secured. An officer who witnessed the whole thing remarks,"We need more can-do Joes around here. He sure knows how to wrangle those men. It could have turned into a major brawl."

COMING SOON! 4th of July Blowout!!!

CAP vs. RED SKULL final conflict!! First Avenger Double Movie Review!!

Whatever has happened in my quest for innovation has been part of my quest for immaculate reality.
-George Lucas

When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and being able to get to your next picture.
-George Lucas

Emails #57: Two-Fisted Justice

2011-06-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: My Captain America feels the losses. He also knows that ending the war quickly is the only way to save lives. He looks over his shoulder at the men who have fallen and it only galvanizes his efforts. Should have copied the interview link but it is since lost. How would World War II have been different if America had gotten involved in 1934? Or 1936? Or 1938? Part of the reason for this isolationist policy was the horrors of WWI. This was Europe's war. The land struggles and ethnic rivalries were European. America was not yet a super power either. It is a sign of the nation's moral softness that we did not intervene earlier. Think of the lesson we did not learn in Rwanda. Evil must always be made to face the righteous fury of those who stand against it. We came to the aid of France, Britain and Russia when they were on the mat NOT because we opposed evil, a European evil so far away. Captain America was dreamed up by Kirby and Simon BEFORE America entered the war. They understood this evil and they had Cap fighting Hitler and Tojo before Pearl Harbor. In their comic, Cap is a hero, a full blown patriot. There were no excuses for him being American. He doled out two-fisted justice where it was needed. This was not some impassioned plea by two Jewish kids for America to sit on the sidelines and wait it out. Simon and Kirby saw America as being in the thick of it, leading by example.

In real life, a giant French flag was returned to France by an American GI who stole it in the days just after WWII had ended. The flag had been hanging from the Arc d'Triumph as a national symbol to the French people that the war was over. The guy kept it for over 60 years and then he returned it anonymously. Do you know what the French said? They were not angry. The GI had risked his life for the lives of the French and "souvenirs" had been taken at war's end. No charges were going to be filed. No recriminations. They were overjoyed to have it back and accepted it in a highly emotional ceremony. This is the America we live in. Strong and weak. Moral and immoral. Honest and hypocritical.

BEN: Exactly. Any "Sorry we're not perfect" is silly--because it's obvious we're not. Should Britain say "sorry we tried to take over the world before the Nazi's great-great grand parents were glimmers in someone's eye."? Blah. Of course don't put it in people's faces "we saved you" because, well, the French saved us once. If folks look at Cap and see an imperialist they're probably going to see that no matter what. My Cap is like yours. You can't write an insensitive Cap. An a-hole Cap. A brash, greedy cowboy Cap. That's not Cap. He's a completely pure can-do boy scout who gets what his job is in the war (eventually.) At first, he might think that protecting the men is his focus or that he's simply a soldier to the max, but he then learns that it's not his muscles that are his gift, but his compassion and patriotism-- a patriotism that is American, but not so foreign that no other country can understand it. It has it's own spin, but it's not like we invented patriotism or freedom-- we just have slightly different hallmarks. We didn't invent republics or democracy, but we made it our own and it's pretty good. The thing with Cap is you can go all the way back to the Constitution with him. He's like a founding father! Screw all the petty politicians and other BS of the day, Cap doesn't care about that. He cares about the real America. THAT is what we're talking about here, the ideal of America. Eff that political BS. Cap is a true American. (Can't imagine dropping a $200M bomb. No idea either how they can spend that much on Cap. Superman at least spins the world on his finger which costs cash... although that last film budget was still too much.)

PROOOOOOF that the new Captain America movie will suck. I am not inspired by these photos. Chris Evans. Steroid use? He is unrecognizable. The skinny Evans was probably a better bet.

My bro pointed out that Evans did bulk up for The Losers. Surprisingly so there. Still, ya, not inspired. Cap bike is awful clean. I like the painted wings, but they're in sharp contrast to the hockey shoulder pads. The Skull bikes look kinda silly. Also no dirt. No dirt is how you usually can tell a low budget period film... just sayin...

Cap's bike is ridiculous. The Skull bikes are even more so. Don't forget that the Cosmic Cube didn't exist for 30 more years in the comics. Cap would have an ordinary issue bike. There aren't enough pieces of equipment to go around and it would be transportation. I don't think that the stunt man should be riding it because it looks like the paint is still wet. It would take about a minute to get bugs, dust and mud all over that thing. The Skull bikes are silly because it tips me off that we are not really in WWII France but rather in some fantasy land where evil is connoted with monocolor precision. If you told me that the bikes belonged to the set of Battlestar Galactica, I wouldn't bat an eye. Too clean? Just off the factory floor. Evans can be seen praying to be released from his contract. He was better off as the Torch and I think he knows it. What happened to his tattoos? The wings on his helmet at this point don't do anything for me? Like an after thought.

If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.
-Hamilton Fish

"Our country, right or wrong." When right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.
-Carl Schurz

Emails #56: Unmistakably, Unrelentingly American

2011-06-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

RICK: I just finished reading a series of comments that the Cap director Joe Johnston made regarding Cap. I suppose it is to be expected. Shooting has already begun and the script vetted by everyone who was going to get their hands on it. It was disheartening because his view of Cap as much more "international" in range. This kind of revisionist, liberal crap is what turns people off.Cap as a character, as envisioned by Simon & Kirby, was a direct response to the hideous evil that was unleashed in Germany, Japan and Italy during WWII and America's need to step in and combat tyranny. The struggle to create a super soldier has by necessity been a long one covering many years and guided by many hands—all with the express purpose of giving the United States of America a secret weapon during war time. Steve Rogers becomes Captain America (Not Captain Ally or Captain United Nations) and is able to give hope to our troops in the darkest of fights. This is the real strength of Cap and not his fighting prowess. In the field, he can do very little except act as a human symbol to remind the other soldiers why they fight and what they fight for. The ideals of liberty, freedom, might and compassion. Victory in WWII was not assured just because the Americans got involved. England was taking a pounding and many other countries had already been overrun. Germany had also been racing to develop its own super soldier...

Making a film like Cap that costs two hundred million dollars IS obscene. The marketing is going to cost even more and this is all a lead up to The Avengers. If Cap tanks at the box office, it may bring down the whole house of cards. With Marvel projects stacked in pre-production like cord wood and also costing a great deal to develop, a big misstep could be more than enough to ruin everything. SO what do you do? Make the story more internationally friendly. More spies and double agents. More Resistance fighters. Teamwork. Go Cap! Go Europe! We all know that Europe is thankful we got into the war but few recall that our isolationist policies and "arsenal of democracy" turned a heady profit for us before we entered the war and after it concluded. This still does not sit well with our allies 60 years later. They had to rebuild from smoking rubble while we had working factories running at full capacity. The body count was so high in Russia that the numbers are still disputed to this day. Water the movie down a little. Take out the rah, rah. Sell a few extra seats in Europe. This is totally the wrong strategy. Cap needs to be unmistakably, unrelentingly American and not international. Audiences everywhere want to see it. They want that tough guy up there on the screen fighting for what is right and not apologizing for being an American. Steve Rogers is a humble youth. His whole life has been spent in sickness. He knows what it is like to be weak. And now he is strong. And part of his strength is his compassion for his fellow man, his insistence on treating others humanely even in war. Is Captain America a political movie? Hell yeah. But if you really want to sit with a calculator and count the seats in theaters worldwide, make a strong, compelling human story about a sick kid who got his chance to be strong and his biggest achievement was not the battles he fought but the hope he inspired and the compassion he showed to friend and foe alike.

BEN: ...Because that IS American! I have not read the article so, feel free to link me. I've had a bad feeling about the film since it was announced. We call them the greatest generation because they stepped up. We didn't step up first to be sure, but we sure as heck responded when provoked. All we needed was a spark and the fire raged. Cap could never win the war himself. The best he could hope for (though he wouldn't think it) was to be a lynch pin. To make a crucial decision, to knock the glass in just the right spot to shatter it, but without the glass-- without the hundreds of thousands of men a women from all Allies-- it would be just a dull thud and nothing would happen. "Secret A-A-AGENT man!" Cap is a big dude. He's not a James Bond everyman. Can he speak French and leverage the Underground? No, but them hot French women will speak English for him... Anyhow, you're correct. They may think that this film is the perfect opportunity to improve our image to the world, but they probably don't realize is that they're using what I assume is more like capitulation. What the film should do is remind the world and ourselves what makes a hero and what makes an American hero. Is that hero Cap? Yes aaaand no. The real American heroes died to keep the world free. Perfect, no, but willing to do what was right in the end. Cap is a Super Hero which is someone who exemplifies these traits in the pursuit of justice and protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Super-powered people who think they are heroes are what we call "Super Villains." I don't know, maybe that's it. Maybe it's just the fact that these folks don't understand what a super hero is. Anyhoo! Time for sleeping :) I am going to end here for now.

For success, the author must make the reader care about the destiny of the principals, and sustain this anxiety, or suspense, for about 100,000 words.
-Ken Follet

They have followed their usual procedure and handed my treatment over to several other people to make a screenplay out of it. By the time they are ready to shoot it may have been through 20 pairs of hands. What will be left? One shudders to think. Meanwhile, they have paid me a lot of money...
-Aldous Huxley