Simple treatment of complex themes

Rating: Null/10 (5 August 2011)

A comic book character should be treated as such. To do more is to redefine the character and create something new, rendering the character unrecognizable. This movie succeeds in maintaining the character's identity. However, the problem with the movie is the shallowness of the story, the utter lack of anything that even remotely resembles emotional depth and the simplistic treatment of subjects as complex as the corruption of science and of war itself. Just because a character is out of a comic book does not mean that character should be treated as a caricature. This movie is set during a time of great and momentous change. That does not mean the movie is poorly crafted, rather it means that their is paucity of content as the director opted to dazzle the audience with special effects to keep the audience's attention. Now of course the movie tells a story, but in doing so sends a message suggesting that the U. S. needed superheroes to the war, which is not true. The war as won by regular people who performed heroically, no matter their body type. Nevertheless, the movie is upbeat, the acting is good, the bad guy is sufficiently sinister and for those reasons the movie is worth watching. Just remember: it's fiction; not history.