Saturday, August 27, 2011

Young Indy Season 1

I just completed a screening of the first season of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (or as they were known in the 90's, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles).  What is amazing to me is this series was the true forerunner to the Star Wars prequels with the same storytelling motions (and mistakes).  While Young Indy was more enjoyable on average, the series still fell short of its own goals and was always uncertain of its own demographic.  The season also suffered from weak supporting characters, most of whom were removed as the focus concentrated solely on Indy.
(Note: The re-edited episodes I watched have two separate stories per single episode, so the number that follows an episode title refers to which story.  Ex. My First Adventure (2) refers to the second story of the episode My First Adventure.)

Friday, August 5, 2011

Captain America vs. The First Avenger

Terms to avoid confusion
Captain America: The 1990 direct-to-video film
The First Avenger: The 2011 theatrical film
The Captain/Cap/Steve Rogers: the main character of the comics and both films.

Buried in the obscurity of bad cinema history circa 1990, is the first feature length Captain America film. Like most superhero films of the 20th century, it was a stand alone adaptation made to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of the comics and was one of the most unspectacular fails in superhero cinema. Despite proper preparation in marketing, the film was never released in theaters and appeared directly on video two years after the planned release. Though I don't know the business fiasco that caused this, I can say the punishment fit the crime. The film suffered from an erratic plot, poor characters, and of course, a feeble portrayal of the source material.