I went and saw Captain America last night. All summer I wanted to see it, but I just never found the time. Finally, it arrived at the poor-people theatres and I set aside some time to go and take in this pulpy WW2 era action flick.
I enjoyed the film, and if you wanted to see a decent "Turn-Your-Brain-Off" action flick go see it if you haven't already. But that’s not the story I’m telling. I want to talk about my suspension of disbelief.
Nobody walks into a Marvel movie expecting the action to be realistic. I have no problem setting my scientific ignorance meter to full throttle when it comes to movies like this. Comic-book action movies are supposed be fun! People’s faces are supposed to make a “THWACK!” noise when they get punched, all of America’s WW2 soldiers are hunks, nobody rolls on the ground in pain after running from the concussive force of an explosion that should have blown out their eardrums, it’s all good fun!
However, as I was watching Captain America, there was one scene that really annoyed me:
Cap, and his band of Merry-Men, zipline off a cliff onto a high-speed train.
I couldn't find a picture of it, but from the looks of things, this was a very fast train. it wasn't some 1940s slow-chugging coal-burning engine, this thing was fueled by the power of the gods (quite literally). And since this was high up in the mountains, the god-train was being buffeted by blistering cold winds.
When they land on this train they start running along the top of the rail-cars to sneak inside.
THEY. START. RUNNING.
You just can’t do that. Not even Captain America could do that.
Yes Captain, you can throw your shield and have it bounce right back to you. You can jump 2 dozen metres over an explosion and while receiving nary a scratch or blowing out your eardrums. You can even avoid getting caught in trees when you parachute into a heavily forested landscape in the middle of the night!
But you cannot run on the top of a train. You have to crawl. It’s too rough of a ride, the wind is going too fast, and the top of a freezing cold domed railcar will be too slippery to run on at full speed. You have to crawl. The most you could manage is a hunched shuffle.
Oh, and lets not forget he has that shield strapped to him! Have tried walking around with an umbrella in a slight breeze? That’s difficult. Now try waving around a big shield in 50+ mph winds! That’s impossible!
What’s more, his compadres, who aren’t super-soldiers, also ran on the top the damn train! Maybe, just maybe in the Marvel universe the Captain could run on the top of the train with magnetic suction-cup boots attached to his feet; But the other guys? No way.
It’s. Total. Bullshit.
My suspension of disbelief went right out the window when that happened. I enjoyed the rest of the movie, but that scene dogged me all the way home.
C’mon Cap, you’re supposed to be the good guy, you’re supposed to play by the rules. You know who would break the rules of physics? The Red Skull (the villian FYI).
And you don’t wanna be like the Red Skull, do you?
I enjoyed the film, and if you wanted to see a decent "Turn-Your-Brain-Off" action flick go see it if you haven't already. But that’s not the story I’m telling. I want to talk about my suspension of disbelief.
Nobody walks into a Marvel movie expecting the action to be realistic. I have no problem setting my scientific ignorance meter to full throttle when it comes to movies like this. Comic-book action movies are supposed be fun! People’s faces are supposed to make a “THWACK!” noise when they get punched, all of America’s WW2 soldiers are hunks, nobody rolls on the ground in pain after running from the concussive force of an explosion that should have blown out their eardrums, it’s all good fun!
However, as I was watching Captain America, there was one scene that really annoyed me:
Cap, and his band of Merry-Men, zipline off a cliff onto a high-speed train.
I couldn't find a picture of it, but from the looks of things, this was a very fast train. it wasn't some 1940s slow-chugging coal-burning engine, this thing was fueled by the power of the gods (quite literally). And since this was high up in the mountains, the god-train was being buffeted by blistering cold winds.
When they land on this train they start running along the top of the rail-cars to sneak inside.
THEY. START. RUNNING.
You just can’t do that. Not even Captain America could do that.
Yes Captain, you can throw your shield and have it bounce right back to you. You can jump 2 dozen metres over an explosion and while receiving nary a scratch or blowing out your eardrums. You can even avoid getting caught in trees when you parachute into a heavily forested landscape in the middle of the night!
But you cannot run on the top of a train. You have to crawl. It’s too rough of a ride, the wind is going too fast, and the top of a freezing cold domed railcar will be too slippery to run on at full speed. You have to crawl. The most you could manage is a hunched shuffle.
Oh, and lets not forget he has that shield strapped to him! Have tried walking around with an umbrella in a slight breeze? That’s difficult. Now try waving around a big shield in 50+ mph winds! That’s impossible!
What’s more, his compadres, who aren’t super-soldiers, also ran on the top the damn train! Maybe, just maybe in the Marvel universe the Captain could run on the top of the train with magnetic suction-cup boots attached to his feet; But the other guys? No way.
It’s. Total. Bullshit.
My suspension of disbelief went right out the window when that happened. I enjoyed the rest of the movie, but that scene dogged me all the way home.
C’mon Cap, you’re supposed to be the good guy, you’re supposed to play by the rules. You know who would break the rules of physics? The Red Skull (the villian FYI).
And you don’t wanna be like the Red Skull, do you?
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