That might be what I was thinking of. Even if they don't do the sequel, it's a solid one-and-done flick though. Nothing wrong with that.

Heh. Nope. Saw it second.

Yeah, I'll cross my fingers.

I saw something about that from a friend of mine. I'm not sure what a petition would really do, but I'd be excited to see Urban back in uniform.

Just watched Escape from LA. I like crappy movies, so I can't really complain, but I will say I didn't really understand their intent. It's like they were making it over the top to mock other movies about gritty futures and moral dictatorships... but that means they're kind of mocking Escape from New York... so yeah, I'm not sure what they were trying to get at...

Oh and I saw Cap 2. I think it was good, but I won't hype it anywhere near what I see in this topic. I liked the fights, I liked Cap, I loved Zola, but I HATE Black Widow.

Well, Urban *was* talking up the possibility of a sequel at a European con a few months ago. It might have done middling box office in the US, but it was number one in the UK, and it posted very respectable DVD sales numbers. If Blade can get a trilogy, there's no reason that Dredd can't.

Saw The Deer Hunter, a great 90-minute movie that was twice that length because The 1970s.

Thanks for the comments on Noah. I've read and re-read that part of Genesis many times, and so I've been hesitant to see this movie, especially since the radio ads I've heard have a disclaimer at the end that says that they took artistic liberty "but stayed true to the biblical account", or something very similar. I'm skeptical when it comes to Hollywood/mainstream anything, but I think I'll give this one a chance. They didn't disappoint when it came to "Book of Eli", in fact Hollywood pleasantly surprised me on that one. (not that it's based directly on a biblical account, though it loosely follows several things)

Saturday I finallly saw "CA:The Winter Soldier".

*SPOILERS*

Fact is, Cap is the greatest hero to grace the silver screen. Proved right here yet again. Some day I may actually be a decent enough man to claim that Cap is my hero.

I loved how they continued to show him as a level-headed, humble man, a man of few words who, when he does speak, speaks honestly. Yet also as a man of determined action. One thing I like is that you don't see or hear hatred in him when he fights. He just fights to win the battle and stop the villain. But when he fights, man he goes all out. I loved how they showed him to be a world-class fighter, but not in the usual Hong Kong cinematic wushu style of leaping and kicking like crazy, but with a fighting style based more on grappling, wrestling, and boxing (at least as far as I could tell) than anything else. Which of course is true to the comics.

I also loved how he stood toe-to-toe with the cyborg super-man Winter Soldier, and gave him more than he got. Yet in the end, would not continue to fight his friend once the mission was accomplished.

And skydiving into the ocean without a parachute...c'mon, that's just cool!

There were a lot of twists and turns that I did not expect, and that was nice. One thing was how Maria Hill turned out to be a decent good guy, not the back-stabbing manipulative type that I always thought her to be.

Beware the controversy that follows:

Saw Cap 2, and didn't have one complaint.

I don't think you need to throw spoilers on that.

Anyway, I'm going to try not to change the topic too much, so I'll just say this:
Batman's abilities are 100% reliant on how much of a fanboy the guy writing him is. I personally think his charm is that he's not super human and relies on detective abilities instead of fighting. I'd like to think he would be whooped by Cap in a fight. But some writers just prefer him to be invincible. I don't like them


But yeah. Cap's fighting was totally awesome in the movie. It makes me wonder when he actually got all that training. I mean, he was basically a nerdy kid who was transformed and immediately thrown into war. I'm not sure when he had time to learn a lifetime's worth of martial arts.

Besides making him tougher and stronger, I think the Super-Soldier Serum also made him smarter (not genius level, but still pretty smart). It's possible that he trained, but just picked up the training a lot faster than a normal person would.

That's what I believe anyway.

Plus I'm sure Fury would make sure Steve was up to date training wise.

Comics wise the serum did improve Cap's mental processing abilities. It didn't make him Reed Richards, but it did make it so that he can process and internalize information quicker.

So, both would probably be correct.

Plus, his original film implies he is active for quite a while fighting Hydra in the war, so he had plenty of time to pick things up (given that this film also shows footage of him landing and fighting in the South Pacific, so the first film skips through a lot).

I agree, Batman's greatest strengths (his super-powers) are his mind and his heart. He out-thinks his opponents, and backs it up with years of intense training. (And yeah, too often writers just go off the rails with how good he is.)

Same thing with Cap, but with him it's a focus not on facts and detective skills backed up by martial skills, but hands-on fighting and weapons training, field commanding, and battle-fighting strategy. Not that Bats doesn't focus on those but he's primarily a detective, not a soldier/warrior. But that's all Cap does: fight and train to fight. (Yes he's an artist too, but that's an aspect of him that isn't highlighted as much. In other words he's human not a machine.)

So when Cap wasn't/isn't on the battle field, he's training, and it is said that his fighting skills are a mash-up of things he's learned. Iron Fist fought him and said that his skills and techniques are simple, but very effective. Which is exactly what he needs. He does what works and gets the job done, and the results speak for themselves. So anyway, I think it's what others here said, that Cap is a very efficient, fast learner, so that helped him become as good as he is, plus he has had years of training when he's not actually on the battlefield. So I guess in that sense he's really not that different from Bats: years of training then putting into practice what he has learned. On top of it, the super soldier formula gave him idealized strength and stamina, plus idealized agility, coordination, and mental efficiency.

In a fist fight...Cap could easily take Batman, and vice-versa. They're evenly matched. Bats has his gadgets, (not to mention his genius level intellect) and Cap has his steroid enhanced body and shield. Still bettin' on Bats, though...