Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Perfect cast and a good story

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Captain America II (1979) * 1/2 (out of 4) This sequel has Captain America/Steve Rogers (Reb Brown) going up against a bunch of thugs who pick on old women as well as a mad man (Christopher Lee) who has created a way to speed up the aging process and he plans to use this to wipe out cities unless he is paid. It's funny but the first film is considered one of the worst superhero movies ever made but I liked it's campy and silly charm. This sequel is considered by many to be the better of the two films but I actually thought there were a few too many problems to fully enjoy it. I think the biggest problem is the screenplay, which offers us up a rather neat idea but never really ever gets done with it. We keep hearing about this deadly chemical yet we never get to see it in full action and by doing this the viewer gets to know that it's not going to happen so there's never any real drama or tension that something bad is going to happen. Another problem is the dialogue, which once again is pretty laughable at times and what makes it worse here is that much of it takes itself so serious that you can't help but roll her eyes. Even though this film is shorter than the first I found it rather hard going at times because some of the pacing was just way too slow and there are many sequences that really go no where and contain very little entertainment. There are a few good things here and one is the performance of Lee. No matter what you think of the man, and I think little of him, he at least gives it his all even when appearing in something such as this. I thought he delivered another fine performance and really sold himself in the part. Brown doesn't turn in a "good" performance but I thought he was quite a bit better here than in the first movie. I also enjoyed most of the action scenes and the added bang given to Captain America when he exits his van was a plus as was the final fight between he and Lee. With that said, CAPTAIN America II still has way too many weak spots to be a complete success. It's worth noting that both Brown and Lee would appear in HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER'S A WEREWOLF.

Reb Brown is back as Captain America in this second parter of what was supposedly going to be a TV series. I definitely prefer this one than the first because it has a lot more action, a bigger budget, and it's way more goofier!! Christopher Lee plays a baddie named Miguel(HUH?). That's almost as bad as when he played Fu Manchu. Watch for a thug named Stader who's a dead ringer for Joe Don Baker's Mitchell (MITCHELL!).I noticed this showcased a more human side of Steve Rogers. He doesn't have to help the elderly with the gangs who are bullying them, but he does. Steve would rather be painting or just chill by the beach. Sure, he dons his red white and blue garb, but he spends a lot of time investigating as Steve Rogers which adds a more likability factor. Steve finds out the truth to the adage 'words may never hurt me, but baseball bats really pack a wallop'. There's a romantic side story here where Reb Brown shows that he's an all around good guy. Don't forget the one liners - they're in the contract!Much of the entertainment comes from Captain America breaking boxes with his mega punch, bruising up dock workers, performing a banister slide attack, and a hang glider scene rivaled only by Ator's in Cave Dwellers. There's a hilarious forklift scene which was later paid homage in the masterpiece Fugitive Alien (KEN!). During the dam scene, I wonder if the director yelled, 'Cut! Oh, man. See if Reb's alright. MEDIC! We need a medic here!!'All in a day's work for a superhero from Cali.

I managed to catch Captain America II on Sci-Fi a few years back and I couldn't help but feel that at some point during its making, the producers threw in the towel as far as trying to make the movie true to the original work, make sense, and be believable (even on a comic book level). I didn't see the entire film, but the final 40 minutes or so are wonderfully horrible and worth seeing, especially if you're feeling down on yourself and need to see other people failing more miserably than you. Because I didn't see the whole thing, I'll only go through and point out some of my favorite parts instead of reviewing the whole mess. There's no fair way to assess this piece of junk other than to say I couldn't make a better movie (unless I was given at least 45 minutes). Somehow the 'plot' of the movie leads our hero to Christopher Lee's evil compound where he's holding the girl hostage, or has some death chemicals, or some secret something. Whatever. Steve Rogers needs to get in and he waits across the street in his van (which is like the van the A-Team uses, not a moving van, which would be more convenient for hauling a big motorcycle) for the better part of the day, timing the opening and closing of the gates with a wrist-watch chronograph. I guess digital watches were new-ish then and kind of a big deal, so they make sure we see that his is super-high-tech because it counts up from zero. Notice how he starts and stops the watch. He uses such fiercely exaggerated movements, you'd think he was fighting the spasms caused by the 'Rage' virus in 28 DAYS LATER. I can't remember how much time the doors typically stay open, but they must cycle long enough for Rogers to do the following:--See the doors begin to open --Get out from behind the wheel to the back of the van --Completely change into his Capt. America costume while maneuvering around the motorcycle stored inside. --Starting the motorcycle and getting it revved up to the level that it creates enough exhaust smoke so as to look cool when he bursts through the rear doors (How did he reach the handle from the seat of the bike and still be able to exit IMMEDIATELY after the doors are open?) --Speed across the street --Avoid the cars exiting the compound --Make it through the gates with plenty of time to spare (or so it seems in slow motion)Once inside the compound, which is comprised of about 10-20 different buildings, Capt. America races DIRECTLY to the building with the hostage/potion/secret/whatever. He's so confident he's in the right building, he rides the bike INSIDE and goes right to the office he needs to reach. Luck guess, Cap'n.At some point, he and the bike get separated and he must descend a flight of stairs outside a building. Instead of bounding down the stairs at full speed to avoid the most inaccurate sniper fire from above, Capt. America comes to an almost dead stop so he can awkwardly slide down the metal railing all Tommy Tune-like. Personally, I think it's silly, but I'm not a superhero so I don't know the best, most heroic ways to cover 10-15 feet of stairs. He gets back to his bike and gets lost in the compound. While he went directly where he wanted to go earlier, his exit strategy is lacking. He rides around and around and around before stopping dead (again) at an exterior wall. He has no escape. He's trapped. Or is he? Cap performs one of the most creative ways of getting around the nuisance of a 15 foot block wall by doing what anyone would do in that situation-THROWING the motorcycle up to the walkway at the top of the wall. Sure it's a riced-out J-bike, but it's still gotta be heavy. Conveniently, the bike lands on both tires and the kickstand equally. Then, before you can catch your breath from such a stupefying event (even for a made-for-network-TV movie), he leaps up and jumps to the bike, or at least the railing for the walkway, in one of the worst examples of a cut-away/visible wire stunt/reversed film sequence in post-Triassic Period history (Why didn't he jump over the railing directly to the bike? Right, because he had to jump off the railing backwards.). Once on the walkway, he's gotta make an exit because Christopher Lee is escaping. Cap rides full speed to the end of the wall and before going over he hits a button that transforms his bike into a (possibly powered – I can't remember) hang glider that he flies directly to Lee's hideout in the woods. It makes one wonder why he wasted half his day timing the front gates when he could have either thrown his bike over the wall, or, more easily, flown the bike in. Whatever.There's a final confrontation between Cap and Lee in which Lee shoots at Cap, but the bullets are blocked by Caps trash can lid shield. Cap uses the shield to take Lee out, but instead of throwing it right at him, Cap throws the shield like a boomerang way, way, way, WAY up and around Lee. He wasn't even close. Lee's probably still got some bullets at this point, but rather than use them to gun down Capt. America, he takes the time to watch the shield (obviously on a wire being guided by a boom pole since it teeters like a quarter slowing down after spinning upright) slowly circle around until it makes contact and kills him. Someone touched on this in another review and correctly pointed out that the scenario could have been different if Lee had simply ducked, or had taken a step to one side or the other. Better luck next time, Mr. Lee.There's some kind of resolution after that, but it's generally a happy ending and typically lame. If you ever get the chance to see it for yourself, be prepared to feel the urge to kick in your TV screen at least once in every scene because of the flaws/cheapness/bastardization of the original material/general lameness of the whole production. However, if you like really bad, stupid movies, this is golden garbage for you.One additional note: I don't read many comics, but I would imagine Captain America deserves more than being portrayed the way he is in not only the two TV movies, but the 1992 debacle, as well. While the '92 movie was supposed to be a major release, it has moronic scenes like the one with the Red Skull tying Cap to a missile fired from Europe to Washington D.C.. Cap rides the thing all the way across the Atlantic and waits until The White House is in sight (what?) before he decides to kick his heels against the tail ailerons of the missile, thus deflecting it and sending it toward the Pacific Northwest. Fortunately, the rocket still has enough fuel left over to go a few thousand miles more to Alaska or some such area that can be inexpensively represented by shooting in Canada once Cap wakes up 50 years later, completely fine and not brain dead, kinda like a short-term John Lone in ICEMAN. Rubbish.

OK! Well, this is so bad its funny. First off, this film has nothing to do with the Captain America we all know and love in the comics. Some background from the first movie that I watched but am not going to review: Steve Rogers is a former motorcross racer, now free lance artist and is the son of the original Captain America....(may be the one in the comics). He was in a wreck and was injected with "FLAG" serum by the goverment....Riiiiiiight. Steve rides around in a big blue van...when trouble arises, the back doors of the van open, smoke poors out, and the Captain shoots out on his red, white, and blue motor cylce. He wears a helmet over his traditional mask and his shield is small...very small. Everything on the original design on the shield that was white is now clear. It is a super flimsy piece of work too. it bends and folds whenever he uses it, especially in a seen where he is pushing pack a pack of wild dogs. The story sucks here too. Instead of the Red Skull or Baron Zemo we get the villian from The Man With The Golden Gun. His name is Miguel and he is holding the country hostage. He is spreading an aging formula over cities and he will only provide an antidote for lots of money. Though we get to see a pretty fair amount of Cap in costume, he spends that time riding his motorcyle. I guess the director thought ten minutes of Cap riding his bike to be entertaining...whatever. The fighting seens are also kinda lame. Cap would rather throw a thug into a mud puddle than punch him. Also, every time he uses his enhanced strength or makes a big jump, we hear this supper annoying whistle sound and we hear it a lot. I will say this about the actor playing Cap, Reb Brown, is very big and very built,however, he sounds like a hick when he talks. This movie came out in the late 70s when Marvel comics and this big spread of superheroes on TV. The Hulk, Spiderman, Dr. Strange, and Cap were all planned TV shows. The Hulk and Spiderman both made it past the pilots but only the Hulk would last more than a season. The last try at making a Cap into a movie was in 1990. The movie was supposed to go to theaters but was held back and put on video in 1992. I personally find it to be a much better movie...you be the judge.