Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

MILD SPOILERS FOR FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

MILD SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA BRAVE NEW WORLD

Man! Seems like Erin Kellyman was everywhere for a while! Solo, Willow, this. She was Disney’s new Annette Funicello. Solo had a beach in it. It counts as a beach movie! That makes Alden Ehrenreich the new Frankie Avalon. Ha! And here I was thinking he was the new Harrison Ford. They should have called it Solo: A Beach Blanket Bingo Story.

I never fully grasped what the antagonist’s motivation was beyond calling themselves the Flag Smashers. I guess that’s a great way to pit yourselves against Captain America who is  literally a walking Cuban flag. These guys do not like flags! They must have heard Eddie Izzard’s standup routine about the British empire.

I didn’t know what to think of Wyatt Russell as the “New Captain America”. First of all, it seemed like the mask smashed his nose down so he looked like a Robert Crumb cartoon. It may have been a conscious choice to make it ambiguous as to how seriously the audience was meant to take this new Captain America. He obviously had no street cred with us and the internet at the time was abuzz with memes lampooning Wyatt. I happen to like Wyatt Russell ever since Monarch: Legacy of Monsters but this John Walker character needed to prove himself before I or apparently anyone else would accept him as the new Cap Am.

And it turns out that’s exactly how they (gnomes) wanted you to feel. It’s not long before John Walker reveals he’s a bit of a psychopath. The whole show is to set up Falcon as the new Captain America and that decision makes a whole lot more sense. Bucky taking that mantle in this universe is a bit problematic and he’s way cooler as Winter Soldier anyway.

I liked the interactions with Isiah Bradley played by Carl Lumbly and his eventual validation. Regretfully Isaiah has a bittersweet return in Captain America: Brave New World with very little redemption. Talk about character’s with no street cred picking up preexisting mantles, that movie felt like they were setting up a whole new Avengers team with a bunch of people I didn’t know or care about. I hope they do more to make me care about them before they make a new full fledged Avengers film. I just don’t know about Peter Dinklage playing Black Widow. Seems like an odd choice.

Speaking of interesting choices, Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo was fascinating and I really wanted to know more about the character and his story. I hope they do more with him in the future. His involvement in this felt like a tease.

Speaking of teases, are we going to see something come of Kang the Conqueror or are we out of luck because the actor who played him committed a crime? Is that really the criteria for working with Disney? Don’t break the law. I guess it makes sense but why does it affect imaginary storylines? Just cast another actor and get on with it. Why not have Peter Dinklage play Kang? Oh he already played the biggest little person in Infinity War, didn’t he? Oh well, he can play that AND Kang AND Scarlett Johansen, why not? Chris Evans played Captain America AND Human Torch!

Falcon and the Winter Soldier was pretty decent when it came to parts with the Falcon and the Winter Soldier but other parts were kind of cringy and the “villains” were kind of weak. It seems like mostly a vehicle to make Sam Wilson (Falcon) even more likable but the show needed something big and ambitious as the conflict. The Flag Smashers weren’t cutting the mustard for me. I’d give a second season a go though.