Wort Report Double Feature: ‘Captain America’ and ‘Harry Potter’

And we’re back. It’d be no understatement to say that the last month was the busiest 31 days of my life, and after three weddings and my first-ever trip to San Diego for Comic-Con International I’ve been more than a little worn out. All that being said, The Wort Report is officially back as my life approaches something resembling normalcy.

With all of my traveling in July my free time was fairly limited, but I actually did manage to make it to the multiplex to check out Captain America: The First Avenger as well as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Now, I’m more than aware that most of you geeks out there have seen both of these flicks, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to revive The Wort Report by weighing in on both of these blockbusters.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel Studios strikes again. Not only does director Joe Johnston’s film work as a standalone World War II-era superhero epic, but it does an amazing job setting the stage for next summer’s Avengers team-up flick. Chris Evans makes Steve Rogers a hero we honestly want to root for, and the film maintains a 1940s serial-esque sense of swashbuckling adventure that sets it apart from Marvel Studios’ other franchises, namely Iron Man, Thor and The Incredible Hulk.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
This was another highly anticipated film that lived up to the hype, wonderfully capping off a series I never thought I’d enjoy as much as I do. Throughout the years, I’ve really appreciated how these movies—much like the books—evolved from kiddie fare into mature dark fantasy that rivals even Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy in its scope.

This second half of Harry’s final adventure hits all of the right emotional notes, largely thanks to superb directing by series veteran David Yates. I’m not crazy about the way the epilogue was handled (Potter and his friends don’t age much in 19 years, do they?), but the film otherwise succeeds as a proper send-off for characters we’ve all grown up with over the past decade.