Confident in itself, the movie is in absolutely no hurry to freeze Cap in ice and zip him forward to our time as per many other tellings of his origin have done. So instead we get to see the character achieve and inspire actually in World War Two and become such an important icon inside the universe, smartly done so not to muck up the increasingly complicated present day continuity.
Joe Johnston was clearly recruited for his work on the deliriously enjoyable pulp actioner The Rocketeer, and he brings exactly the same energy here. Everything is exciting and heroic without ever making the mistake of being too much like a serious World War 2 film, so we have ziplining onto super-trains, blowing up tanks the size of buildings and battling with big Flash Gordon laser rifles.
One of the big obstacles to doing a Captain America film is that over the past 20 or so years poor old America isn't a particularly popular country in most of the world. So the flag-waving is scaled back; Steve is patriotic but very much in the frame of wanting to stop the Nazis, lots of talk of the Allies, the carefully international make-up of the cast and most of the action talking place in Europe. As a result it avoids the trap of Cap being a caricature of American conservatism, meaning we can lose ourselves in the adventure.
Nick Fury might have been out of the picture as Marvel weren't touching that he would have been about minus five during WW2 but we still had the Howling Commandos and boy were they fan-service heaven... Not only did we get Bucky but Dum-Dum (in his bowler hat, Fox) with fellow comic regulars Jim Morita and Gabe Jones but the occasional Jacques Dernier and, best of all, James Montgomery Falsworth, the civilian identity of the Union Jack.
Flagging up the digital sculpting that would become more and more of a feature as the series went on is the physical transformation of Steve Rogers, ninety pound shoulderless weakling, into the almost comedically buff Captain America. It has just the right amount of suspension of disbelief and isn't overly distracting while showing the dramatic effects of the Super-Soldier formula and going some way towards justifying his abilities.
There's just a pinch of cornball to the film, just as there's always been to the lead character, and this is something the script leans into just the right amount. The best example is the kid Hydra assassin Kruger throws into the water to make his escape, who chirpily tells our hero to go get the bad guys, but other fine movie serial quotes pepper the dialogue and it keeps the whole film buzzing along.
The Golden Age-style uniform getting a mild ribbing as part of the USO show and the combat uniform used later is a good mix of the classic with genuine front-line combat gear. But the best comes in between when Steve sets out against orders to rescue Bucky's unit, in a combo of a blue tin helmet with an A (from one of the USO dancers), a leather jacket, goggles and his tin shield. It's a great look, almost straight from the pen of Bryan Hitch, and it's a shame it doesn't get a few more scenes.
An in-name-only take on a flashback girlfriend of Steve's gives the film a fine character. Peggy avoids suffering from being a displaced 21st century trope but still gets to show her skills, both as a judge of character and her shooting. However, her greatest moment comes when she catches Steve being sexually assaulted by a brilliantly tarty secretary and then promptly tests Howard Stark's new vibranium shield design by shooting at Cap's head. Plus Hayley Atwell really does look smashing in forties military uniform.
Adding further layers to the universe is the appearance of a youthful Howard Stark, played roguishly by Dominic Cooper, neatly connecting in with Nick Fury's revelation back in Iron Man 2 that he was one of the founding members of SHIELD. Going forward Cap's relationship with Howard would become a minor peeve of Tony's while Cooper's portrayal would go on to be a welcome feature of the underrated Agent Carter.
Tommy Lee Jones is good value as SRS head Chester Phillips and gets his best scene when interrogating a captured Arnim Zola, plonking down a steak in front of the prisoner, which he then flips around and promptly eats himself, letting the captured Hydra scientist know exactly who's the boss in this particular situation. Of course, it does mean Phillips bears a fair bit of responsibility for some of the events of the future...
Comments
Post a Comment