It has taken a while for Marvel to figure out their formula, and the error-ridden part of their early trial-and-error technique seemed to be in the selection of their films’ directors. In the case of Captain America, they went with Jumanji and Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston, and the result in my estimation was a continuation of their 2011 slump following Thor. It’s worth noting that the directors they’ve chosen for the follow-ups to these two titles, Alan Taylor for Thor: The Dark World and Joe and Anthony Russo for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, are acclaimed television directors, who one would assume would be well versed in getting the most out of established characters as well as the overarching production requirements that are as present in movie franchises as they are in TV series.
Anyway, what’s this page about? Oh yeah, the first Captain America. Like Thor, this movie seemed to be struggling to find the right tone. The same way Thor is about this weird space opera taking place in another dimension or whatever the hell, the basis of Captain America’s character and story seems to be anachronism and patriotism that this generation can only treat ironically, and so finding the right tone to depict that is admittedly a challenge. As a result there were a few really solid moments in Steve Rogers’ origin story. But ultimately, the glimpses of fun were overshadowed by an abiding flatness for me. It’s also possible—I can’t completely rule this out—that once again I was distracted by the lameness of a superhero whose superweapon is a shield that he throws around.
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