Joe Johnston, the director of
numerous effects-driven adventures over the years (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,
Jumanji and Jurassic Park III, to name a few), brings sleek
efficiency to this 3-D adaptation of the latest Marvel Comics staple to make it
to the big screen, which is a nice way of saying that Captain America is a competent if uninspired opening salvo in what
Paramount hopes is its next mondo franchise.
The story, set during the
height of World War II and cobbled together by a pair of screenwriters, centers
on Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), an alarmingly slight but determined guy deemed
unfit for military service whose fortunes change when he is chosen for a
top-secret research project that turns him into a buff superhero dedicated to defending
America's ideals.
(Evans’ physical transformation, whether via special effects,
more organic means or a combination thereof, is one of the movie’s few true
wonders.) Captain America is a
throwback to less complicated times, an earnest era that synchs well with
Johnston’s straightforward, workmanlike approach — think old-school movie
serials with a bigger budget and capable supporting actors (Tommy Lee Jones,
who brings much-needed grit as a veteran military man; Dominic Cooper as Howard
Stark, father of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man; Hugo Weaving as a red-faced and
archly evil German lunatic who makes Hitler look lucid; and Stanley Tucci as a
disheveled scientist).
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Evans’ natural charisma can’t
help by be muted by his character’s ludicrous costume (perhaps the most banal
in superhero annals?), stilted dialogue and a romantic subplot with a brassy
female military officer (Hayley Atwell, a voluptuous British actress who brings
to mind myriad old-Hollywood sirens) that generates few sparks. Yet, besides its
out-of-step, often corny proffering of American idealism long since evaporated,
Captain America’s biggest
liabilities are its lack of emotional resonance and lame, nearly nonexistent use
of 3-D, which literally darkens the screen to the point of irritation.
Grade: C
Opens July 22. Check out theaters and show times, see the trailer and get theater details here.
