It’s 11:30 pm and everyone needs to wind down for an hour or so before crashing. But Joe Johnston‘s Captain America (Paramount, 7.22) screened tonight at the Grove, and I was knocked over, levitated, delighted. I could feel the mixed energy in the room, and it’s obvious that some are going to “meh” this amazing film. “It’s okay,” “Not bad,” etc. Wrong! I’m just going to re-post tonight’s tweets and let it go at that…for now.
Tweet #1: “Retro-Captain America is my favorite Marvel movie ever, by far. LOVED IT! Best Joe Johnston flick since The Rocketeer! Fast & fleet & spiffy. Exactly the right tone for a 1940s-era patriotic superhero flick. Not comic, not satiric, not a jape. And yet it speeds right along, cuts to the chase, does it right.”
Tweet #2: “Captain America doesn’t end traditionally or wholesomely or even conclusively — it ends like a continuing serial — but what happens is a complete surprise. And the film as a whole is a lot more ‘sincere’ than tongue-in-cheek.”
Tweet #3: “Captain America is the delightful opposite of a dark, heavyweight, super-labored, wannabe-Chris-Nolan movie. Loved the brownish-amber colors, the patriotic ’40s ambiance, the concise shape and pace of it. No fat, no slack…punch it.”
Tweet #4: “Anyone who comes out of Captain America saying ‘meh, it’s mildly okay’ is aesthetically blocked. They just don’t get it. Captain America moves, mad-dashes, soars, whooshes, runs, delights & barrel-asses. It’s pure art direction, pure mood, and all of a piece. And mostly unpredictable.”
Tweet #5: “Captain America made me feel good about the spirit of ComicCon. Three hours ago I was still fantasizing about strafing the fanboys.”