***½

Arrogance is not a uniquely American trait, but you do it better than most.

I had no plan to see this movie, despite having heard good things. I now see that this movie meets the standards of even comic book fans. Either the writers or director Joe Johnston deserve credit for putting things in that fooled me, like the first cosmic cube being a fake. But that is just the icing on the cake, the cake is how the story overcomes all of the challenges to Captain America’s origin.

The first major problem to telling Captain America’s story is the adulation that soldiers show him, even though he was handed almost immortality in a dangerous profession. The movie does not avoid this, but confronts it head on ingeniously. Marvel also pulled out all the stops in the casting of the film. Chris Evans is great as Steve Rogers/Captain America, even if casting the Human Torch in another Marvel movie seemed stupid. Hayley Atwell is an unknown actress to me, but her Agent Peggy–not Sharon–Carter was very good, if a bit super hot for the Army. Bucky was also a nobody–Sebastian Stan–but he’s not even a kid! That was another good choice, because bringing kids into lethal fights does not seem as appropriate as it once did. One take Tommy does what he does, as does Hugo. He brings it with every facial costume, be it elven, Fawkesian, or skeletal. Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark encapsulates Leonardo Dicaprio’s  Howard Hughes. Stanley Tucci’s Dr. Erskine plays an integral part, as the orphaned Rogers’s surrogate father and the one who lets him live his dream of serving his country. His role is small, but crucial. As good as Tucci’s Dr. Erskine is, Toby Jones’s Dr. Zola is even better. He plays genius and ambition mixed with fear remarkably well. Even the Howling Commandos include Derek Luke and Neal McDonough.

While this is not as good as Spider-man 2, X2, or Iron Man, it is on par with Thor and above Chris Evans’s Fantastic Four movies. This makes me even more excited for The Avengers.