"I beg your pardon?"
Marvel's latest addition to its Avengers set-up cycle thankfully slots into its universe organically, reaping the benefit of its wonderfully-realised 1940s setting and using clever bookends to position its lead in the modern era as well. Chris Evans gives a remarkably humble performance as Steve Rogers on his journey from (rather spookily-created) weakling to vacuous celebrity to super-soldier, Tommy Lee Jones gets all the best lines and delivers them with his trademark dry sarcasm, Dominic Cooper works well as Stark Snr and - in yet another male-dominated superhero movie - Hayley Atwell proves to be a strong presence, forging a nicely-played Top Gun-style McGillis/Cruise relationship with Evans. 3D is used well to provide an effective sense of huge scale, with the story's comic pulp origins being mined stylistically to good purpose throughout. Joe Johnston's direction is assured, but - like his last film, The Wolfman - the whole enterprise would benefit from a little more pace and energy to truly engage emotionally and pack more punch.
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