Cap vs Wondy Part Three

The sacrifice of the two Steves

Some people say that the sacrifice of Steve Rogers and Steve Trevor is exactly the same. And while they’re similar, the contrasts between them show how different these movies are. We know that Rogers is going to survive--that’s telegraphed at the beginning of the movie--so the stakes aren’t as high; we don’t know if Trevor survives. Certainly he believes he’s going to die and yet that’s the sacrifice he’s willing to make.

Rogers is on board some fake scientifically advanced air transport; Trevor is flying a realistic WW I airplane, with all the technical limitations of the period. Rogers has a potential girl friend in Agent Carter but their relationship takes up very little screen time; Trevor’s relationship with Diana is the main thread of the movie, so his sacrifice means more and these scenes are intercut with Diana battling Ares--so even if you’re critical of that goddess v god battle, those character-driven moments for Steve and Diana give the finale its emotional weight.

The war buddies

The romance that's more compelling in CATFA is the one between Rogers and Barnes. I wanted the movie to go there. There is so much sexual tension between them, that Marvel would have won points for itself if they just let that love declare itself on screen. Peggy appears to be a beard--someone to distract us from the chemistry between Cap and Bucky. And yet the way that Bucky “dies” is underwhelming--there’s not a lot of pay-off from that turn in the plot. I guess this is further explored in THE WINTER SOLDIER but I haven’t seen that movie.

Whereas, there are so many relationships in WW given their time to play out on screen. Because Patty Jenkins pays attention to the characters, their experience means more to us as an audience. Trevor’s irregulars each get their moments. Whereas the Howling Commandos (minus key character Sgt. Fury) never get developed and only “Dum Dum” Dugan has any degree of presence (mostly unspoken).

I liked the end credits for CATFA with the period style posters, but again this was something they could have used at the beginning of the movie to set the tone, instead of at the end where it serves no useful purpose. But it's nice to look at and better than the commercial that comes after it.

So the Steve Rogers movie succeeds in setting up plots for development in future movies. But as a stand alone movie, as an integral piece of art, the origin story of Princess Diana is far superior.