Joe Johnstons 1991 superhero movieThe Rocketeerbegins in the usual way, with orange opening credits against a black screen.
Sure enough, after the title reveal, the score pauses.
They are announcing the hopes hanging on the yellow biplane that emerges.
Its great high adventure, butThe Rocketeerstill soars because it makes the audience care about the characters.
And few directors understood the relationship between genre fiction and rich characters better thanJoe Johnston.
Honey, I Became a Director
Johnstons directing career began with a very different project.
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The decision to pick Johnston wasnt quite the gamble that the above context might suggest.
Johnston even worked as a second unit director on 1987s*batteries not included, which featuredBrad Birdas co-writer.
Johnston demonstrates his understanding of the relationship between character and spectacle in 1989sHoney, I Shrunk the Kids.
Its a two-second pause in a moment otherwise about adventure and spectacle.
But Johnston knows those two seconds make everything else in the sequence matter.
Perhaps the most famous example of Johnstons talents comes withCaptain America: The First Avengerfrom 2011.
But Johnsons most personal movie is the one with the least amount of spectacle yet the most character.
Instead he yearns to become a rocket scientist.
Johnson adapts Hickams autobiography but does so by tempering the nostalgia with real characters and exciting sequences.
In an early scene, Homer arrives at the coal mine right after a collapse.
Thats my dad, beams Homer as the elder Hickam bravely drags a man out of the rubble.
With that one short scene, Johnston tells viewers everything they need to know about the two Hickam men.
But the payoff comes when floodlights point at Cliff.
