Review: Captain Marvel

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my latest, and long overdue review of the MCU’s latest adventure. Sorry if it’s been awhile since my last full on review, but I have been busy with other things like traveling, and schoolwork to go to the theater more. But Luckily I was able to see both Captain Marvel, and Shazam! (review will come soon) this weekend, and I have a lot of new stuff planned before Summer Movie season starts very soon. But anyway back to Captain Marvel, this was a film I was really excited to because of what I heard was going to be in it, that is until the first trailer dropped. In fact the whole marketing campaign kind of diluted my excitement for the film, even as the trailers did get better. There was just something about the tone of the marketing that made it feel so generic when compared to recent comic book movies not just the MCU. Thank goodness though, that the movie turned out to be a case of the cover not being the book, as I had a fun time with this movie from start to finish. (Warning, since the film has been out for some time, there may be slight spoilers here).

This latest entry in the MCU takes us back to the past, as we are introduced to the Kree warrior Vers, who lives on the Kree capital of Hala, as a member of the Kree Starforce led by Yon Rogg, who are fighting a war against the shape-shifting Skrulls, led by Talos. She keeps on having these weird dreams, about an event she has no memory of, and cannot stop thinking about it. But that memory turns out to be very important to the Skrulls when they capture her in a mission gone wrong, as they try and look into her memories of a past life on the planet Earth. She then escapes their custody, and in an attempt to escape crash lands on Earth, with the Skrulls not far behind. While she finds a way to communicate with her team, they are far away, and will not make it their right away. So with the help of Shield agent Nick Fury, she decides to not only stop the Skrulls from enacting their plans, but also find out who she was before she was taken by the Kree. But as she comes closer to learning the truth, Carol must question everything she’s known in order to not fight this war, but to end it.

Now in hindsight the story does feel like your typical superhero origin story, in that it follows someone who is gifted with extraordinary powers, and is trying to stop an evil threat from causing chaos. And yes while the film doesn’t do anything mind-blowing with its story, it does actually present it in a unique way. The movie doesn’t start right away explaining how Carol Danvers got her powers, and instead has the audience learn how she became who she is now alongside her, and yes while it may be a little confusing at first, since we are just thrown in into the movie without much explanation, it does make the movie feel a little different from other similar origin movies. The movie does however have some pacing issues here, and there particularly in it’s first and third act, that definitely makes it feel like a phase 1 Marvel movie in that regard, as it feels like its the universe trying to find its footing. But just because it feels like an early Marvel film, it would still be a good Phase 1 film, because like those films it nails it’s main character so well, and makes Carol Danvers into a compelling character whom the audience will want to root for, and see more of in future movies. The tone is also consistent throughout knowing when to take itself seriously, and when to inject some good comedy (and there is a lot of that), with only a few scenes feeling tonally confused (more on that later). The movie also succeeds in subverting my expectations, when it comes to a couple of twists revealed in the 3rd act that actually surprised me (all I’m gonna say is that this film ain’t the most comic accurate movie, but this ain’t s first for Marvel).It also has a good theme of not always having to hold back your emotions in order to be perfect which gets a satisfying pay-off in the end.

The film also is directed pretty well, although it is disappointing that compared to many recent MCU features this one is probably the least auteur driven one in a long time, as you can’t really tell who directed this movie, and all of the action, and visuals, while well done, don’t really stand out too much when compared to other movies of its kind. But that does not mean those elements are handled poorly, far from it actually. The visuals, and production designs are well done, and capturing both the futuristic setting of Hala, and the spaceships, and the retro 1990’s era setting (lots of fun jokes regarding this) quite well, and I do have to give credit to the people who worked on Fury’s deaging effects because what they did there was incredible, and seamless. The action is also fun to watch, with a lot of cool set-pieces throughout (my personal favorite is when she is held captive by the Skrulls and has to escape with her hands locked with these metal restraints). The score is also very good here, and has nice retro futuristic feel to it not dissimilar to the one for Thor Ragnarok (one of the best MCU scores in my opinion), although the song choices I feel were not handled all that well. Most of the time the song does not match up with what is going on and that is where the few tonal issues lie (especially in one action sequence in the 3rd act where it feels almost like a music video). But luckily those scenes are few, and far between, and does not affect the film too much.

But what truly makes this film worth it, are the wonderful performances given by the actors. Now I am aware that many people were worried about Brie Larson’s performance, and I can say that those people have nothing to worry about, as she does a great job in the role. She has a wonderfully snarky personality, and plays off well with the other characters around here, and makes Captain Marvel an instant fan favorite for the MCU. Where she succeeds most however are her interactions with the other major characters, from Jude Law’s strict mentor type figure teachings, to Samuel L. Jackson’s fun and buddy cup like banter, to Lashana Lynch’s heartwarming Best Friend conversations that do give he film a nice beating heart. Ben Mendelsohn also does an excellent job as Talos (he gives a very different performance compared to his most recent work), and in fact the way the film handles the Skrulls was a highlight of the feature as it presents them in a more sympathetic light (slight spoilers but it’s really the Kree who are the ones causing the trouble here). Speaking of the Kree, they are introduced very well in the first act, but they are extremely underutilized as the film goes on, with only Yon Rogg being the only member of the Kree Starforce getting anything important to do. Although I did like the way Annette Benning’s character was handled as that was one of the biggest surprises in the film. As for some of the returning characters from previous films such as Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson, Djouman Hounsou’s Korath, and Lee Pace’s Ronan, they get very little screen time and are essentially glorified cameos (which is a shame considering this film had potential to improve upon Ronan, and Korath’s characters). And of course how can I forget Goose the Cat who is just freaking amazing (he will be the one to beat Thanos).

Overall, while it may not be the most groundbreaking comic book movie, Captain Marvel is still a really well-told origin story that takes many elements from other Marvel movies, and makes it it’s own. While I would consider Wonder Woman a better film, this movie is still a step in the right direction for female led superhero stories, and gives young girls another hero to look up to. And don’t worry MCU fans while the film is surprisingly stand-alone (which I like), it contains many great Easter eggs, and sets up some important plot points for not only Endgame but phase 4 too. Finally the film has a great tribute to Stan Lee that will definitely make you want to tear up (thank you Stan for making this all possible).

Rating: B+

Share your thoughts down below in the comments, and I will see you guys later!