There’s been
plenty of great female characters in the twenty Marvel films that
have preceded “Captain Marvel.” But none of them have headlined
their own film. There’s no reason twenty films in, there has not
been a Marvel film centered around a female protagonist. Why is this
such a big deal? Well it wouldn’t be if they had made a female
centered superhero film years ago. Audiences have waited a long time
for Captain Marvel to show up and she’s in glorious form. “Captain
Marvel” is definitely one of the most flat-out fun films in the
MCU; sure it may not carry the emotional weight of the years
preceding “Infinity War” but it stands fine on its own two feet,
featuring fantastic visuals, an interesting story, a fun nostalgia
streak, and likable characters. This is definitely solid mid-tier
Marvel. And it even features one of cinema’s cutest cats.
“Captain Marvel”
is sort of “Guardians of the Galaxy” lite. The film is set in the
same general universe as that film and even has some crossover
characters and races of people. We’re introduced to Brie Larson’s
character as Vers who is a Kree and suffers from weird visions that
feature Annette Bening. Who wouldn’t want to have weird visions of
Annette Bening?? After a mission involving infiltrating the evil
shape-shifting Krulls goes awry Vers crash lands on Earth. In Los
Angeles. In a Blockbuster. Did I mention the film takes place in
1995? There she meets young versions of SHIELD agents Samuel L.
Jackon’s Nicky Fury and Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson. There, she
must help fight off some invading Skrulls and figure out what’s the
deal with her bizarre memories and the fact that she may in fact be a
former US Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers.
The film could have
easily gone down the “fish out of water” plot hole but that was
done in “Thor” and even DC’s “Wonder Woman.” The film
instead centers around a mystery involving our fantastic lead with
welcomed bits of comedy. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck – who
come from the indie world of films like “Half Nelson” – imbue
the film with a wonderful intimacy and also 90s nostalgia much in the
way “Guardians” was an ode to the 80s. Conceiving the film as a
prequel to the other Marvel films also gives the filmmakers the
freedom to do their own thing while also eventually connecting the
film to the rest of the MCU, much in the same way “Captain America: The First Avenger” was essentially all a setup for “The Avengers.”
Technical merits are
top-notch. The visual effects are fantastic. The music score from
composer Pinar Toprak is solid if not particularly memorable like
most of the Marvel films (she’s also the first female composer in
the MCU). Nothing has really come close to the “Ant-Man” theme
and Black Panther’s Oscar-winning music. All of the
performances are great. Brie is likable in the title role and she
really kicks ass even if her performance is a tad understated. Her
mysterious story works pretty well and thankfully doesn’t need to
include a love interest. Jude Law is good as Vers’
commander/mentor, even if he does too much mansplaning. And how fun
is it to see someone like Bening in this? At this point it feels like
if you haven’t done a Marvel film are you really even an actor? I
previously mentioned the film introduces a cute kitty and that darned
cat pretty much steals the movie.
There’s not much
to complain about in “Captain Marvel.” Maybe it a take a little
time to really get going but the film is just as exciting, the action
is just as well-done (including a great sequence on an elevated
train), and the characters as just as well drawn as any other solid
Marvel film. Is it the best? Of course not. The film isn’t nearly
as unique at some of the other entries but Marvel’s overdue take on
a feminist storyline is quite good and I can’t wait to see what
Brie has up her sleeve in the next Avengers film. GRADE: B+
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