Captain Marvel (2019) | Film Review

Carol Danvers is an Air Force test pilot, or is she Vers a Kree special forces soldier? We follow on her journey of discovery, as she works through memories she can’t place through amnesia, and learns to control a power she is unfamiliar with.

We join Carol and her Kree brethren (these are a race of aliens in the Marvel Universe, we met them in the first Guardians) as they embark on a mission to save one of their spies embedded among hostile Skrull (another race of aliens). Through means, the mission goes sideways and Vers, this is still Carol, ends up on Earth for the first time in six years. She makes such a grand entrance on Earth that she catches the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Nick Fury and the rest of the story is an old school, 90’s buddy cop movie.

The writing is a mishmash of ideas that haven’t completely been fleshed out. They knew the direction, and they knew the time, but they didn’t know how to fully execute it. There are some fantastic nods to the 90’s but showing them get lost in a story that doesn’t carry weight. It’s as if they assumed we were going to be on Carol’s side, so they didn’t work very hard at convincing us why we should be. Nick Fury didn’t seem to be the same super spy we have grown accustomed to from his other appearances in the Marvel Universe. Overall, the story was disjointed from itself and the Universe it was supposed to represent.

Seeing as I just did a little writing on good ole Nick Fury, let us talk about Sam Jackson‘s portrayal of a character he has been playing for the last 10 years. In previous iterations, he was serious, in control, and confident. Here we see him as a jovial goofball, who has a soft spot for cats. Supposedly, it’s the story of how a guy who was already a super spy became the super spy we now know. It’s a rip off of a story and a groan-worthy portrayal. “Sam, you are still Nick Fury but can you lessen how cool he is?”, Sam: “Roger that, I’ll be cool Urkel”. Brie Larson didn’t do much better. Something just wasn’t there in her performance. Her deliveries were mostly hollow and flat, with brief moments of greatness. Those moments of greatness seem to come to the forefront when she could do more than the stoic hero bit.

In contrast, Jude Law and Annette Bening were great in their roles. The switches these actors make are seamless and are some of the brighter parts of the movie. Speaking of bright spots – Ben Mendelsohn’s portrayal of Talos, the Skrull leader, was pronounced. Mendelsohn worked through make-up, without makeup, strictly voice acting, and it all seemed like the same person… Or alien as it were. We have come to expect Mendelsohn showing up in our movies playing the overconfident, borderline psychotic, and they use that against us well here.

The production for Captain Marvel is consistent with every other movie in the Marvel Universe. Seriously, every other review I have done just CTRL C, CTRL V those words right here. But wait… there’s more. The soundtrack is a little on the nose from time to time.  Sure, the 90’s was a time filled with very many great female bands rocking out chick rock anthems, but they didn’t have to use all of them in the movie.

It may sound like I am being a little nonplussed on Marvel’s first female-lead hero film. In earnest, the movie was fine. The lead actor seemed like she was over her head, the supporting cast mostly outshined her, and the world was perfected long before this movie came out. Its story just sort of tumbled along. In this post-Wonder Woman world, Captain Marvel deserves better. She deserves heart, and she seemed to lack that the most.

Captain Marvel is now playing in theaters nationwide
Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ben Mendelsohn
Screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck