Captain Marvel – 5 out of 5
Get ready, Rev. Ron is once again fawning over another entry to the MCU! I don’t even bother apologizing for my love of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or how it makes me happy or how I basically give a perfect review to each of their films because of said happiness they create. Marvel Studios has found that magic formula that has ensnared me and their world building continues to keep me enamored with them. Since the internet is such a wonderful (sarcasm) place, the neckbeard MRA incels called for a boycott of this latest film; Captain Marvel, all because they hate woman and, Number Two, severely misunderstood star’s Brie Larson’s critiques about diversity in the world of film criticism. Since I’m not an Men’s Rights Activist and because I love the actress Larson, love the character Captain Marvel and an completely obsessed with the MCU, I was excited as all hell for this 21stfilm in the shared universe—and, no surprise to anyone who knows me, I loved the film!
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| Marvel Studios One superpower she never knew she had was shattering fragile masculinity with nothing more than existing. |
In 1995, a young woman called Vers (Brie Larson) fights for the Kree Empire on their elite squad; Starforce. The Kree is involved in a war to wipe out the shapeshifting Skrulls from the galaxy but when Vers is taken by the Skrull commander Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), she finds herself stranded on Earth. After escaping the clutches of Talos, Vers gets help from a young S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), in order to find the Skrulls hidden on Earth and uncover their plot. Her superior; Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), urges her to wait for his arrival with the rest of the team but Vers soon learns that everything she knows could be wrong and that she may have had a life on Earth as a pilot named Carol Danvers. The key to unlocking her past seems to be with a scientist named Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Bening) and the work she has completed could tip the balance in the Kree/Skrull war and it could unlock her full power.
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| Marvel Studios And that power is gonna be used to help punch Thanos in the breadbasket. |
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| Marvel Studios The de-aging special effect is both astounding and unsettling. |
Captain Marvel has all the things I love about the MCU. The action is big and exciting, and the tone is fluid as it is dramatic, humorous, fun and emotional. Like all the other features in this shared universe, the film is able to continue its ever expanding world and even dive deeper into the characters we’ve already seen as the story shows us a young Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Nick Fury and also gives us some teases of what Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) were up to before the events of Guardians of the Galaxy. This aspect really tickled me because not only was it cool to see the actors reprise these roles but it made Korath and Ronan feel less like one-offs in GotG and more like a part of the huge machine that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Furthering the world building the film does, Captain Marvel expands the cosmic areas of the MCU and we get to learn more about the Kree (who have played a major role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) but we also get the introduction of the Skrulls (whom I was very surprised when it was announced they’d be in this film because I always thought 20th Century Fox owned the rights to that alien race and the merger between Disney and Fox hasn’t been completed yet as of the film’s release). These little elements may seem like nothing to casual fans (or haters) but, to me, these are momentous events that keep me glued to the MCU and also make me giddy to see these comic characters come to life on the big screen.
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| Marvel Studios So, the Super-Skrull is definitely going to show up in the MCU after the Fox acquisition is complete, right? Is that even up for debate? Knowing comic fans, yes, it will definitely be up for debate. |
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| Marvel Studios I can't tell you how happy I was that her "mohawk" made the film. |
I’ve been a big fan of Brie Larson for several years now. I think she is a tremendously talented performer and I was very excited when it was announced that she would play Carol Danvers. Toxic fanboys have endlessly complained about her (and even body shamed her by saying her body doesn’t compare to how some artists have drawn her—this is just dumb and gross). They’ve said she needs to smile more (does The Hulk need to smile more?) and have called her performance wooden (before any have seen the movie and have only gone off of their internal hatred of women and the trailer). These toxic dudes might call me a White Knight but I liked Larson’s performance. I felt she handled the evolution of Danvers exceptionally and seeing her journey of being a soldier for an army she didn’t belong in to a powerhouse super-being was very enthralling to me and terrifically portrayed. Additionally, Larson is surrounded by a ton of great talent who are all delivering perfectly, in my opinion. You have Sam Jackson once again proving he is the coolest dude to ever exist, Jude Law bringing his undeniable talents, Annette Bening had an unusual challenge of player a certain character in numerous ways but she nailed it and then there is Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos and he really knew how to ride that line for the tone that is synonymous with the MCU. Overall, I found the cast to be tremendous and they all fit perfectly in this universe.
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| Marvel Studios What other actors from Sherlock Holmes properties can they get for the MCU? |
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| Marvel Studios There is definitely a comic fan who wrote the whole film off because Carol's cat was renamed "Goose" for the film instead of the comic book name of "Chewie." |
On the negative side, like all MCU films, my complaints about Captain Marvel are small, very limited, and did nothing to kill my fun. The feature takes place in the 90s and despite the fact that I am a 90s kid by definition, I refuse to identify as a 90s Kid because of the endless nostalgia it encompasses. I believe nostalgia is a toxic impulse (as it leads to fans taking ownership of beloved properties and that ends up leading to shitty behavior on their part) so I tend to get nauseated at this type of behavior. Captain Marvel leans heavily on the 90s nostalgia and there are times when it just felt like it was bordering on obnoxious but, thankfully, it skirts my biggest problem with nostalgia and never presented the past as somehow “better” than the present. Finally, there is a fight scene to “Just a Girl” by No Doubt that I couldn’t get fully behind. Fight scenes to songs that, on the surface, seem like an antithesis to the action taking place is nothing new so this song works in that sense. The only problem I had with it is I’m just not a fan of No Doubt’s sound. These drawbacks are very minor and didn’t hurt my overall feelings towards the movie—and that’s usually the case with the MCU for me. They will have drawbacks that I notice and acknowledge but never hurt my overall entertainment.
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| Marvel Studios Look at her, not smiling enough. She should be like the rest of the Marvel heroes and be constantly smiling all the time--especially in battle! |
If you know me at all, follow me on social media or have read a fair share of my reviews, it was going to be no surprise that Captain Marvel was going to be a win for me. Marvel Studios would have had to venture way out from their formula to make me find this one disappointing. Overall, it delivered on my expectations and presented a great adaptation of Carol Danver’s origin, balanced being its own tale and being a puzzle piece in the larger picture, and it’s just good old popcorn action fun. It’s all I want from a Marvel film and the bonus is it delivered a kickass female hero to add to the growing number of kickass females in the MCU. It also delivered a beautiful Stan Lee tribute that made me weep uncontrollable…and I’m not ashamed to admit that.
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