Dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
For months, citizens of the internet have been forced to endure the swarms of Vitamin-D deficient nerd boys complaining about how Captain Marvel is Absolutely, Definitely, The Worst Marvel Movie EVER-which is interesting considering it only came out last night. We’ve heard them lament Brie Larson’s divisive and exclusionary quest for diversity in film and film media. Because as we all know, the real victims here are the men who must either skip a superhero movie (of which they have sole ownership), or go to a superhero movie starring a woman in a full body suit (unsexy) who wants an equal voice for women of all races and identities (gross). Well joke’s on them because Captain Marvel is a wonderfully enjoyable movie. It does start off rather slow but manages to get you invested in all the new characters while showing a whole new side to the one already established- and by the end Carol proves herself a hero who could make even Thanos nervous.
Admittedly, the movie take a while to pick up the pace. It didn’t grab a firm hold of my attention until Carol landed on earth, which was at least 30 minutes into the movie. Before that we get to see Carol’s life on the Kree homeworld and her very first mission against the Skrulls. While I appreciated the information narratively, it mostly just gave me mumbled dialogue from Jude Law and some very dark and foggy action scenes. However once Carol lands on Earth and meets up with Fury, the movie kicks into high gear and delivers an engaging plot. (It also gives us our Stan Lee cameo which was an expected little bit of pain). Shapeshifting villains are a personal favorite of mine, as being unable to trust the person you’re looking at always make for a compelling cat and mouse game. But as Carol seeks to eliminate the Skrull threat, she begins to realize that the enemy and the mystery of her own past have a lot more in common than she thought.
I think one of the biggest strengths of this movie was Carol herself, and I was honestly surprised about it. I admit I wasn’t excited when Brie Larson was originally cast- I thought she was too young and while I thought she was a good actress, she never seemed an inspired choice. And when the trailers came out I remained unimpressed, Carol seemed pretty bland. But I know now that those trailers did her a massive disservice, Carol is fun! She’s smart and funny and sarcastic, but also impetuous and a bit petty. Black Widow can be fun (depending who’s writing her) but her personality is mostly Smirk, and Scarlett Witch is ultra-powerful but mostly sad. Thankfully the women of Wakanda were varied and interesting, but they were technically side characters. Having the main female character feel like someone I would be friends with is wonderful. Additionally, we got something we’d barely gotten in the MCU thus far (Black Panther excluded), strong female relationships. Watching Carol and Maria’s close and obvious bond, the way they both looked up to a female scientist and military superior, and in turn how Monica Rambeau looked up to her mom and aunt was just so refreshing. There was no romance shoehorned in to waste my time, it was a tale of true friendship.
(aHEM, Sidenote: Introducing Monica Rambeau means that you, Marvel Studios, are Legally Required to give me a Spectrum/Captain Marvel movie! I demand it. I am owed it. In present day she’d be at least in her 30s, give me what I deserve!!!)
While the female friendship made me very happy, the excellence of Nick Fury and Carol’s relationship in this movie can not be overstated. Before Maria was even properly introduced, I leaned over to my friend and said “is this movie just a road trip buddy comedy with Carol and Fury? Because I support that.” Though Fury’s hairline is deeply terrifying, it’s nice to see the steely, secretive, closed off head of SHIELD as a young agent whose worldview changes in the span of a couple days as he is introduced to alien invaders and superheroes. We also find out that this super intimidating super spy is a obsessed with cats and Nick Fury speaking in a baby voice is everything I could have ever hoped for. This version of Fury is possibly one of my favorite roles Samuel L Jackson has ever taken. It does also leave me with the all-important question of where is Goose now? Did Fury keep him? This is important information.
There is one pet peeve of mine that this movie just hit in all the wrong ways. I cannot stand the transient nature of the abilities of people with laser powers (see also: cyclops in X-Men). When their powers hit metal/engines/bombs, it’s a laser with piercing and/or explosive abilities. When those SAME. POWERS. hit a body, suddenly they just push people really hard, barely even scorches them. Is it a laser or not?? There should be holes in bodies! I know it’s a limitation of the PG-13 rating but it’s just so poorly handled and drives me crazy.
On the whole, Captain Marvel is a good movie. I enjoyed it and I certainly recommend others go see it as well. I don’t think it’s earth shattering, it’s not in my top 5 MCU films but I think it’s well worth watching. I love who they established Carol to be and that’s coming from a person with lots of doubt going in. I’m very much looking forward to her in Endgame, both to see her interact with the other characters but also to get a better idea of how far her powers could go. Carol’s intergalactic capability means she has the potential to be so much more than many of the earthbound heroes we have already; when paired with the right filmmaker her next movies could catapult her into the company of the other cosmic successes like Guardians of the Galaxy (the first one) and Thor: Ragnarok.