Since 2008, Marvel Studios has been the most dominant force behind the current state of the superhero genre as their bold plan to unite their various superheroes within one single franchise has more than proven to be a huge success with both critics and audiences. And yet, it legitimately could be argued that they’ve been a bit behind the times when it comes to having a diverse representation of characters in their film output. To be clear, the MCU has managed to give us a wide collection of excellent characters, especially when it comes to their female protagonists like Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, Daisy Johnson, and Peggy Carter, just to name a few. However, in the case of their latest outing, Captain Marvel, it is the first female-led entry of a franchise that is currently 21 films in. And for those who are wondering why it took so long for this to happen, it’s been noted that this was mainly due to the studio’s former CEO, Ike Perlmutter, who played a huge role in some of the franchise’s most controversial bits of ‘executive meddling’. This included everything from the lack of Black Widow merchandise for Avengers: Age of Ultron to all the creative conflicts that led to Edgar Wright backing out of Ant-Man. And if that wasn’t enough, he also reportedly wasn’t keen on doing a film adaptation of Black Panther. But, of course, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige managed to break away from Perlmutter and the Creative Committee in 2015. And because of this, one of Marvel’s most popular superheroines has finally been given the chance to grace her own solo film, with Oscar-winner Brie Larson taking on the role of Carol Danvers, arguably the most famous incarnation of the one that they call Captain Marvel (disclaimer: not to be confused with DC’s Captain Marvel, who will be making his own live-action debut next month in Shazam). For this installment, directorial duties go to the husband and wife duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, whose previous works include critically-acclaimed outings like 2006’s Half Nelson and 2015’s Mississippi Grind. And despite what certain parts of the internet may tell you, Captain Marvel is, what a surprise, yet another phenomenal installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that more than establishes its title character as the franchise’s newest badass heroine.
The year is 1995. On a seemingly average night, a mysterious woman crash-lands into a Blockbuster store in Los Angeles. The woman, who goes by the name of Vers (Brie Larson), claims to be a member of an elite intergalactic unit known as Starforce made up of members of an alien race known as the Kree. During their most recent mission, Starforce found themselves dealing with their longest-standing adversaries, Skrulls, who can shapeshift into any being that they come across. Vers ends up getting captured by a faction of Skrulls led by their commander, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who she learns is searching for a woman on Earth named Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Benning), who supposedly developed plans for a light-speed engine. After arriving on Earth, she ends up meeting Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division AKA SHIELD, and the two end up going on a journey together to try and prevent the Skrulls from acquiring Dr. Lawson’s plans. Along the way, Vers also starts to uncover more about her past life that she has long struggled to remember. Most specifically, she discovers that she was a former U.S. Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers who had supposedly died during a test run of Dr. Lawson’s engine in 1989. And as she soon finds out, the ramifications of what happened during this event end up providing her with a radically different outlook on the war between the Kree and the Skrulls.
As alluded to in the plot synopsis, Captain Marvel goes the route of Captain America: The First Avenger by being a prequel that takes place before most of the other MCU films. In this instance, it’s set in the ’90s, and the film doesn’t disappoint when it comes to having a historically accurate representation of the era thanks to its rocking soundtrack and plenty of references to 90’s culture (e.g. the limitations of the technology of the time). As for the story, though, it’s admittedly one of the simpler affairs of the MCU. The best way to describe it is that it parallels the execution of the first Thor film by spending more time on Earth than in space. And while many have felt that the Thor films worked better when they weren’t on Earth, it’s ironically the opposite case with this film as it doesn’t really get going until after Carol arrives on Earth. Despite this, however, the film does manage to craft a solid mystery around Carol slowly but surely discovering her identity and how it ultimately factors into the long-standing conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls. This, along with the various lore-related references that the film makes (e.g. appearances of familiar objects, characters, etc.), creates an outcome that manages to keep in line with what we’ve seen in the other MCU films. And just like those other MCU films, Captain Marvel continues to feature everything that audiences have come to expect from this franchise, from its solid comedic dialogue to its excellent action sequences.
Most importantly, though, Captain Marvel continues to maintain the MCU’s strong sense of emotional depth, which is well-exemplified by Brie Larson’s excellent performance in the title role. Larson perfectly conveys Carol’s tenacity and her rebellious attitude, which helps to make her transition into a full-blown superhero one of the most satisfying arcs to come from the MCU. The film also benefits greatly from her phenomenal camaraderie with Samuel L. Jackson, who gets what is easily his largest role in an MCU film to date as Nick Fury. And because of this film’s 90’s setting, it gives us a radically different take on the man who will end up becoming the leader of SHIELD, which Jackson (along with the aid of Marvel Studios’ continually impressive de-aging visual effects technology) handles brilliantly. Aside from them, you also have your reliable MCU supporting players, which notably include a few returnees from other installments of the franchise. Clark Gregg makes his first appearance as Agent Coulson in an MCU film since transitioning over to Agents of SHIELD while both Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou reprise their roles of Ronan the Accuser and Korath, respectively, from Guardians of the Galaxy. However, it should be noted that their roles in the film are incredibly minor. Thankfully, there are also some great supporting players in here that have much larger roles in the plot, like newcomer Lashana Lynch as Carol’s best friend Maria Rambeau, Annette Benning as Dr. Lawson, and Jude Law as Starforce’s leader (and Carol’s mentor) Yon-Rogg. And as for the main antagonist, Skrull commander Talos, admittedly I can’t say much about his role in the film just yet as that would be delving into spoiler territory. It’s a well-layered role, though, and Ben Mendelsohn gets to be one of the rare instances of a more comedic Marvel Cinematic Universe villain.
What’s this, another great MCU film to add to the collection? Yes, folks, the MCU continues to be one of the top film franchises in the industry as their 21st installment is another well-rounded solo flick with all the usual fixings. I mean, at this point, it’s crazy to doubt the fact that Marvel Studios knows what they’re doing, but admittedly, this one did attract some skepticism prior to its release. If that wasn't enough, it also attracted some unwarranted backlash following a comment made by Brie Larson where she wished for better diversity in the media during this film’s press tour. And while it’s a reasonable desire backed by undisputable fact, this got misinterpreted as ‘sexist SJW BS’ by the same morons who considered Star Wars: The Last Jedi an utter offense to humanity. Modern era trolling in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen. Thankfully, though, those ‘fans’ (and yes, the term ‘fans’ is used loosely in this case) were proven very much wrong. Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that this is ‘the best’ MCU film ever made. It does have an admittedly slow start and its plot is simpler in execution when compared to other installments of the franchise. But even with that in mind, this ‘back to basics’ approach isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it is still just as entertaining as any other MCU film. As a prequel to most of the other MCU films, the ways in which it sets up future events are generally handled quite well. And thanks in large part to Brie Larson’s excellent performance in the title role, Carol Danvers’ transformation into the franchise’s newest badass heroine, Captain Marvel, gives this film the same great emotional poignancy that the MCU is known for. Thus, while it might get a bit overshadowed by the upcoming epic that is Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel continues Marvel Studios’ stellar cinematic hot streak that has now been going on for a full decade.
Rating: 4.5/5
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