Carol Danvers is here and she is not messing around
Marvel’s first female hero movie Captain Marvel is above all a love story to women and their ability to hit back when they’re knocked down. From the studio pushing back against toxic internet trolls and making the largest grossing female-led movie of all time to the actual themes within the film, it’s evident across the board.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the movie follows a Kree warrior named Vers (Brie Larson) who is helping in an intergalactic war against a race of alien shapeshifters called Skrulls. This all seems pretty straightforward until Vers starts remembering bits and pieces of another life on Earth as a woman named Carol. She then gets sent on a mission to the planet to hunt some Skrulls, meets Agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and the story goes from there.
The first half of the film starts rather slow and is a bit confusing, but that’s where the majority of my actual criticism ends. As the movie goes on, things start to pick up and become really enjoyable. Many people have complained about Larson’s performance saying that she comes across as boring but I cannot disagree more. She brings a sense of seriousness and dry humor that fits the character without taking away from her personality. As the movie goes on and she starts to discover her true power, the only word that can describe her is badass.
Along with her, Jackson gives another exceptional performance and steals many of the scenes that he’s in. The de-aging CGI looks phenomenal and the only time his age is really noticeable is when he runs like an old man. His charisma is as present as ever and it really shows when he’s with Goose the cat. I’m just going to leave it there because the only way to truly understand the charm of their relationship is to watch the movie.
The battle scenes are stunning, the suit looks great, and it sets Captain Marvel up perfectly for Endgame. They also set up the Skrulls and Kree well, which makes me optimistic about the future storylines in the MCU involving the two races. The cosmic side of the MCU could be getting much more interesting very soon.
As for the actual core of the movie, the message is empowering and the women of the movie feel rounded and complex rather than many movies where the female characters are more flat and ignored. This was one part that I was worried about with this being their first real female movie, but they executed it well and made sure that Captain Marvel is a character to admire and respect. A highlight of the movie for me was a subtle but noticeable clap-back to fans who early on said that Brie Larson needed to smile more. If anything, this just made me more excited to see more lady superheroes kicking ass in the future.
Overall, this movie isn’t anything super special compared to the rest of the Marvel movies, but in the end, that doesn’t matter. They have their superhero movie recipe and it has yet to disappoint. Captain Marvel is no different. As a big fan of the character, I’m just glad she’s finally been introduced and she’s here to stay. Thanos better watch out, Captain Marvel is here to play and she is not happy.
The Movie Hall 