Captain Marvel Review
Posted by jEN0VA on
This was just an average Marvel movie but not for the typical reasons. Most Marvel films that aren’t directed by the Russos usually have generic plots, forgettable side characters, and throwaway villains – but the main characters are so interesting or charismatic that it makes the whole thing entertaining anyway. With Captain Marvel, it’s the reverse. She comes off as a rather bland and dull character (both in personality and abilities) but the 90s time period her story takes place in and the characters surrounding her are so good (especially when piggybacking off a decade of established world building) that it makes the film worth watching if you’re an MCU fan.
Fury was at his funniest ever here. Carols friend and daughter made the most of the material and added much needed depth to Carol’s interpersonal relationships. And Ben Mendelsohn, holy crap, I knew that dude was a good actor but his performance as the lead Skrull guy was the highlight of the whole movie. I am confused on where they plan to go with the whole Skrull invasion though as this movie is very sympathetic towards them and makes them seem like good guys.
I thought the movie was oddly structured and paced, at least for what is normal for this franchise. Usually the Feige touch means there’s a lot of hand holding for newcomers and non-comic book readers to help them understand new situations and scenarios, but that was not the case here. The opening was kind of confusing and hard to follow, and was made even more so by the whole amnesiac regaining her memories aspect. And while it does become more coherent it remains rather slow paced the majority of the time. Thankfully, Larson didn’t come off quite as flat or annoying as she seemed in the trailers, but the characters personality is dry and does lack dimension. One scene I did like was the “I am a human” scene with the flashbacks to all the times she failed but got back up again. They could have made that really corny by having her say something like “humans always get back up again”, but it was more effective relying only on the visual imagery.
I did think there was a missed opportunity in her final confrontation with the always enjoyable Jude Law. She doesn’t end up actually overcoming anything and growing as a character in that sequence. She just goes Super Saiyan and uses her godlike powers to defeat him. Lame. Also, if she ends up being the one to defeat Thanos that will be the most anti-climatic conclusion to the Thanos story imaginable. Other than that, movie is passable, with a lot of charms along the way to make for an overall good time. Oh and that Stan Lee tribute was 👌.
Average
With a bland lead and slow moving plot Captain Marvel is pretty boring, but its side characters and 90s setting sprinkle just enough life on it to get you through a viewing.
