A landmark for Marvel history, Captain Marvel delivers the first female lead solo film that is released from the cinematic universe juggernaut. Vers an amnesiac Kree is yet another warrior in the intergalactic war between them, a noble warrior race devoid of emotion, and the Skrulls. The always dashing Jude Law is her superior officer, mentor, and friend who found her during her accident. Together they and their special ops team descend upon the Skrull’s outer planet to rescue one of their spies, but things go awry. Cut to Earth where Vers meets up with Nick Fury, not director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and wacky chases ensue.
Captain Marvel captures a bit of the magic from phase one of the Marvel cinematic universe where a solo film didn’t vastly affect the ever forward expanding story, instead going for a 90s period road trip movie. Familiar faces such as Nick Fury and Agent Coulson grace our presence with de-aging technology, new players such as Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn give a more in depth look at Kree and Skrull culture, and on top of that the movie gives us an adorable cat that will steal the whole movie, CGI or not.
The cast for this outing is incredible. In many ways the characters are stronger, more fleshed out, and far more interesting than the standard Marvel movie. Side characters like the special ops team have minimal dialogue, but their look and specialties are so different from each other that they become memorable. The villain has more depth than expected and at one point the movie flips audience expectations that not only deepen the characters, but the plot. The characters that Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law play are pivotal, not only explaining a new part of Marvel’s cinematic mythology, but also creating a well crafted conversation for Vers to discover and address for an emotional butt kicking third act that isn’t just about CGI beat downs.
Marvel has always been good at grounding their outlandish characters in relatable themes. Captain Marvel is no different as it explores an emotionally devoid man trying to control a woman. In this case Captain Marvel herself, Vers. When Jude Law reveals himself, and her past, it’s a powerful twist. Not just for the audience’s auditory gasp, but for the characters on screen as well. His mantra, as with the Kree, is all about controlling one’s emotions. When he found Vers he put a special doohickey on her neck so that he could control her powers. Knowing the truth, he hid her true past and fabricated a life for her to live underneath him. Vers’ arc essentially boils down to her fighting Jude Law to take control of her life, and as a first solo outing it’s big, daring, and mostly gets it.
Captain Marvel has two big flaws for my taste, though. The first is the setting. Marvel, and Disney, isn’t one to shy away from a period piece but how they handle nostalgia is a bit haphazard. Instead of allowing the movie to be set in the 90s it’s more interested in making fun of the time period for cheap laughs. Scenes like Vers crashing into a Blockbuster and the alien Skrulls being perplexed by their slow internet only make you aware of the time period as a joke, and has no relevance as to the actual setting. Guardians of the Galaxy did a similar approach with the 80s, but in their case it made sense because it tied into Star Lords’ character as that 80s nostalgia was the only tether to Earth he had. Here, in Captain Marvel, the setting is only relevant to jokes, and fairly cheap ones at that.
The other flaw that many fans probably won’t have a problem with is Captain Marvel herself. Brie Larson plays the role fantastically. Her performance matches the character and shows that she’ll be living with her for a long time to come, but the writing of her character is the messiest out of all the solo introduction films. As mentioned before her character arc is directly tied into the themes of the movie. She wants her memories back and is destined to take control of her life by pushing through the man that controls her. Great, that’s a perfect arc if only they had wrote it that way.
At the beginning of the film it clearly shows that Vers is not like the Kree. She openly flaunts her emotions, cracks jokes, and disobeys her commanding officer AKA Jude Law. In flashbacks to her childhood it shows her defying grown men time after time that tell her “girls can’t do _____.” Once it’s time for her to go up against the Great Intelligence and her former team by breaking their hold on her it feels hollow and less emotional because she’s not becoming somebody that rises up, or has to overcome any obstacle that was affecting her character because that’s how she always has been. Her character does not change except in the form of raw power, and even more confidence, leaving her character arc rather uneventful.
Conversely, the side characters like Ben Mendelsohn’s Skrull character have far more depth and an emotional character arc to make up for the lead’s rather flat characterization. In the beginning the film portrays his character as the typical bad guy with not much depth, as well as a lot of wise cracks as he becomes ever disappointed in his henchmen’s abilities. But, later in the film he reveals to her that he’s actually the good guy. Vers was told that he was after a weapon that would change the war, but to him he’s stopping the Kree from getting it as well as using it to get away from the war. The perspective change is easily the emotional crux of the film as Vers’ comes to terms with what she’s been told as a lie. To make Mendelsohn’s character even more heroic it’s revealed later on that he wasn’t even thinking of getting the weapon as his first priority, but instead is determined to rescue his long lost family. Throughout the film his character has been changing, and evolving, and thus he’ll no doubt be a fan favorite as one of the best written characters.
Overall, Captain Marvel is a mixed bag. There’s a lot to love about this film and a lot to respect when it comes to technology in order to achieve the de-aging effect, but when it comes to the lead it drops the ball by making her look cool and strong rather than build her character up in a natural way. In terms of character growth it felt stagnant and rushed, especially when you consider her next venture into the seismic finale that will be Avengers: Endgame. The side characters and cat will steal the show and overall audiences will have a good time with Marvel’s first female led, in-universe, movie.
5/10
Film Assist 
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