Review: Captain Marvel
Amongst the things we learn in Captain Marvel: Nicholas Joseph Fury does not like his toast cut diagonally and the name of his first pet was Mr. Snoofers. Though Captain Marvel, as the title of the MCU's twenty-first film suggests, revolves around Carol Danvers, aka Marvel's mightiest Avenger, this is as much Fury's origin story as it is hers and it is to the film's great benefit that a digitally rejuvenated Samuel L. Jackson is there to spar with Brie Larson's Danvers and to provide his patented brand of cool badassery.
The MCU has long set the bar for superhero films, so it is rather odd that the DCU, with its glorious Wonder Woman, pipped them to the post with a female-fronted entry. Captain Marvel is arguably the lesser film of the two, perhaps because it is often heavy-handed in its aim to establish its feminist credentials. It also doesn't necessarily help that it skews more girl power than warrior queen - a fight scene set to No Doubt's "Just a Girl" is a prime example of how the film often slightly undermines itself. In the grand scheme of the MCU's origin stories, it doesn't possess the quirky funk of Guardians of the Galaxy or the sheer brilliance of Black Panther. If anything, Captain Marvel often feels generic, peripheral and, dare one say it, underwhelming.
That being said, Captain Marvel is still a tremendously fun time, replete with the franchise's trademark humour, dazzling special effects, and exciting action set pieces. There's also a cat named Goose that emerges as an absolute scene-stealer in the film's far stronger second half. The first half concerns itself with Vers, as Danvers is first introduced, a Kree warrior still under the tutelage of Yon-Rogg (an insidiously charismatic Jude Law), who consistently warns her that she's too emotional and that nothing is more dangerous to a warrior than emotion. Vers is not only learning how to control her emotions, she's also struggling to let go of her past or, rather, let go of attempting to piece together the few memories she has of her past.
An ambush by the shape-shifting Skrulls, the Krees' long-standing enemies, during a mission results in Vers being captured and, in her ensuing escape, landing on Earth, here known as Planet C-53, and encountering S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Fury and Coulson (Clark Gregg). The Skrulls, led by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn, silkily villainous but also drolly amusing), believing that Vers is the key to locating a powerful light speed engine. Setting aside their mutual suspicions for one another, Vers and Fury team up and, not really a spoiler alert, save the day.
Set in the mid-90s, when S.H.I.E.L.D. was still in its infancy and the Avengers were not even a gleam in Fury's eye, the film revels in the specifics of the era - the flannel shirt that Vers ties around her waist, the two-way pagers, Blockbuster Video stores filled with VHS tapes, dial-up internet, and the laughably slow loading times of CD-Rom drives. Amidst this nostalgia, the film begins to gain traction as Vers begins to discover more about Carol Danvers and, most significantly, as the filmmakers key in on the great camaraderie between Vers and Fury. Characters and the interplay between characters have always been the canniest element of the MCU's mostly unimpeachable formula, and Captain Marvel truly shines in these moments. Yet it is also in these moments that a certain hollowness in both the character of Carol Danvers and, by extension, the film is exposed. The film at least can distract with its one-liners and visual effects, but there's genuinely not that much to Carol Danvers. One could argue that this is deliberate since the film is about Danvers discovering who she is and claiming her identity and agency, but that argument weakens when one sees the care, attention and depth given to other origin stories.
Nevertheless, Larson makes for a marvellous figure. There's an insouciance to her pluckiness, a spikiness to her idealism that compels. The end of Avengers: Infinity War has primed us to believe that Captain Marvel is to be a pivotal figure for Avengers: Endgame. Captain Marvel may not be as inspiring or as potent an appetiser to the main course that is Endgame, but it does what it needs to do and does it well enough to leave one satisfied if not wholly satiated.
Captain Marvel
Directed by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Written by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet; based on Captain Marvel by Stan Lee and Gene Colan
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Chan, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Akira Akbar, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle
