Captain Marvel Review

Captain Marvel
Directors: Anna Boden / Ryan Fleck
Cast Headliners: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendohlsehn, Annette Benning, Lashana Lynch, others
Original Release Date: March 8, 2019


                  Another few (although more than usual for proper MCU) months and another Marvel superhero movie is here. Captain Marvel is in an interesting placement. The simultaneous jarring, or exciting, things about these cinematic universes is due to the placement of entries within them some movies end up being prequels. This being a prequel, for the first time since 2011's Captain America, takes the audience to the past of the 1990s. However that's a very modern which allows for some lore connections. Viewers may be left eagerly craving the showdown with Thanos after 2018's films but first is this smaller thing. It's also of note that it's the the first fully-starring a woman as central character MCU film(all respect to Black Widow, Gamora, and the Wasp! C'mon Marvel) Does it justify its stakes and potential future addition to the Avengers team? In some ways it does.
The main portion of the film follows the 1995-tastic adventures of Carol Danvers(Brie Larson) also known as “Vers” to her Kree Starforce members or Captain (Formerly Ms.) Marvel to comic readers everywhere. The alien Kree Empire, which has been seen in multiple MCU films including both Guardians of the Galaxy films as well as  the Agents of Shield TV series, is at war with an enemy alien race in the shapeshifting Skrulls.  Danvers is initially one member of an elite squad known as the Starforce which includes its lead Yon-Rogg(Jude Law), sniper Minn-Erva(Gemma Chan), and the typical likes of GOTG1 veteran Korath (Djimon Hounsou), Att-Lass(Algenis Perez Soto), and Bron-Char(Rune Temte). They pursue the high ranking Skrull Talos(Ben Mendohlsen) across the cosmos.
These early portions of the film are perhaps a bit too dark and joyless but it fits some of the themes at play. It's neat to see some of the sci-fi visuals of the Kree's culture on homeworld Hala but like many things in the film it's momentary at best. Dark cities become dark canyons become dark Skrull spaceships. It's definitely a bit like GOTG but without most of the trademark funk, charm, and humor (Aside some attempts...an aspect which can apply to later portions as well)...or its like an Avengers or Thor where the stakes are lower. However after some ruckus things take a better turn when Carol finds herself back on her homeworld of planet Earth.
Here she is, due to some memory ruckus that's kind of a large point of the movie, very much a fish out of water and outsider. She finds herself entangled with the fresh-on-the-job SHIELD government agents Nick Fury(Samuel L Jackson) and Phil Coulson(Clark Gregg). A hunt and a mystery is afoot as the various factions converge.
While it may seem like a lot goes on it's much simpler than that. This is a movie that can be summed up as “if only just a little more” since it does start to touch on some fun concepts. The revelations within the origin of Carol becoming the true Captain Marvel and not just a Kree soldier are meant to be profound but one is unsure if this was handled in the best way. Larson's performance is important as a new, untested superheroic lead and it's....ok or so in this regard.  She seldom offers charm or jokes(being stoic and or just one of many) but it's there (that may be a fault of the film's script as a whole with nothing outstandingly memorable aside some antics with Goose the cat who's adorableness may redeem it all). The weak part of her humanity is told through some cheese, seconds long flashbacks. The strong part is with her relationships with other friends who will be gotten into below. She eventually becomes more powerful and confident by the end and one anticipates that in the future she'll be better (I had felt the same way of the evolution of Stephen Strange the doctor to Dr.Strange the hero in his own film then his more recent appearances...it's improved so hopefully her charismatic / action impact too). Her superpowers are quite cool in theory...flying, laser blasting fists, glowing armor although some of the CGI effects can be questionable.
The first and foremost frienship being who's arguably in his most-starring role to date Nick Fury . Samuel L Jackson has been doing this character for years now so one knows the hard-edged sass to expect with plenty of jokes. However here, aside from having two eyes, he's with the bit of the fresh perspective of being naive to otherworldly elements. His uneasy friendship with Carol on their quest of subterfuge and conspiracy makes them a good pair.  Aside from Goose also being a good fit they also have another figure in Carol's past in Maria Rambeau(Lashana Lynch) an Air Force Pilot. The meanings of all these things may be best seen firsthand but there's some charm to some of these mysteries.
The non-earthly side is a much more “eh alright” / mixed bag (it's hard to say who's quite villain or hero here both for one the moral ambiguity but for two since the twists and turns of this particular plot are filled with some level of moderate surprise). I think that I've given the Starforce more lines of exposition than there are about them in the film with none really standing out. Law's Yon-Rogg has some more importance and an effectively stern face and vicious demeanor but is ultimately (literally?) pushed past. Like Korath there's another “hah I get it!” lore connection of Kree Ronan the Accuser(Lee Pace) from GOTG1 and audiences who know of his one day antagonistic streak will get what they expect from his barking of orders but it's minutes of screentime at most. This same goes for Gregg's Agent Coulson (Why bring him in at all?). There's some cool cosmic stuff in concept going around but it's all slightly scatterbrained in implementation.  However there are some more decent notable roles in Ben Mendohlsehn's Talos (an at-times seldom seen but delightfully wicked/charming Australian accented approach) and Annette Benning's Kree AI projection Supreme Intelligence(offering kindness aside command...along with the greater meaning of it).
This film is directed by the tag team pair of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who've formerly done some smaller dramatic fare. One shouldn't discount filmmakers of varied artistic backgrounds(as that's what gave us Jon Favreau, the Russo Brothers, James Gunn, Taikia Waititi etc) but perhaps in this case their unfamiliarity with blockbusters is felt. Character-centric moments can be good especially when it's between things such as Carol and Fury or Carol and the Supreme Intelligence etc. There's some nice real imagery in the dusty deserts of the Southwest USA on Earth, SHIELD bases, and even some space-set Kree or Skrull worlds. However the spectacle falls apart in some of the space flying combat or car chase scenes coming across as  a bit silly. Props to the Skrulls shapeshifting abilities however as well as the general 1990s ambience( NIN shirt, dope! Actually filmed at a real Blockbuster too) . This is attempted in music as well with some classics showing up in some good spots but also some truly odd spots(Just A Girl for a major action scene, really? That's more of a mid-film choice...GOTG Gunn mix tape this is not). 
It's a film of some solid ups and some definite downs. It's never quite laughably bad but it's never quite stunningly amazing either. There's glimpses and moments of greatness in its period-piece intrigue with a nuanced main character but instead it's just ...sometimes. It's sometimes a bit funny it's sometimes a bit of alien battles it's sometimes a bit of a cute cat. However, for her to stand amongst the MCU greats it's going to take more than that. But perhaps it's worth seeing to make sense of her backstory before her Endgame debut... I suppose we're at that point in media now.  7.96 out of 10