REVIEW: ‘Captain Marvel’

Marvel Entertainment

Graphic+created+by+Genevieve+Guenther.

Graphic created by Genevieve Guenther.

Jonathan Montague, Staff Writer

Audiences have been clamoring for years to see a major blockbuster female-led superhero movie. DC won that race in 2017 with the release of “Wonder Woman,” which lived up to all of the hype surrounding it and made millions at the box office. Now, in an ironic twist of fate, Marvel has been playing catch-up. They came close with 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” where the titular heroine shared the spotlight. Now Marvel has officially joined the big-kids table with “Captain Marvel.”

The film opens on our heroine as a member of Starforce, the military force of the intergalactic Kree Empire, who are currently embroiled in a war with the shapeshifting Skrulls. With little memory of her past and an attitude that alienates her from her peers, “Vers” finds herself stranded on Earth with signs all around her previous life. She must piece together her origins while working with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury to find something that could possibly end the Kree-Skrull war for good.

Let me get this out of the way now. This is not the magnum opus that everyone expects. It is simply a fun, entertaining superhero movie, and that is all it has to be!

The plot of this movie unfolds fairly predictably and will hold no surprises for MCU veterans, but what makes it work is Carol Danvers herself. She is fierce and impulsive and extremely playful, providing plenty of good laughs without actively telling jokes. She has a swagger that just will not quit and has time for no one’s trivial crap. And it is all elevated by a great performance from Brie Larson as Danvers.

She also has great chemistry with Samuel L. Jackson’s Fury, and they have a nice buddy-cop comradery. I want to give special mention to Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull general Talos, who steals every scene he is in.

At this point, I do not have to tell you all that effects look great in a Marvel film, but I still have to talk about how they have truly perfected the de-aging effect because Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg look incredible in this film. It is unbelievable how consistently flawless it looks to the point where you forget they are using it. The action scenes are good and fun, but nothing tops that.

This film and heroine will undoubtedly be compared and contrasted to “Wonder Woman,” the film and the character. In my humble opinion, that is stupid and pointless, but I will give my two cents. Both films follow very different characters who inhabit very different environments. While Wonder Woman is more composed in most if not all situations, Captain Marvel has a very playful nature typical of the Marvel Universe. She sets herself apart and stands on her own two feet (literally) as a great hero.

All in all, I had a really good time at “Captain Marvel.” It follows the Marvel formula to a T, but there were some great visuals and the title character was easily the most entertaining thing. It is just a good Marvel film that I hope succeeds so that more female superheroes will be adapted. And personally, I cannot wait to see her in “Avengers: Endgame”!