Sandwiched between two epic Avengers
movies and following the critically acclaimed Black Panther,
Captain Marvel has a lot to live up to in the Marvel
franchise. The film’s had many strong reactions prior to opening
weekend: it’s been preemptively hailed as a feminist cinematic
achievement while simultaneously bashed by trolling fanboys on Rotten
Tomatoes for the very same reason. While this polarizing fervor
surrounding Captain Marvel has built even more excitement to
some, the best thing you can do to ensure some level of enjoyment
with this film is to calm down, go into it with an open mind, and
lower your inflated expectations.
In true Marvel fashion, the film opens
with some quick exposition, followed by a bombastic intergalactic
battle to grab your attention. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is an
amnesiac on the planet Hala taken under the wing of the soldierly
Kree race via her commander Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). She dives into the
first mission with her squad against the green, shapeshifting
Skrulls, which goes south quickly when they end up capturing her.
Her escape ultimately leads to her crashing onto our planet (or
“C-53,” as they call it), and clues regarding her past on Earth
begin to slowly unravel. She soon meets a young Nick Fury (Samuel L.
Jackson), and they embark on an adventure to find the truth
surrounding her origins, and discover more than they expect in the
process.
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| Just wondering. Is this the HYPE train? |
Much of Captain Marvel is a
textbook Marvel film, but what sets it apart is the heavy-handed nods
to its 1990s backdrop. The film even feels like a 90s movie at
times, with its “fish out of water” storyline and goofy buddy cop
moments. The choice to play heavily on the '90s vibe varies in
efficacy: Carol plummeting through the roof of a Blockbuster Video
and experiencing the woes of dial-up modems will produce some
chuckles, but the choice to play No Doubt’s “Just a Girl”
during one of the final battles is cringeworthy. Oftentimes the '90s
factor is fun and nostalgic, but sometimes it’s a joke that
overstays its welcome. This is indicative of a larger problem the
film has: it’s just not consistent in tone at times, wavering
between complete silliness and dire seriousness so much that it
doesn’t have solid footing.
The pacing of the film wavers as well.
While it’s generally fast-paced throughout, the more we learn about
Carol’s backstory, the more the film decelerates. By the time she
begins meeting key players from her past, there’s too much bland
dialogue with not enough payoff, bringing the screenplay’s
weaknesses to the surface. The script is not strong enough to make
these exchanges work for more than a few minutes at a time.
Thankfully, the film redeems itself with some snappy action sequences
and the common sense to not have it far exceed a two-hour running
time.
The greatest strength of Captain
Marvel is its star power. Brie Larson brings personality to the
hero, giving guts to a role that could have easily been
two-dimensional had it been played by a less talented actress. Jude
Law’s dashing yet draconian air as Yon-Rogg works effortlessly well
for the character. Samuel L. Jackson fans, rejoice: not only does
Nick Fury have the most screen time here out of any other Marvel
film, but he also brings some of its most rewarding moments. His
charisma and clever quips add levity to the story, and his
relationship with Goose, an cat they stumble upon during their
journey, is sure to melt some hearts.
Despite the countless explosions,
chases, and fight sequences Captain Marvel offers us, this is
a smaller, toned-down film in the grand scheme of things—but
there is something refreshing about that at this point. It’s more
character-driven and charming in its simplicity. The plot isn’t
terribly complex, and it’s not muddied by a clown car’s worth of
characters to keep track of; it’s the singular tale of a woman
trying learn her identity that gets caught up in a sensible amount of
interstellar drama. It’s faithful to how a good “origin story”
should unfold, and does it well enough to keep us mostly engaged.
There’s a preconceived notion with Disney and Marvel films that
every movie in a franchise has to be bigger and better than the next,
but there’s really nothing inherently wrong with dialing it back a
notch every once in a while. It’s okay to have a film that’s
“just okay” sometimes, when “just okay” in terms of Marvel
films is still fairly entertaining.
Inevitably living in the shadow of its
predecessors, Captain Marvel neither brings the laughs that
Guardians of the Galaxy does, nor does it have the gravitas of
something like Avengers: Infinity War, but it doesn’t
necessarily need to. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of comparing
it to what it isn’t in the Marvel Universe, which many
unfortunately will. As a standalone film, it’s a fun—albeit flawed—sci-fi
action romp with a strong cast and some interesting alien worlds and
spaceships, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. If you go
into it not expecting something epic, you will probably enjoy it to
some extent, but if you’re expecting an earth-shatteringly
original, life-altering Marvel movie, then you’re setting yourself
up for disappointment, and should likely save yourself for Endgame.
-Andrea Riley
