Captain Marvel
The sad part is that Captain Marvel doesn’t even get to be the hero of her own story. “Captain Marvel”, Marvel’s latest entry and the first to boast a female lead, is really more of an ensemble movie, and the titular hero, played with enough verve by Brie Larson, doesn’t get much to do. She is mostly relegated to playing detective at a mystery plot that, if you’ve seen a single trailer for the movie, isn’t all that mysterious. The movie focuses a bit too much on this mundane subplot in its middle portion.
Its beginning portion isn’t all that good either, with some quite horrendous dialogue, incompetent editing, and production design stolen from greater movies like “Blade Runner” in its first 20 or so minutes. Fortunately, we soon escape Marvel’s “home” world and wind up on Earth (or C-53, as the aliens so affectionately call it). But it’s not the present day. It’s the 1990’s, and the filmmakers do an excellent job teasing out some of the blatant nostalgia (“Blockbuster” and “Fresh Prince” among them), and not relying on it for humor or comfort.
The setting doesn’t add much to the story, but it does allow for a buddy cop vibe to set in once Agent Nick Fury shows up in a too-cool-for-school car and classic 90’s shades. Fury, who has appeared in most Marvel movies, is still played by the impeccable Samuel L. Jackson, but this time with a bit of de-aging make-up (I hope it is).
Jackson does an incredible, scene-stealing job here, providing the best humor in the film. His chemistry with Larson is also quite good, and their scenes together are some of the most enjoyable in the movie.
Speaking of scene-stealers, Ben Mendelsohn is in this movie too (I told you it’s an ensemble), and he goes a step above his usually maniacal villain role-playing. This is by far his juiciest role, and he brings some much needed heart and a fair share of humor to this tale.
Even if the moments of characterization for Marvel (just realizing how confusing that word could be) are relegated to the sidelines, there is a nice crescendo to an otherwise on-the-nose theme: that of female empowerment. Of course you knew the movie would have it, but to my surprise and delight, it doesn’t feel over-the-top or too of the moment, and the subtext of not being told to control yourself (and hide your emotions) is well done, to say the least. The scenes towards the end of the film, of Captain Marvel releasing her full potential, while visually spectacular, have an added layer of depth that makes them felt, as well as heard.
As you probably knew already, Captain Marvel will appear in “Avengers: Endgame”, the next installment of the Marvel franchise (see what I did there). Please don’t kill me, but I was honestly not that excited for it. I think I know that the characters from “Infinity War” will be back, and I’m not all that interested in how they get back (the “science/magic” in these movies is quite dull).
However, after watching “Captain Marvel”, I’m pumped to see “Endgame”, if only for the chance to see Marvel have something to do.
{★★½☆}