Captain Marvel (2019)
The longtime indie-drama team of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden take the reins of their first blockbuster film (after Marvel passed on the likes of female directors like Niki Caro and Jennifer Kent), handling the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s long overdue first female-led film in their run with Captain Marvel (the closest they had come before was a co-lead credit for Ant-Man and the Wasp). As it is set mostly in the 1990s, the film serves as a prequel to most of the other MCU films, and while it does serve as an origin story of sorts as to the nature of Nick Fury, how he came to realize that there were super-powered beings in the universe, and how he came to form the Avengers Initiative, it is mostly a means to establish Captain Marvel as a formidable presence in the story-line, especially as she will become a prominent player in the next big Marvel crossover film, Avengers: Endgame.
When we start the film, Captain Marvel, called Vers at the beginning of the tale (the name “Captain Marvel” is not used in the film, despite the title), is an ultra-powerful warrior for an alien race called the Kree, from the capital planet Hala, part of an elite group of warriors called Starforce, who are doing battle with the fearsome, shape-shifting Skrulls, who have the power to impersonate other living beings, with a notable limitation in memories. She is haunted by her own memories of a strange time and place, when she was a pilot in the United States Air Force, which she ends up learning more about when she ends up jettisoned on Earth in 1995. After an explosive skirmish and her high-powered suit catches the interest of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., she meets the initially skeptical Nick Fury (Jackson, de-aged throughout the film, thanks to the visual effects team), and begins her search for the light-speed engine, another object in Vers’s memories, that both civilizations want to get their hands on first. It is on Earth that she begins to put the pieces of her memory and former life there back together, reuniting with old friends (who knew her as Carol Danvers) in her old stomping grounds. She also begins to discover more about her mission, what is being fought for, and the nature of the vicious Kree-Skrull war that she never knew about. Unfortunately, the Skrulls, led by Talos, are in hot pursuit on a planet completely unaware and unprepared for the arrival of such high-powered beings.
Captain Marvel explores more of the human side to Carol Danvers and her ultra-powerful abilities, as she learns her true power as a hero comes from within, especially in learning about her own vulnerabilities, friendships, and place in the world, and the universe. Despite this, there’s an aloofness we have toward the character, who doesn’t have more than one or two facets to her to hold on to, despite the acting talent and charisma of Brie Larson to try to breathe some life into the role. Part of this is because she is a Kree, which has been obliquely incorporated into the Guardians of the Galaxy films (spotlighted mostly in the Ronan the Accuser character), though not enough for us to care yet of the implications. Another part is that she has amnesia, only later coming to realize the strange dreams she has about another life might actually be flashbacks, and yet even those character tidbits aren’t enough to root us emotionally into her plight. It’s nice to deal with her origin in flashback in order to not dwell on the details, but when the lack of background exposition affects the ability to get invested into emotional character beats or to get excited to see her engage in battle, it becomes a liability to enjoyment that the film doesn’t quite overcome, despite plenty of razzle-dazzle.
The film takes full advantage of its mid-1990s setting, allowing for a whole jukebox of early nineties hits to play on the soundtrack, often trying in with the theme of the scene they are being presented over. Some might find that angle to be a bit too on the nose, but it works well in giving the film some needed energy, as well as a deeper resonance, for those scenes in particular. Nevertheless, 90s kids will still enjoy reminiscing about such things as Blockbuster Video, grunge, old-school computer and communications technology, and many other aspects that define the era that have receded to the memories of the mind as deeply as Danvers’ is going through. In a way, it works in a similar fashion to the Transformers spin-off/prequel that came out just a few moths prior, Bumblebee, complete with backstory of warring alien factions (including shape-shifter powers), a trip to Earth with enemies in pursuit, befriending an Earthling, all with a healthy share of nostalgia and era-specific pop tunes to color the atmosphere. Also interesting to note the similarities between the MCU’s Tesseract and the Bay-formers’ Allspark, which are both cubes with universally powerful properties.
The film benefits from a solid troupe of actors and the kind of solid visual effects work we’ve grown accustomed to from Marvel, especially once they hit their stride financially. However, no amount of glorious computer-generated imagery and pop tune nostalgia can make up for the fact that none of the battle sequences have palpable stakes, primarily because we lack the ability to identify with the hero, and aren’t particularly invested in the Kree-Skrull battle to care one way or another who comes out victorious. A sense of the exotic is also missing from the film, as everyone, from human to Kree to Skrull, all speak English, even among each other, as the screenwriting gets lazy in exposition due to having to take shortcuts into explaining decades worth of mythos from the pages of Marvel Comics within the course of a two-hour movie that also does double duty as an origin story of sorts to Nick Fury, as well as to the Avengers as a whole.
Captain Marvel is the first film to come out after the death of beloved Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee, to which the film pays homage by placing his visage prominently to comprise all of the shots in the opening Marvel logo to kick off the film, as well as a thank you message. It’s not the last you see of his face, though, as his requisite cameo does appear later on, in a funny aside that reminds you of what Stan himself was likely doing during this time in nearly twenty-five years before the release of this film. The homage montage represents the most emotional moment of the movie for Marvel fans, and it isn’t even really part of the movie — it’s just the movie that came out first after his passing.
As much as I would love to bestow glowing praise upon Captain Marvel for what it is trying to do, both narratively and thematically, it doesn’t take a long time before many will come to the conclusion that it just isn’t going to get into the kind of solid, energetic groove of excitement that most MCU films eventually hit. As such, it will go down as a lower tier Marvel entry, somewhere in the mix of the Thor, Hulk, and Ant-Man films, though those entries at least have the benefit of being filled with humor that tempers their lackluster stories. Despite a bigger emphasis on characterization this time out, the titular character continue to remain an enigma, despite following her for two hours, and even then, she’s not even a tenth as fun as watching the already established Marvel character of Nick Fury, who turns out to be humorously, a major cat lover, fixated on Goose (Top Gun reference, naturally), the cat once belonging to Danvers’ mentor and inventor of the light-speed engine, Dr. Wendy Lawson. When more people walk out of the theater talking more about how much they enjoyed a cute CG kitty and a Stan Lee cameo than the main character, there’s a definite problem with your superhero story’s focus.
It’s unfortunate that there haven’t been more recent solo female superhero films to compare Captain Marvel to, so we can only compare it to the one recent effort to beat it to the punch, the DCEU’s Wonder Woman. While Marvel has been able to best DC in most regards critically, DC easily bests Marvel in their head-to-head competition for making a female-led superhero film that is entertaining, thoughtful, emotional and exciting. Captain Marvel isn’t a bad film, but it is lackluster by comparison to the likes of not only WW, but recent Marvel efforts, especially Black Panther, the first superhero flick to get a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. It coasts by on spectacle, a few good character performances (especially from Jackson), and a modest amount of intrigue as to the nature of Carol Danvers and how she came to be a Kree warrior. If expectations are kept low, it’s passable entertainment, though as a means to supercharge anticipation for Avengers: Endgame the following month, it’s a failure.
Note: there is a mid-credits sequence (worth sticking around to see, for MCU fans) and an end credits scene (not nearly as critical).
Qwipster’s rating: B-
MPAA Rated: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive language
Running Time: 124 min.
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte
Small roles & cameos: Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Mckenna Grace, Stan Lee, Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Screenplay: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet