Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel 2019

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, a couple (in real life as well as behind the camera) who have collaborated together many times in the past either writing or directing films such as Half Nelson, Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Mississippi Grind and episodes of the TV shows The Affair and Billions.

The 21st film in the MCU. Set in 1995, the story follows Vers (Brie Larson), a warrior from the Kree race. Part of a strike force, she is on a mission to rescue a Kree spy from their shape-shifting enemies the Skrulls, led by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). After being captured and having tests done on her she’s haunted by glimpses of another life, where she had friends and family that she doesn’t recognise anymore. Escaping to Earth she meets up with Nick Fury and must find a way to stop the Skrull invasion.

Before I start the review, I have to mention the opening seconds of the movie. We’ve had the twenty other MCU films start with the Marvel logo and a montage of comic strips featuring the hero. This time we had a montage of the Stan Lee cameos. They pay homage to a man who quite literally created this universe. An absolute touch of class from Marvel Studios. His cameo in this film made me a little sad when I saw it, but the look Larson gives him is beautiful.

I thought Brie Larson was good as the titular character. There was enough weight behind the acting, and the chemistry between her and Jackson shines though whenever they were on screen together. Ben Mendelsohn once again steals the show and is a joy to watch. He seems to be enjoying himself playing villains as he hams it up in every scene he’s in, the real heart of the film. A nod to Gemma Chan is needed too, she is a member of the strike team with not much to do but she pushes herself to the front of the scenes whenever she has lines.

There were a couple of performances I was less than impressed with. Jude Law was meh but hey…. it’s Jude Law and I’m not sure he’s ever been anything but, and Annette Bening who took me out of the film every time she was on screen portraying one of her dual roles.

There were some issues with the direction and screenplay for me. The first act suffered more then the other two: the early part of the film seemed clunky and took its time to find the right pace, and the fight scenes were not up to the high standards I’ve come to expect from Marvel films either. The CGI was ok but the in-camera action fell a long way short. There were way too many camera cuts as Larson was fighting and it was too dark. Maybe Larson couldn’t get the fight moves right but there are always stunt doubles for that so I find it hard to believe that was the reason.

As the film went on it found it’s stride, all but one attempts at humour hit the spot and the actors took over from the effects. I had a bit of a problem with how at ease everyone seemed to be with alien technology. Vers happily takes apart 1990’s tech to make a sub space communicator and an 11 year old uses a touch screen control pad on Vers’s suit to change the look of it.

Fury’s interaction with Goose the warehouse cat that joins them for the second half of the film is brilliant, so it needed a little mention in here somewhere. Do not, I repeat, do not fuck with Goose!

Being Marvel’s first female led superhero film (which in my opinion is four or five years too late and should have been Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow) it fell a little short. I think as much care should have been taken with this title as was afforded to Black Panther. Also, It’s always tough to not compare the two superhero universes, and normally when I do the DCEU find themselves on the wrong end of that comparison. Comparing these as female superhero stand alone films though, Wonder Woman was a more well rounded and enjoyable movie.

All that being said, I thought this film was good. It did feel a little like a placeholder movie but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. I couldn’t distance myself from the fact this is the last instalment before Endgame (which I’m ridiculously excited about) so it felt a bit like an ok, relatively tasty starter that I had to eat before my main meal arrives. It’s unfair and isn’t the films fault but that was my feeling. Maybe on second viewing I’ll enjoy it even more.

Can’t imagine there is anyone out there that will go and see Endgame that hasn’t seen any of the other Marvel movies but in case there are, or if like me you’ll be re-watching them all before April 25th, this is the order I’ll be watching them in. Not chronologically but it seems right for continuity.

Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)