Marvel is 11 years and 21 movies into dominating the silver screen and the Disney machine has no plans to slow down. We’re just two months away from seeing the outcome of last year’s Avengers: Infinity War and the finale promises to be a pivotal moment for the characters people have loved for a decade.
Enter the Avenger’s secret weapon – Captain Marvel…
No, not the famous Captain Marvel aka Shazam, a character so popular that he outsold Superman a few decades ago. That movie is releasing next month. Instead, we get the legally-owned title character that’s meant to defeat Thanos and save the day in Avengers: Endgame.
But first, an origin story.
We jump right into Carol Danvers’ (Brie Larson) story as she is a fierce Kree warrior continuing the intergalactic war against their shapeshifting enemies, the Skrull. She ends up marooned on Earth and must continue the fight between both warring races, as well as finding out the truth behind her past.
Marvel comics fans will be so pleased to see fan-favorite villains The Skrulls make their first appearance in the MCU. The prime Skrull chasing Carol is Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who is meant to be an ominous war general (with a thick Australian accent). If the MCU continues this new trend of shapeshifting creatures, it could make for some interesting twists for the the Avengers established over the past 11 years.
To give Captain Marvel some foundation before Endgame, the story takes place in the ’90s, which gives the intent that there was a grand plan all along. Audiences may smile to see Koosh balls, AOL references and Blockbuster Video. However, everything is shoehorned to remind you that it’s the ’90s and “geez, wasn’t that such an interesting time?” Whenever the movie starts to drag, they’ll throw in a great alternative song to spice it up. Familiarity breeds contentment. Though, it doesn’t equate to quality.
Though, what works for this story is the Nick Fury character (de-aged Samuel L. Jackson), who plays this as a buddy cop movie more than an alien invasion story. In a movie that tries to keep a light tone and fails with nearly every joke, Jackson is the stand-out. Also, Annette Benning gets a wide sandbox in her role and it’s an interesting, varied performance.
Brie Larson’s seeming apathy for the role brings the movie to a dead stop at times. Her muted performance works only in the way that she is a warrior with amnesia. Though, there’s never enough personality or character established other than her discovering her full powers. The extent of her powers (as the potential Thanos killer) become the arc, and takes away any reason why we should care about Carol.
Perhaps this movie wasn’t as safe a bet as other Marvel properties, but I can’t understand why more money wasn’t put into such a cosmic movie that relies on space battles for its big moments. Sure, Captain Marvel takes place in the ’90s, but there’s no reason they had to use CG that looks to be the equivalent of a ’90s movie. The third act attempts to ramp up the action, but only serves to be yet another example of what will distance audiences believe that anything is happening other than some fancy computer graphics clashing. The hand-to-hand combat doesn’t fare much better as it relies on quick edits and feels a chore to even follow.
Captain Marvel is missing a defining characteristic, that saves the scripts of other Marvel flicks, with its absence of humor. Jokes are attempted, but the humor is missing, which forces the audience open their collective eyes to realize the weakness of the pacing.
It’s hard to imagine Captain Marvel as the replacement for Iron Man or Captain America as the franchise looks for a next-generation leader. It’s ironic that this movie about a hero rediscovering her memories will be the most forgettable flick in the MCU. This sluggish experience feels less like a complete movie and more like the definition of a cinematic shoehorn, as it has no ending other than building up to a big event like Endgame. Captain Marvel may bore you, but hey, at least there’s a funny cat… D+
Comments are closed.