Captain Sort of Mar-Vellous

By Tejas Raghuram

A spoiler-free and apolitical review of Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is the 21st entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, and Jude Law, the movie tells the origin story of Carol Danvers, and how she developed her powers as Captain Marvel.

Carol is a United States Air Force pilot who got her powers when she was shot down by an alien spacecraft, and her DNA was fused with that of an alien race called the Kree. The movie opens with an amnesiac Carol on the planet Hala, the Kree homeworld. There, she is known as Vers (rhymes with cheers), an elite member of the Kree hit squad known as the Starforce. She is sent on a mission to fight a race of shape-shifting aliens called the Skrulls, but she is captured and stranded on Earth. Here, she discovers that there might be more to her past than she knows.

If I had to describe Captain Marvel in a single sentence, it would be that it is a movie with great performances trapped behind a mediocre script. Before I go any further into this movie, just know that if you are not a fan of previous MCU origin story films, this one probably isn’t for you either.

Easily the best part of this movie is the performances from the entire cast. Brie Larson does her very best Robert Downey Jr. impression, and while she is not yet at the same level he is, she is still a very charismatic actress. She plays a very likable heroine as Carol Danvers. She is funny, intelligent and is able to hold her own against MCU veteran actor Samuel L. Jackson. Despite the fact that Larson is clearly very new to VFX acting, her action scenes are believable, and her performance keeps you engaged in the world of the film. Where Larson shines is in the quieter scenes of the movie, where she is allowed to emote and show off her Oscar-caliber acting skills.

Larson’s performance is also aided by the great work from her supporting cast. Samuel L. Jackson’s role as Nick Fury is great as usual, with all the usual wisecracks and quips that one comes to expect from an MCU movie. The CGI used to de-age him is marvelous. His role in the movie is a departure from the dark and brooding, eye-patched version of Nick Fury. Jackson’s performance makes the audience believe that Nick Fury was once a light-humored desk-jockey. In addition, Fury’s relationship with Goose the cat (easily the best actor in the movie) is one of the best parts of the film and contributed to several laugh out loud moments.

The other standout performance in the movie is that of Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull General Talos. He gives a very subtle and more nuanced performance than we are used to from him, which makes his character very likable, despite his quasi villainous nature. I would talk about his character a little bit more, but that would be venturing into spoiler territory.

The more minor characters were great as well. Lashana Lynch plays Maria Rambeau, Carol’s best friend and fellow air force pilot. She has great chemistry with all of her co-stars, especially with Larson and Jackson. Annette Bening plays Dr. Wendy Lawson, a mentor for both Danvers and Rambeau. While her role is very small, she plays an integral part in the story and makes Carol’s backstory very compelling.

Some other notable characters in the movie are Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, finally returning to the movies after his death in The Avengers, as well as Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou as Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer, two villains from 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy (GOTG). Being a fan of ABC’s Agents of Shield television series, I loved seeing Coulson on screen again. However, he has a very small role in the film and isn’t really a major part of the story. As for Ronan and Korath, they were more or less in the background. Ronan was boring in GOTG and was boring here too, and despite having a couple of funny lines in GOTG, he is entirely forgettable in this movie.

Aside from the performances, another thing that I liked about this movie is the way it sets up Avengers: Endgame. As expected, this movie introduces the pager seen flashing at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. However, what really made me excited for Avengers: Endgame after seeing this movie was the mid-credits scene. This scene has instigated a lot of speculation of fans around the world, including myself, concerning Captain Marvel’s role in the final entry into the Avengers storyline.

As for the action, it is nothing special. Most of the fights are basically Carol Danvers absolutely annihilating a bunch of alien bad guys. In addition, they are heavily reliant on big CGI moments, especially in the latter half of the movie. Not all CGI-heavy action is bad, as one need only look at movies like Avengers: Infinity War or even the first Avengers movie. However, the directors of Captain Marvel are nowhere near as good as the Russo brothers at directing action. Boden and Fleck come from making small, low-budget indie films, and clearly have no experience directing any kind of action, let alone big-budget space battles.

Another problem with the action is the fact Captain Marvel is extremely powerful. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, has said repeatedly that Captain Marvel is the most powerful hero in the MCU. Nevertheless, I was not expecting her to be as mighty as she is here. This would not have been a problem if her villains were powered up to be on par with her.

By the time that Carol Danvers has achieved her true potential in strength, it is clear that there is no way that the villains stood a chance against her, removing all tension from the third act of the movie. This is compounded by the fact that Captain Marvel seemed to have no trouble mastering her powers, as she is able to easily control all of her abilities soon after she acquires them. In fact, everything seems to come to her too easily. While it can be argued that that was just because she was a member of an elite military unit for a large part of her life, it is just not interesting to watch a heroine that has no weaknesses.

Another major problem with the movie is its script and how the plot unfolds. Despite having five credited writers, Captain Marvel’s story structure just seems kind of messy, as if they could not decide whether to go the typical superhero origin story route (a la Spider-Man (2002)), or the “tough robotic soldier discovers their humanity” route.

One glaring example of this sloppiness is the fact that Carol Danvers never undergoes a transformation in the entire movie. Sure, there is the fact that she learns about her past, but that is not what is missing. For example, look at Spider-Man (2002), the textbook superhero origin story, or more specifically at the scene where Peter learns about his powers and also how to control them. This makes it much more satisfying when at the end of the movie, Peter masters his powers and is able to defeat the Green Goblin.

Captain Marvel does not have any scene like this, so it feels weird to see her immediately have control of her powers without ever having used them before. This also leads to the movie’s emotional climax coming off a little flat and uninteresting. If not for Brie Larson’s extremely likable performance in the role of Carol Danvers, the entire movie might have come off the same way.

Just to be clear, I did really enjoy watching Captain Marvel. The performances were fantastic across the board, and the action, while a bit run-of-the-mill MCU stuff, is still fun to watch. While the script has major problems and the story structure is quite messy, the movie is still very enjoyable as a whole.

If you are still unfamiliar with the MCU (if that is even possible), I definitely recommend that you check this one out. It is another solid entry in the machine that is the MCU and clears the board for Avengers: Endgame next month.