Vague-ish spoilers ahead. Honestly, I wanted to like Captain Marvel more than I actually did. I love the title character, and more than anything I wanted to see the internet trolls eat their words. But I can’t in good conscience say that Captain Marvel was a great film. It starts out too slow, it doesn’t have enough humor, and I just don’t think it’s going to be as rewatchable as the other MCU films. It’s not a bad movie; it’s just not up to the standards of the series.
Brie Larson did an excellent job, the haters were wrong about that. Internet misogynists have been calling her acting bland, but I think that’s just her character’s personality. No, she doesn’t toss out quips like Tony Stark. She’s more prone to make the occasional sarcastic remark that probably sounded funnier in her head. I can relate to that; heck, I’m married to that. The difference is that she was following a script, while RDJ barely reads his scripts. They can’t all be masters of the ad-lib. Larson’s character is an amnesiac who spent the last six years being reprimanded whenever she shows emotion or humor, so of course her personality is going to seem a little flat now.
I like the way Captain Marvel’s amnesia lets the audience learn her origin story the same way the character does, with snippets of memory sprinkled throughout the movie. Twenty-one movies into the MCU, they’re struggling to keep them from looking like the same movie over and over. I appreciate that this one forgoes the standard origin story format, and mixes things up a little. The twist regarding the movie’s true villains was excellent. And the “Cairo swordsman” approach to the final standoff was perfect. Honestly, there’s a lot to like here. I just wish the pacing was on par with the creativity.
I feel a bit cheated about the cat. Everyone who saw the movie before me kept saying the same thing: “The cat steals the show.” As a cat lover, I couldn’t wait. But unfortunately, the cat really doesn’t have a lot of screen time. At least, not as much as I’d been led to believe. It doesn’t even first appear until about halfway through the movie. I wanted more cat.
The movie never stops reminding you it’s the 90s. This has always been a trend in movies that take place in specific decades – they end up looking more like the time period than the real life time period actually looked. But that’s okay, the 90s were pretty nondescript compared to the preceding decades, IMO. The soundtrack was pretty good. Not “Guardians of the Galaxy” good, but it did the job.
There’s been a trend in prequels to show too many “how this happened” scenes, often answering questions nobody asked. Captain Marvel only has a handful, but one of them is pretty major. Fury’s eye… Fans actually have wondered how the MCU version of Fury lost his eye, so I wasn’t surprised to see them reveal it here. However, I’m not sure I love the movie’s answer. Sure it’s funny (especially how he lies about it later), but I don’t know if I really want that to be funny. It kind of changes the tone of Fury’s character. I think they should have left it more ambiguous. End the movie with him wearing a temporary patch, claiming it was still healing, leaving it unclear whether it actually heals and he loses it another way later. It could have even been a running joke if any future movies are also set in the past – have each one show him almost losing the eye in different ways.
Is Captain Marvel too powerful to be part of the MCU? Nah. She seems to be about as powerful as Thor. I imagine they’ll mostly keep her in space (after Endgame), so I don’t think she’ll cause any balance issues. Even if she decides to stay on Earth, they’ll just use the Justice League method for keeping her from saving the day too easily. “Oh, this week Superman’s off on a deep space mission, otherwise he could stop the Joker’s plan in 10 seconds.” Personally I hope she shows up in future Guardians of the Galaxy movies (or vice versa). She teams up with Rocket in some of the comics, and it’s hilarious.
I suppose my biggest gripe is my own expectations. My three favorite MCU movies are Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2, and Thor: Ragnarok. All three of those have sci-fi themes, and an over-the-top sense of humor. I think, in the back of my mind, I had begun to associate Marvel sci-fi with that lighthearted tone. But Captain Marvel takes itself too seriously for a movie about shapeshifting aliens. I’ve been waiting for a MCU movie with a female lead, and I’m glad I finally got it. I just wish it hadn’t stopped at “adequate”.
Bottom line: Captain Marvel is a decent movie. If it had actually come out in the 90s, before the MCU raised the bar for super hero movies, I probably would have thought it was the best thing ever. As it is, it’s only my 10th favorite MCU movie. And for a series this good, that’s not so bad.
