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RATING:  B

  • RATED PG-13 for brief suggestive language, action and sequences of sci-fi violence
  • RELEASED: March 8, 2019
  • RUNTIME: 2 hr. 4 min.
  • WRITTEN BY: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet
  • DIRECTED BY: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
  • STARRING: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashanna Lynch, Gemma Chan, Clark Gregg, Lee Pace, and Djimon Hounsou

Captain Marvel is the 21st film in the Marvel cinematic universe and is based on the titular character from the comics. It follows Carol Danvers (although she thinks her name is Vers) a member of the Kree alien race, who serves in their Starforce, defending the planet Hala from Skrulls, evil shapeshifting aliens, at war with the Kree. After a mission goes wrong, Carol accidentally lands on Earth in 1995 before Iron Man and the Avengers are a thing. She meets Nick Fury (with two eyes) in the beginning stages of S.H.I.E.L.D. but when Carol is on Earth, she begins having memories of a past life there.

Together they try to piece together her flashes and find out who she was, while also trying to prevent the Kree-skrull war from spreading to Earth. While Captain Marvel may not end up in the top tier of MCY film it’s still a blast of Marvel fun, just before Avengers: Endgame. Marvel has done it once again, with a funny, entertaining and exciting superhero adventure. Brie Larson is great as Carol Danvers and she’s a very likable character, developing a fun friendship with Nick Fury. It’s very interesting to see how he came to believe in the idea of heroes defending Earth, and how that is tied to his ‘Avenger Initiative’. It does a great job with the Marl comedy, also, with a hilarious cat named Goose (after the Top Gun character), who Nick Fury is infatuated with.

The action is a lot of fun, although it could have been a little more memorable. But, by far, the most interesting part of the film are the Skrulls. They could have just been a boring and cliché ridden alien race, but they end up being a really fun and interesting part of the story due to a plot-twist midway through the film. Ben Mendelsohn plays their leader, Talos, a character who I found very enjoyable, but I can’t say much without spoiling it. There is also an exciting action sequence where Captain Marvel chases the Skrulls in the rain. I found it reminiscent of 90’s action movies like Point Break. Where I did find the film to be lacking, though, was its emotion and storyline. There isn’t a lot of story depth unfortunately which is why the plot twist with the Skrulls is so memorable. The overall objective (what has to be done to prevent the war) is a spoiler, but it’s basically an average Marvel plot. And, although Carol Danvers is very likable, there aren’t many reasons to care about her past. They hint at some pain she experienced, but it isn’t explored enough. Jude Law plays Yon-Rogg, the leader of Carol’s Starforce team and I found his character to be really dull and flat. He’s essentially Carol’s mentor, but they never explore their relationship, so there is no reason to care about him. The same thing happens with Annette Bening’s character, Wendy Lawson, who Carol knew in her past life. We learn next to nothing about her character and never learn about their friendship, so her character falls short of anything interesting. I was also disappointed that he didn’t spend more time with the Kree and Starforce, because with them we encountered characters that could have been interesting like Korath (also from Guardians of the Galaxy), Minn-Erva, and even Yon-Rogg.

Overall, Captain Marvel isn’t one of Marvel’s best films, but it’s still a lot of fun with some cool characters, the signature Marvel humor, and those awesome Skrulls. It certainly could have had more emotion and its story could have been deeper, but it still serves as a great introduction to the character of Captain Marvel and it’s definitely worth seeing.

You don’t want to miss the end credit scenes!