«Captain Marvel» (2019): Review
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HIGHER. FURTHER. FASTER.
Captain Marvel is directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Boden), and stars Brie Larson (Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Jude Law (Yong-Rogg), and Ben Mendelson (Talos). It’s the first MCU film that has a female lead, and turned out to be a box office success, surpassing the billion dollar mark worldwide, shutting down Marvel’s fear that the movie wouldn’t do as greatly as others because of the negative reaction to a woman becoming the leader of the MCU from a part of the fandom.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT CAPTAIN MARVEL
The film shows us a friendship that we hadn’t seen before; this one being the Fury-Danvers dynamic. The chemistry between these two characters is very good right from the start, feeling natural, fluid, and organic. Its’ almost as if the pair know each other from a long time ago. The dialogue between both characters allows the plot to move forward without any kind of problem, enabling the audience to understand very easily what’s going on.
Otro aspecto positivo de la película es la inclusión de la raza alienígena Skrull. Los Skrulls son metamorfos capaces de transformarse en quien deseen, donde el único requisito es que hayan visto anteriormente a su víctima. El aspecto de los Skrulls es bueno, realista, y con unos muy buenos efectos especiales, que de verdad te hacen creer que la transformación de un ser verdoso con una barbilla peculiar a un humano cualquiera es posible.
Furthermore, the Skrulls have a pivotal presence in the movie, where we then learn that they’re the ones that are suffering the consequences of the intergalactic war against the Kree. Skrulls only want protection and a peaceful place to live, just like Talos explains to Carol.
However, what really grabs the audience’s attention is that this film is the first female-lead MCUfilm, and who other to pull it off than Brie Larson. Larson has defended equality in the past, and it is a very much needed breath of fresh air in this movie universe, since it allows to give more visibility to women in the science fiction industry, but also marks of changing of the guard in the MCU: Ironman passes on the baton to Captain Marvel as the head of the MCU. Having a character so strong and independent like Carol being played by Brie Larson, an equally strong and independent woman was the right move.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT CAPTAIN MARVEL
Even though this movie is very fun and interesting to watch, there are moments were the pacing is slow, and Carol’s terrestrial past isn’t balanced as well with the problem Fury and Danvers have to deal with. An example of this is when Carol visits her best friend Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and finds out that she had a life on Earth. She discovers that she used to be a pilot for the US Air Force and that her real name is Carol Danvers, and not “Vers” as she was led to believe by Yon-Rogg; and that her DNA fused with the Tesseract’s radiation, giving her superpowers. During all of the sequence of personal discovery, the film drags a bit, since there’s a lot of exposition (by dialogue and flashbacks), and the plot doesn’t really move forward.
Furthermore, we are told that Rambeau is her best friend, but the chemistry between doesn’t really prove it to be that way. I would personally believe that Carol and Fury are best friends, rather than Danvers and Rambeau. There’s just no sufficient emotional connection between the two and the script doesn’t really dive that much into it, apart from explaining Carol’s powers.
Continuing on, I didn’t really understand as to why’s Ronan in this film, apart from his “we’re leaving” joke during the final battle. I didn’t understand what his role was. We knew he wasn’t obviously going to die since this movie was set up before Guardians of the Galaxy. His character was so out of place that it’s pretty obvious they just shoe-horned him in for continuity in the MCU, because I don’t even think his motivations make sense. I think that his character was pretty expendable throughout the whole film, and the result would have been the same.
Speaking of the final battle, there’s an instance where it looks as if Captain Marvel came straight out of a videogame, when she starts to destroy all the ships while flying. No movie has perfect CGI, at the end of the day, I guess.
I also felt that Brie Larson was a bit wooden in some moments throughout the film, as if she couldn’t fully show her real talent. It might’ve been due to the script, but I think it’s fair to say that it wasn’t Larson’s best performance; although we know she’s a crazy talented actress (Oscar for Best Actress in 2016).
One last problem that I could find, and this is nitpicking more than anything, is how Nick Fury loses his eye. While it sounds epic when you say that you lost your eye to a Flerken, it loses all of its epic-ness when that Flerken is called Goose and has the appearance of an adorable kitty.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, Captain Marvel is a fun and easy-going prequel, answering some questions in a very original and effective way. Humour is present during the entirety of the runtime, with the Fury-Danvers dynamic being the standout, as well as women empowerment, and the Skrulls (setting up a Secret Invasion storyline down the road, perhaps). The film drags a bit sometimes, going too quick in some parts, and too slow on others. Larson’s acting isn’t the best, but I think that she was greatly hampered by the script. However, this isn’t something too big that prevents the movie from being fun and action-packed.
Captain Marvel has finally arrived, and it seems she's going to stick for quick some time.
VERDICT: 6/10
