Captain Marvel

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating; I was never a comic book kid growing up.  Therefore, going into the latest Marvel film my knowledge of Captain Marvel was limited to what I garnered from trailers, a few entertainment articles, and late-night promotional clips. Does Captain Marvel follow cannon? Have the socio/political/gender agenda etc.  that’s fueling a lot of haterade out there for this film? No idea.  I’m not looking at the film from any of those standpoints.  I’m basing my thoughts/feelings purely on what I saw on the big screen as a newbie to the character, her introduction to the MCU, and my moving going experience.  In short, was it worth my changing out of my pjs after a long hard week, driving to the theater, and plunking down my hard- earned cash?  My knee jerk answer is…

To say I was excited to see Captain Marvel during its opening weekend is a slight understatement.  I didn’t know what to expect, on that I wanted it to be well written/acted, entertaining, and all around awesome.  By and large the film delivers on all those points and more. 

The writing is solid however I found the pacing to be uneven throughout the film.  The opening Marvel credit sequence alone had me pumped and bouncing in my seat with anticipation.  A truly wonderful, smile- inducing tribute to the late, great Stan Lee.  The film started and my curiosity/questions kicked into high gear.  The movie itself not nearly as much.  It’s not bad, but it’s a rather slow, lurching burn as we’re given bits and dribbles of origin/backstory and current events.  While I never became fully bored at any point in the film, my excitement/enthusiasm did wax and wane for at least half the film.  Maybe it was my annoyance of the child seated next to me yakking non-stop in between mucus filled hacking fits (thanks mom and dad for making sure your sick kid was as far away from you as possible so you could have a relatively undisturbed viewing of the film. And thanks Zicam and Alka Seltzer Plus for waiting at home to try and stave off me coming down with whatever little Typhoid Mary was spreading), but I didn’t feel that Captain Marvel has the seamless integration of drama, action, and humor that previous films capture wonderfully.  Again, while not awful, it’s more “clunky” this go around. This also caused the film’s tone to be uneven, jarringly so at times.

Casting and acting are uneven as well.  Brie Larson, while not bad varies in degrees of being engaging, believable, and very human in her portrayal of the title character.  There are moments where, if I’m to be honest, I became annoyed with her outright. She’s too wooden and distant/disinterested even cocky and arrogant (not quite Ben Affleck Batman, but along those lines). Other times, I definitely see the potential of the character and enjoyed what was happening on screen.  Samuel L. Jackson brought it (as usual) and made the movie for me.  He’s familiarity with Nick Fury and what we the audience want and expect from him with this character is master class level.  As for Jude Law, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, and Lee Pace (the latter two reprising their characters from Guardians of the Galaxy) they were good but left me wanting more.  They aren’t very prominent in the film and the lack of expanding upon their characters feels like a missed opportunity.  Annette Bening also could benefit from a deeper character dive, but just having her inhabit the role(s) she has is so cool and unexpected, I can’t complain too much on that count. Ben Mendelsohn, a surprising and refreshing villain delivered with an emotional and nuanced performance.

Good soundtrack, great action sequences, some stellar f/x, fun nostalgia for us older folks, a couple of twists you may not see coming (especially if you didn’t watch last seasons’ Agents of Shield), and some “bigger” picture questions answered.  All told, I can’t say that Captain Marvel is my favorite Marvel film.  While I do find it to be a bit of a let down (again, I’ve been told I’m too critical) a Marvel let down is still better than others best efforts.  Yes, I expected/wanted more, but no, I wasn’t sorry I went and saw this one in the theater.  It is fun.  There’s some genuinely good stuff running through this one.  I think things just got a little too scattered and the vision of this film isn’t quite as clear as other films.  As one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, I expect the next outing to be better integrated and look forward to taking that one in on the big screen as well.  As for Captain Marvel, I’m giving this one a 7.5. 

My standard reminder: don’t bolt as soon as the credits roll (why do people still do that?). There’s a mid-credit sequence scene setting up The Avengers: End Game.  There’s also a post credit scene that’s cute/gross/funny as well.