Alright then. I like comics. I like comic book films. This much we have established. Therefore it wasn’t much of a surprise that this one was going to get a review, was it? No, you’re right, it wasn’t. Let’s crack on then.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Dir. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck / Dur. 124 min
Twenty films in and we get Marvel’s first film fronted by a female superhero. Naturally enough (and as Captain marvel is a character well known to comics fans but not so to the wider public), it’s an origin story but Marvel has cranked out enough origins now that they’re able to play around with the form a bit more here. Vers, a warrior for the Kree race, has no real memory of her life beyond the last six years but is getting flashes of a life lived on the planet Earth as a test pilot. What could it mean?
The Good:- Brie Larson has great screen presence as Captain Marvel and definitely has the chops to be one of the lead players in the Marvel Universe once we get past Endgame. The decision to have both her as the character and us as the audience discover her backstory as the film unfolds works well and stops the film from feeling like just another origin story. Ben Mendelsohn certainly seems to be enjoying his role (to say much more about it ventures into spoiler territory) and gets some of the best laughs in the film. The effects work done to de-age Samuel L Jackson (and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson) is frankly incredible - I could not stop staring at it (and I watched the film at the biggest screen in the country so it’s impressive that it stood up to that level of scrutiny). It’s also the most we’ve had of Samuel L Jackson in a Marvel film and he seems to be having the time of his life. For me personally, the 90s soundtrack was also a big nostalgia fest for me given that it was chock full of tracks that I was largely listening to on mixtapes on my Walkman as I went to and from university. Finally, it’s also about time that a Marvel film prominently featured a cat in a starring role.
The Bad:- For those not familiar with the comics, the opening may seem a little expositiony as it sets up who the Kree, the Skrulls and the Supreme Intelligence are but it does swiftly move on from there. Also, for all it’s playing around with form, it is yet another superhero origin story - on the plus side, it's an enjoyable one.
The Verdict:- Twenty one films in and Marvel really do know what they’re doing when it comes to crafting a high-quality crowd-pleasing blockbuster. This is an enjoyable sci-fi actioner with a few surprises for long-time comics fans. It also nicely ties into the beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while setting the stage for Endgame. It you like Marvel films then you’ll like this. (One last note - this is the first main Marvel film released since Stan Lee’s death and I got a little misty eyed at the logo composed of all of his cameo appearances and his cameo as himself*.)
* Alright, mild spoiler time - don’t read this bit if you don’t want to know about Stan’s cameo. If Stan Lee is reading the script to Mallrats in which he appears as himself and talks about the comic characters he created (and their secret identities), how does everyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe not already know who all these heroes are? OK, fine, yes, I am over-thinking this. (And I still liked it and it still made me misty eyed when he and Captain Marvel share a smile.)
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