Captain Marvel: Another High Stepping Stone

After 11 years, 20 films, and $17.8 billion, you’re either on board with the Marvel Cinematic Universe or you’re too busy bemoaning the death of creative cinema and complaining about how all of Hollywood has become enfranchised to just sit back and let yourself have a good time. And if you’re a part of that second group, allow me to remind you that the Hollywood machine was depending on serialized films, celebrity culture, and medium adaptations long before Marvel figured out that blockbuster movies was the ladder they needed to dig themselves out of the fiscal hole they dug for themselves in the 1990s. But with ‘Captain Marvel,’ the Marvel formula is starting to become, dare I say it, formulaic. While this is far from a new phenomenon, this is the first time that a Marvel movie has felt so by-the-numbers and didn’t have enough world building to back it up.

The narrative attempts to mimic the origin movies of Marvel’s Phase One, introducing the titular hero (Brie Larson) as “Vers,” an amnesiac but smartass warrior of the alien Kree Empire. After a rescue mission led by her mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) ends with her being captured, she winds up on Earth circa 1995 with freshly awoken memories of having previously led a life there as a test pilot named Carol Danvers. From there, she teams up with a young Agent Nick Fury (a significantly de-aged Samuel L. Jackson) and her former pilot buddy Maria (Lashana Lynch) to uncover the secrets of her past, her involvement with the Kree sleeper agent Mar-Vel (Annette Bening), and just what Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), the leader of the shapeshifting Skrull race, wants with her. Along for the ride are the returning Marvel characters Agent Coulson (an also de-aged Clark Gregg), Korath (Djimon Hounsou), and Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace).

The acting comes in a total range. At the bottom of the list are most of the returning performers. Hounsou and Pace both look bored out of their skulls at the prospect of having to return to their minor roles. Gregg looks uncomfortable to be off television as Coulson for the first time since 2012 but it lends itself to his character. Sitting above them is Jackson, whose energy betrays just how eager he was to play a different version of the stoic and controlled Fury he’s brought to life since 2008. He has eerily good screen chemistry with Larson, who acquits herself well in action sequences and nails her character’s snarky, pain in the butt persona but doesn’t elevate any emotional or weighted scene with her presence. She’s on about the same investment level as Bening, who projects enough ham to keep a bacon factory in business for a year.

Surprisingly, the best actors of the piece are Mendelsohn and Lynch. As a Skrull, Mendelsohn has to act through an inch of makeup which occasionally slips up his dialogue, but he’s expressive enough to fully emote through it and easily lifts the heart of the movie that Larson couldn’t quite shoulder. And the makeup is so distinctive and detailed that he actually pulled double duty as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Keller and I didn’t even notice. Lynch doesn’t have the handicap of heavy makeup and has the best all-around chemistry with the entire cast, making every interaction feel as natural and real as they should without being and overblown wreck as some lesser actresses might have played it.

The action of the movie is also something of a mixed bag, though in a much better sense than the action. The worst of the fight scenes is only as bad as a generic Marvel movie action scene, which is still better than most fight scenes we get in other action films. The best of the bunch are the aerial fight scenes where directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck get to play with some fancy camera techniques and visuals, unrestricted by tight environments and narrative conventions.

While the majority of the film is centered on a series of action scenes and the links needed to get from one to another, it does make a point to carry a few major themes along its journey, including a total reversal of some long-held Marvel lore points that I won’t spoil here for fear of fanboy outrage. Suffice it to say that the strong feminist spirit of the film is carried through to a predictable outcome whereas the political implications of the film are far less black and white.

The film enjoys very pretty visual effects that range from cartoonish exaggerations to impressive light shows, but never rise to the innovative spectacles that have come out of other Marvel films. The one thing that sets it above its dozens of predecessors is its makeup department. Between the blue-skinned Kree, the fringe-jawed Skrulls, and the de-aging makeup used to make the 70-year-old Jackson look in his mid-thirties, everything and everyone in the film sports a unique and natural look that never once breaks the immersion. The makeup, lighting, and costumes all come together to make such features look so stunningly real and convincing that it sometimes gets hard to tell just what's CGI and what's practical, a sign of quality work on both parts.

Overall, it’s a Marvel movie through and through. But it was proven a long time ago that the Marvel logo isn’t necessarily a seal of quality assurance. As it stands, ‘Captain Marvel’ doesn’t stand at the top of Marvel’s totem pole nor does it lie near its bottom. It’s still relevant, has a few poignant moments and creative action sequences, and has some enjoyable visuals. Also the best Stan Lee cameo ever. Fight me. But it doesn’t shake up the over-arching narrative in any meaningful way, doesn’t have the best distribution of emotional weight, and is oddly paced for such a casual film. If you want to know why a flying blonde lady shows up in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in a couple months or just want a relaxed action film to kill an afternoon, then it’s worth the investment. But otherwise, it’s pretty easily skipped.

Please don’t kill me. 3/5.

For more film reviews, please like, share, subscribe, and feel free to contribute to the Patreon!