The big "finale" for The Avengers is right around the corner and after a decade of buildup, we pretty much know all the major players. At this point, the only real mystery is who is Captain Marvel, whose introduction was first teased during the mid-credits scene of Infinity War, and how can she aid the team in their mission of undoing the catastrophic damage inflicted by Thanos' snap. Since she potentially holds the key for restoring order to the galaxy, it's only fitting we get to know her before Endgame right? Well, the last hero to be introduced in this wave of the MCU makes a hell of a first impression with a highly entertaining origin story that serves as a great introduction to the character as well as a nice little appetizer for next month's hotly anticipated event film.
It's been a little bit since Marvel has had to handle a true origin story (believe it or not, 2016's Doctor Strange was the last time), so it unsurprisingly takes a little bit of time to adjust to sitting through another obligatory birth of a superhero narrative after dealing with nothing but established characters and the varying degrees of emotional stakes that comes with that familiarity over the past few years. Once Captain Marvel gets through that unavoidable "getting to know you" rough patch, the film settles into a nice groove that only becomes tighter as it goes along.
I can't help but view Captain Marvel as the less manic cousin of Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Rangarok. Outside of a handful of splashy superhero fight scenes and the larger MCU implications, it's essentially an intergalactic buddy movie with some quality laughs, charming performances and even a few legitimately poignant moments. Having such a lowkey aesthetic shine through in a blockbuster like this can be attributed to having a writer/director team in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who exclusively made minimalist indie comedies/dramas (Mississippi Grind, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Half Nelson) prior to this massive gig. While they did a fine job with the action (a quick third act fight scene set to No Doubt's "Just a Girl" is the only real standout sequence), they excelled with all of the more grounded storytelling/character elements that are often glazed over in this genre. Each key figure in the story (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Nick Fury, Talos, Maria Rambeau) is given a solid amount of depth and the relationships between them progress in a very natural way. This emphasis on the smaller details helps establish a connection to these characters pretty quickly and subsequently adds some weight to an otherwise pretty basic origin narrative.
Of course, Boden and Fleck's human-centric approach wouldn't have been nearly as effective if there weren't so many great actors driving this sweet little ship. A surprisingly not creepy digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as a young, naïve version of S.H.I.E.L.D. figurehead Fury and Ben Mendelsohn finally gets past his awful habit of blockbuster villain overacting with a sympathetic, surprisingly funny turn as shapeshifting alien Talos.
As for the leader of the show, Brie Larson once again proves why she's one of the most gifted young actors working today with an engaging, multi-faceted performance that immediately establishes Captain Marvel as yet another winning hero for this mega franchise. By bringing a combination of snark, confidence and vulnerability to the role, she deftly handles the balance of being a fearless aspiring Air Force pilot who battled authority at every turn and an ultrapowerful superhuman asskicker trying to remember where she came from. Whatever the future ends up holding for the MCU, they're lucky to have a radiant star like Larson at the forefront of it.
Captain Marvel really couldn't have worked out any better. Sure it's not exactly revolutionary or among the absolute best things the Marvel machine has ever churned out, but it's a really fun, sharply-constructed movie that gives birth to another vibrant superhero and further ratchets up the anticipation for the single biggest blockbuster in recent memory-which as far as I'm concerned is all it needed to do to be successful. Now that we know what Captain Marvel is all about, let's move on to Endgame so we can finally get some god damn closure (or at least something that resembles it) in the MCU.
It's been a little bit since Marvel has had to handle a true origin story (believe it or not, 2016's Doctor Strange was the last time), so it unsurprisingly takes a little bit of time to adjust to sitting through another obligatory birth of a superhero narrative after dealing with nothing but established characters and the varying degrees of emotional stakes that comes with that familiarity over the past few years. Once Captain Marvel gets through that unavoidable "getting to know you" rough patch, the film settles into a nice groove that only becomes tighter as it goes along.
I can't help but view Captain Marvel as the less manic cousin of Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Rangarok. Outside of a handful of splashy superhero fight scenes and the larger MCU implications, it's essentially an intergalactic buddy movie with some quality laughs, charming performances and even a few legitimately poignant moments. Having such a lowkey aesthetic shine through in a blockbuster like this can be attributed to having a writer/director team in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who exclusively made minimalist indie comedies/dramas (Mississippi Grind, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Half Nelson) prior to this massive gig. While they did a fine job with the action (a quick third act fight scene set to No Doubt's "Just a Girl" is the only real standout sequence), they excelled with all of the more grounded storytelling/character elements that are often glazed over in this genre. Each key figure in the story (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Nick Fury, Talos, Maria Rambeau) is given a solid amount of depth and the relationships between them progress in a very natural way. This emphasis on the smaller details helps establish a connection to these characters pretty quickly and subsequently adds some weight to an otherwise pretty basic origin narrative.
Of course, Boden and Fleck's human-centric approach wouldn't have been nearly as effective if there weren't so many great actors driving this sweet little ship. A surprisingly not creepy digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as a young, naïve version of S.H.I.E.L.D. figurehead Fury and Ben Mendelsohn finally gets past his awful habit of blockbuster villain overacting with a sympathetic, surprisingly funny turn as shapeshifting alien Talos.
As for the leader of the show, Brie Larson once again proves why she's one of the most gifted young actors working today with an engaging, multi-faceted performance that immediately establishes Captain Marvel as yet another winning hero for this mega franchise. By bringing a combination of snark, confidence and vulnerability to the role, she deftly handles the balance of being a fearless aspiring Air Force pilot who battled authority at every turn and an ultrapowerful superhuman asskicker trying to remember where she came from. Whatever the future ends up holding for the MCU, they're lucky to have a radiant star like Larson at the forefront of it.
Captain Marvel really couldn't have worked out any better. Sure it's not exactly revolutionary or among the absolute best things the Marvel machine has ever churned out, but it's a really fun, sharply-constructed movie that gives birth to another vibrant superhero and further ratchets up the anticipation for the single biggest blockbuster in recent memory-which as far as I'm concerned is all it needed to do to be successful. Now that we know what Captain Marvel is all about, let's move on to Endgame so we can finally get some god damn closure (or at least something that resembles it) in the MCU.
Grade: B+
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