It took 21 films but it’s finally here; the first solo film with a female lead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film functions as a sort of buddy-cop adventure following Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as they venture through the 90’s trying to help Carol remember her past and stop an invading group of aliens. The theme of female empowerment is present and welcome as we also have the first female director of the MCU, Anna Boden, who co-directs alongside Ryan Fleck.
There was a lot of excitement leading up to this movie as well as a lot of controversy surrounding it. There are of course the typical group of men that can’t accept a female-led superhero movie, but there are also those who talk about how men aren’t allowed to have an opinion on a movie about a woman. I think that both extremes of this argument are being ridiculous and I wish people would stop focusing so much on arguments and start judging a film based on its quality. Controversy aside, this is without a doubt a culturally important movie, along the same lines as “Wonder Woman” and “Black Panther,” however cultural importance does not equal quality. I went into the theater with high hopes for a fun and well-made movie but left with some pretty mixed reactions.
Let’s start with what I liked. It was so much fun seeing Jackson take on a central role, and I must say the de-aging CGI effects were incredible and looked so real for all the characters it was used on. Ben Mendelson did an incredible job, per usual, playing Talos, leader of the shapeshifting Skrulls. He was easily one of the more fun characters to watch on screen. There were some big twists in the film that I absolutely loved and didn’t expect at all. The fact you never know who is and isn’t an imposter keeps you on the edge of your seat. The film’s production design was great, and they really captured the look and feel of the 90s, which served as a fun setting and welcome change of pace from recent superhero flicks. Something that stood out me, in a good way, is that Captain Marvel had no love interest in this movie. This was a breath of fresh air and it was nice watching a movie where there was no pointless romance and the woman didn’t rely on the man to save her.
One of my main issues with the film is that it doesn’t feel as grounded as past movies in the MCU. I had to stretch my imagination a few too many times for my taste. The action scenes were also lackluster and didn’t do anything fun or inventive. I saw the movie only a few days ago and remember hardly any of the fight sequences at all. Although the de-aging CGI effects were great, as well as the Skrull transformation effects, some of the other CGI work was rather poor during certain action sequences and shots involving a cat. The humor throughout film was very hit-or-miss. Some jokes landed well but quite a few fell flat.
The acting was pretty hit or miss as well. Some performances, for example, Lashana Lynch, who played Danver’s best friend Maria Rambeau, were shaky and felt a bit cheesy. The child acting wasn’t all that great either. My biggest issue with film is the character Captain Marvel herself. She is honestly a pretty one-note character and Brie Larsen’s performance is rather bland. I don’t necessarily blame that as much on her, because I’ve seen some stellar performances from her in the past, as much as I blame it on poor writing.
“Captain Marvel” isn’t by any means a bad film, but it isn’t exactly great either. I would recommend this movie to fans of the superhero genre, especially if you plan on seeing “Avengers: Endgame” next month. However, if you just want to watch a movie with a well-written, strong female lead, your time would be better spent watching “Aliens” or “The Silence of the Lambs” instead.
