Review: Captain Marvel
This is it! This is what we have all been waiting for... oh wait no that's not until April. Well, Marvel gave us something to hold us over until Endgame and it came in the form of this brand new addition to the MCU, Captain Marvel. Did it live up to the brand name? Let's get into it.
Captain Marvel is a character that I knew almost nothing about (literally nothing), but the film follows Carol Danvers as she discovers her true abilities as a super hero.
I'll start with a few positives to kick it off. This movie was a visual joyride with SO MUCH TO SEE! The many colors and action scenes were a ton of fun to watch on the big screen, which made it even easier to throw down a bucket of popcorn.
Along with the great visuals, I found that Danvers is a very fun character. With her witty humor and heroic spirit, she fits perfectly into the MCU as we know it. Brie Larson gave a solid enough performance as the hero and she definitely contributed to the great fun to be had. That being said, it was also great to see other characters involved such as Nick Fury and Agent Coulson.
A smaller praise that I want to share is for the solid 90's nostalgia. From the music to the pop culture references, they did a great job of putting together a period piece.
Now to my complaints. The biggest problem that I had was with the way that this hero has been set up. They build Captain Marvel to be an incredibly powerful being, without any struggle throughout the film. Sure, there are a couple times that she had a little difficulty in a fight, but you quickly realize that she is way overpowered. Not just Thanos, but absolutely any villain would need to worry if they have to face her. This was already a concern of mine when Marvel executives were championing the character as the most powerful being yet.. Unfortunately, they were right. The movie made it clear that she is insanely strong and this will be a very difficult thing to handle in the future. Hopefully, this will be adjusted in the future of the MCU.
Back to this film, I spent nearly half of the movie feeling disappointed in the lack of character development. It began to pick up later, but it left me a bit detached from the characters for way too long. Development is something essential when it comes to making the audience care about the dangers but this movie struggled to make me worry about a character that I did not feel attached to, especially in situations that I could assume would work out in her favor anyway.
My next complaint is a slight spoiler for the movie so do not read this paragraph until AFTER you have seen Captain Marvel. So here is my official SPOILER WARNING! Did they seriously explain Nick Fury's eye with a cat? REALLY MARVEL? He has always been a decently intimidating presence on screen (You know, the leather and the eye patch type of stuff), but this whole movie made him seem like a bumbling idiot. This huge inconsistency really bothered me after years of adoring what Sam Jackson has brought to the character.
Alright, I'm all done with the spoilers now. I enjoyed the fun of Captain Marvel, despite the few character flaws and my concerns for the future films. It is definitely a movie that all MCU fans should see and it can maybe hold us over just a little bit longer before Endgame.
