The Ranting Penguin

The whole history of Captain Marvel is an interesting one not just in the comics but in real life. Lawsuits were involved, settlements happened. We’re not gonna talk about that stuff today. Maybe another time.

If you have been following social media too much and broke the cardinal rule of not reading the comments, then there has never been a Marvel Studios movie that had the deck stacked against it than Captain Marvel. We’re not covering that stuff today.  Maybe another time.

Captain Marvel is Marvel Studios’ latest entry into their MCU vault of superhero characters that they have rolled out over the last ten years and over twenty movies. It is not only the first Marvel Studios movie to feature a female lead, but also features what may possibly be the most powerful character in the Marvel comics universe.

It is a not really possible to do a fill review of Captain Marvel without a few spoilers but I will try my best to keep them at a minimum.

Brie Larson plays a Kree soldier serving the Kree Starforce named Vers.  Yes, silly name, especially in light of a proposed real life Space Force. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Unlike other Marvel origin stories, she is already trained and formidable. But there is something off about her. She has no memory past the last six years of her life as a soldier. She has occasional flashes of her past but they have little meaning and make even less sense to her. Her commander and mentor,Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) says that she is too emotional and must keep her powers, namely the ability to fire photons blasts from her hands, in check.

During a mission against enemy Skrulls who are also shapeshifters, Vers is separated from her squad and captured by  the Skrulls. She is brought aboard a ship and using a form of mind probe, it is determined that she holds the key to a secret power on a planet known as C-53, which is of course, Earth. She escapes them while in Earth orbit, destroying the ship in the process, in a damaged pod that promptly disintegrates on entry. This is where we see her in the trailer crashing into a 1995 era Blockbuster.

It is not long before Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson digitally de-aged) shows up to investigate. Being a veteran SHIELD agent, he is also skeptical about her being some noble warrior from another planet hunting shapshifting aliens. This would be Fury’s first encounter with a super-powered being.

The film becomes a road trip buddy cop movie from there with some nice banter between Fury and and Vers. They find themselves at a secret military base for experimental aircraft. She believes that the Skrulls are after the secret to a Lightspeed Engine and that it is also connected to her memories. While there, they encounter a very special ginger cat named Goose that steals every scene (I’m a sucker for gingers). They also discover, while going through records that Vers was once a test pilot, and she is connected to what the Skrullls are looking for.

They follow a lead to the last person to see her alive, fellow pilot Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). Maria and her daughter Monica (Akira Akbar) not only move the plot significantly forward but also provide the emotional connections she needed to unlock her memories as former test pilot Carol Danvers.

This is unique among Marvel films as it does not tell a linear origin story. And marvel, I think, does best when they don’t make a straight up comic book superhero origin story. Characters like Iron Man, Dr. Strange began their films flawed, who have to undergo a change both physically and spiritually. Captain America has a long intro of a scrawny Steve Rogers who transforms into Captain America. Thor has to undergo transformation to be worthy of Mjornir, etc. In the case of Carol Danvers, she is a character who must rediscover herself. And since much of the story is told in flashback it unravels throughout the whole movie. As she learns more about herself, her character changes.

Captain Marvel has the double-duty of being a bridge between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame but also an introduction to a character that is not really well known outside comic shops. For doing all that, it runs relatively short for a comic-book movie, clocking in at two hours and eight minutes with credits and end credit scenes. With that running time there is much groundwork laid out not only for her story but for a sequel and digging up clues that tie into the rest of the movies.

The film is full of subtle Easter eggs and that tie into existing MCU lore and fans will be pleased that it honors the memory of Stan Lee in more than one way. There is just a slight breaking of the fourth wall, but it’s for Stan. We owe him so much.

This film works best because of the dynamics between the characters. From the chemistry between Fury and Danvers to the believably deep friendship between Maria Rambeau and Carol. Akira Akbar is especially charming as Monica Rambeau, which is a character that has had major roles in the Marvel comics, so it is possible we will see her in a grown up iteration in present-day stories.

Ben Mendlesohn, who is not featured much in the trailers, turns in an exceptional performance as the lead Skrull. It is multi-dimensional and even humorous.

And we of course have Goose the cat. In the comics, the cat is named Chewie and has been Carol’s pet for years. For whatever reason, the name has been changed. Nevertheless, Goose steals every scene he is in. And without giving up spoilers, Goose’s story is pretty much unchanged from the comics.

There are quite a few twists and deviations from the source material and that subversiveness upends expectations, and in my opinion for the better. For the most part it does a very good job of that. There is so much going on that it may require a couple of viewing to let it all sink in. I saw it twice and actually enjoyed it more the second time around.

The movie does several things very well, and much of that is stuff you may not notice. Carol Danvers is not hampered by any romance angle and instead focuses on her friendship between Nick Fury and Maria Rambaeu. It’s a believable connection and contains a lot of heart that really adds to Carol’s source of strength to overcome her own inner weaknesses.

Brie Larson offers a very nuanced character here. As she learns more about herself and her life as a human, she also opens up to us character-wise. So yes, she is rather bland in the beginning as a Kree, but I believe that is by choice. She is an inspiration and the flashbacks we get of her does a very good job of telling us what

Captain Marvel is a powerful character, a very strong one. Is she the most powerful character in the MCU? Possibly. But let us not forget that Thor would have killed Thanos if he had only made the choice to go for the head. She is no more powerful than Thor was in Infinity Wars with Stormbreaker. And will she be too overpowered? I doubt it. I don’t expect her to just show up and knock out Thanos.

The visual effects work well, especially the de-ageing of Samuel Jackson by several decades. Some of them are a bit dodgy such as a couple of flying sequences. Nevertheless, the actions scenes are very well done, ranging from close combat to aerial dogfights. And when Carol unlocks her potential, it is a iconic moment.

Is this the best Marvel movie ever? No, but then you are dealing with a film franchise of twenty films and counting. This ranks as an above average Marvel film. Now, I consider average Marvel films to be Thor, Ant-Man, and the Iron-Man sequels. Considering that average level Marvel movies have been good and entertaining then Captain Marvel does a a very good job of introducing us to a character that most movie goers may not be familiar with. And I am going to go out on a limb here and say that film-wise this is a better female superhero movie than DC’s Wonder Woman, for two reasons, there is no need for a love story and Wonder Woman‘s final act was ruined by an over the top CGI fight that was not only bad CGI but made no real sense.

I’ve been following her comics for quite a bit lately and really think there is much potential to be explored there and this serves as a good opening to her character. I for one can’t wait to see more of what she can do. Highly Recommended.