Review 498: Captain Marvel
Based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan. Set in 1995, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who turns into one of the galaxy's mightiest heroes and joins Starforce, an elite Kree military team, before returning home to Earth with questions about her past and identity when Earth is caught in the centre of a galactic conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls.
The plot is simple but effective. Clearly drawing inspiration from the Kree-Skrull War storyline to create a that feels stylistically with all the lightness and breeziness of a 90's action film
Thematically, tonally and stylistically, Captain Marvel has one foot in
the Earth-bound world of the MCU and one in the cosmic world. Those two
elements coupled with the mid 90s setting gives the film its own
distinct place in the vast Cinematic Universe.
But why do certain parts of this film feel underdeveloped? Captain Marvel is a competant, well made, respectful film off of the Marvel assembly line. But it's little more than that. It doesn't possess the dry humor of the Robert Downey, Jr's. Iron Man films. But it also doesn't have the visual splendor of James Gunn's Guadians of the Galaxy films. In this era of offbeat, outlandish fair like Thor: Ragnarok or the progressive social commentary of Black Panther. Captain Marvel just doesn't quite cut the mustard.
If Carol Danvers' great challenge over the course of the film is figuring
out who she is, then the films message is that daring to know yourself
is the most heroic feat of all: The crux of the film hinges on Carol
rediscovering who she really is and where she came from. It's an inward
journey to try and see through all of the gasslighting that she's been
getting from the Kree. And that's where the innovation of the movie
lies. We as the audience are Carol's cohorts on this personal case.
We're right there with her as she's trying to peice together her long
forgotten life that she allegedly had on Earth. Unfortunately, the execution and payoff feel less than the sum of its parts. The revelation that everything she's been taught is a lie doesn't hit home as hard as it should because the relationships between Carol and the Starforce members are very surface level and Carol herself doesn't seem particularly miffed about it which is either a detriment to the screenwriting or direction or a combination of the two. The emotional payoff just wasn't there.
Captain Marvel can also be seen as an anti-war film and a film about imigrants: At the start of the film, Carol Danvers is a properly trained Kree warrior in one of the best in the elite military task-force of Starforce. She's fiercely loyal to her "race" and genuinely believes that she's fighting for the galaxy but events that take place latter in the film prove otherwise and she's caught in between a galactic war between two worlds and over the course of film develops a responsibility to end it by choosing the right side.
Around the point where Carol arrives on Earth, the film immediately
shifts gears into a buddy movie featuring her and Nick Fury. Which,
while hugely entertaining comes at the expense of development of Carol's
fellow Starforce members. With the exception of Fury, the film offers Carol Danvers no meaningful relationahsips to work with.
I'm not quite sure about the films "Remember the New Guy"/Prequel angle that Marvel has taken with this film and given how much we (as an audience) have seen of the MCU set in the 21st century, it's kind of tough to actually wonder what will happen next for our heroes, but for the most part, Captain Marvel delivers the goods.
Directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck's direction is energetic and lively, the cinematography is gorgeous and captures the simplistic retro look of 1995 LA as well as the lush and vibrant look of the Kree world Hala in the films opening scenes. The production design (recreating 1995 LA and Hala and provides a nice contrast to the two different settings) is excellent, the costumes are splendid, the score by Pinar Toprak is spectacular, the special effects are spectacularly beautiful (with the effects used to de age Samuel L. Jackson being particularly noteworthy; They are absolutely seemless. The scenery is breathtaking, the make up is rich and superbly detailed, there are some hilariously inspired moments of humour.
The acting is terrific across the board, Brie Larson absolutely, positively nails it as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Starting the movie out as one of the Kree's best warriors, she's haunted by memories of her old life on Earth which slowly start to catch up to her as the film goes on and she eventually finds out that everything that she’s been taught has been slanted and over the course of the film starts reconnect with her humanity and the life that she left behind and in the process finds a new purpose for herself. She starts out very much a stranger to herself, she has forgotten who she really is - the Kree part of her is her identity, so her interior life is as much of a blank to her as it is to us.
She's someone who, in a past life, faced a lot of adversities in her early life and through that has developed a determined, rebellious streak that would stick with her for all of her life.
It's wonderful to Samuel L. Jackson back as Nick Fury. With this film we're presented with a Nick Fury whose very much a rookie S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent whose not yet the cynical, enigmatic Director whew know and love. He's a much more laid back and chilled Nick Fury
His encounter with Carol is very much his first encounter with enhanced individuals and extraterrestrial life forms.
Jude Law is also strong as Yon-Rogg. He’s very much driven by a belief in the divine leadership of the Kree people. So he’s a devout warrior-unquestioning, conservative but at the same time inspirational, particularly to Carol herself whom he views as his protege. He very much feels responsible for guiding and containing her skillset, honing her abilities and trying to keep her mind from drifting into the more human, emotional places and becoming more focused, driven and slightly less emotional.
The teacher/student relationship between him and Carol, whilst intriguing, leaves a bit to be desired however. After appearing prominantly in the first act, he only appeared in a hadful of scenes for the remainder of the film and
Ben Mendelsohn makes for a surprisingly sympathetic villain as the Skull Talos, outwardly a fearsome and ruthless military leader, as the film progresses and the layers start to unravel, it’s revealed that everything he’s done is purely to ensure the survival of his race.
Lashana Lynch is effective playing Maria Rambeau, Carol Danvers' best friend and fellow Air Force pilot. Maria (and by extension, her daughter, Monica) is emblematic of the life Carol left behind on Earth, since she wasn't too close with her own family. She's very much a resiliant badass and someone that you don't feel like you need to help. But that's all she is - effective. She didn't appear until well into the later half of the film and the friendship between her and Carol, while poignant feels underdeveloped. As a result, I didn't really connect with their relationship and it came across as an afterthought in the larger scheme of things.
Annette Bening has a small but very important role in this film and is given the impressive task of playing both the Supreme Intelligence an artificial intelligence who rules the Kree as well as Dr. Wendy Lawson, a mysterious figure from Carol's past.
Djimon Hounsou, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte and Gemma Chan also appear as Starforce members, Korath the Pursuer, At-Lass, Bron-Char and Minn-Erva respectively who, although capable and intriguing, apart from a few scenes of entertaining banter are largely interchangeable over the course of the film. They went from tolerable but cordial comrades to antagonists in the span of a few scenes. With a lack of any real, impactful character moments between them and Carol, it was a little hard to buy into their revealation as villains.
Unfortunately, Clark Gregg and Lee Pace are criminally underused as returning MCU favourites, Phil Coulson and Ronan the Accuser respectively.
According to exec. producer Jonathan Schwartz and Pace himself, this is an earlier version of Ronan who hasn't yet become the radical zealot that was depicted in Guardians of the Galaxy who has his own station in Kree society on Hala and has his own role to play in the Kree military that intersects with Starforce in an "interesting way."
But apart from a more subdued performance from Pace, you'd never know it as Ronan winds up receiving about two scenes worth of screentime and spends most of them just standing around impressively and observing battles.
Captain Marvel is a Marvel, 4/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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