Review Summary: Not the ground-breaker it yearns to be, but manages to be a solid ride.
In the 11 years that Marvel has been the most-reliable franchise on planet earth, they had yet to have a female superhero. That is, until now. Fans now get the long-awaited arrival of Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel. Of course, the big question here is, with DC beating Marvel to the punch with the highly-successful (and very good) Wonder Woman movie, can the MCU do it better?
It may surprise some that the answer is....not quite. And while that comment may be taken as life-or-death for some fans, that certainly doesn't mean that Marvel failed here. Because while the studio's attempt to break ground isn't their finest effort, it's still a solid enough film that will easily entertain fans. In the meantime, it might pull in a wider amount of fans than a lot of their previous films did.
As Carol/Veers, Brie Larson starts off a little stiff. That might be by design (her character has seemingly forgotten who she is), but it's still hard to not notice. She does get better as the film progresses. By the end, she finally embraces the energy that one would want out of a character like this. I can only hope that she will have a stronger, more memorable presence in future appearances.
Meanwhile, Samuel L. Jackson gets perhaps the most screentime he's had in a Marvel movie to date here. And his Nick Fury origin story of sorts is pretty solid too. Jackson elevates each scene he has with Larson, and even delivers a handful of solid jokes. That's a definite blessing, as the film's other attempts at humor don't exactly land.
As for the remainder of the cast, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One) gets an antagonist role and does a nice job. However, his villainous role is far from a surprise here. Those who have stuck with Marvel from the beginning will find his character very predictable. Jude Law gets more screentime, and proves a strong addition to the cast. As for other cast members, Annette Bening and LaShana Lynch give solid supporting performances as Dr. Lawson and Carol's best friend Maria.
The story is written differently from most Marvel superhero origin stories, and that's for the better here. While the plot might mirror the "fish-out-of-water" first Thor movie to a degree, it takes a clues and mystery approach that works pretty well. We first witness Carol as someone who doesn't remember how she became who she is, and we see the pieces of her life story come together slowly and very effectively.
The action scenes are very entertaining, with an exciting car chase and fun intergalactic battles. The ending action scene goes on a little long, however, and the use of a 90's rock song in the background for one sequence may not have been the best choice. Besides the music, the film is chock full of 90's references. Most are entertaining and fun touches (a Windows PC appearance along with Blockbuster, Radio Shack and a space pinball machine rank among the most memorable), with only a few not quite gelling.
However, the film is missing a strong emotional pull. There's only one real scene that tugs at the heartstrings a little bit (you'll know it when you see it), and the details and scenes surrounding Carol's supposed disappearance and reappearance aren't handled with emotional urgency. Out of the entire cast, Lynch's character is the only one that seems to be compelling in this case. Meanwhile, the feline sidekick Goose proves to be a memorable addition here.
The film also is nearly void of surprises. There are a couple of twists. One is mild and doesn't have a major impact. The other is surprising, but it's jarring at worst; bizarre at best. And a couple of "connect the dots" moments for the MCU are unimpressive. In fact, some may think of these revelations as lazy, weird, or forced. Meanwhile, longtime MCU fans will be disappointed in the limited screentime for Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and future baddie Ronan (Lee Pace).
Pinar Toprak successfully channels John Williams a little bit with the music score. And the film gives a couple of nice tributes to the late great Stan Lee, without ever taking too much attention off the film's focus. A Stan Lee version of the Marvel logo and a very nice cameo give the film a couple of other memorable moments.
Captain Marvel tries really hard to be a revolutionary film for the superhero genre, though it does trip on its own ambition to a degree. It has some unique moments and it's story is nicely-done, yet it doesn't do quite enough to really stand out. It has a strong mid-credits scene, yet there's pretty much nothing here that really makes me want to say this is required viewing to prepare for Avengers: Endgame.
But, even if its not a home run or a must-see; its' at least a solid double. And for Marvel, its' still just as entertaining and exciting as fans would want.
My Score: 7.3/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Captain Marvel is rated PG-13 for "sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive language." Overall, this particular installment is a bit more family-friendly than other recent Marvel films. Yet, its' still a bit too intense for anyone under the age of 11. There's some hand-to-hand combat, crashes, explosions, and shoot-outs. Some characters called "Skrills" are killed at the hands of both heroes and villains. Cars crash and occasionally a little bit of blood is seen (blue Kree blood as well). Captain Marvel uses her laser hands to zap and destroy items. Someone dies in a car accident. A cat scratches someone. An old woman (a skrill in disguise) gets punched and wrestled. In flashbacks, Carol is nearly shot down by an alien spacecraft, falls from a pole and gets into a go-kart crash. Alien tentacles smash more enemies.
There's about a dozen uses of language, including two s-words, four uses of "h---", and three uses each of "d---" and "a--". "B----rd" also makes an appearance, and there are two uses of "oh my g**". At one point, Fury shouts out "mother flerken!" as a wink at something much more obscene. Someone makes a crude, sexist comment about an airplane saying, "you know why its' called a cockpit right?" A couple of bar flashbacks show Carol drinking and singing karaoke. Carol steals some clothes from a store example, and we see the left behind naked mannequin.
