Captain Marvel

After the immense hype and controversy of a new female-superhero film, Captain Marvel is a cash-grab addition to the MCU formula, and nothing more. The effects and tone start strong at the beginning, especially with the heartwarming tribute to Stan Lee, but the tense action and new scenery is weightless under a boring character.

The fighting was forgettable. The humor was forced. The female empowerment was fake, and Brie Larson’s performance was flat. The hype… and sadly the possible Disney agenda, was to give a second chance at perfecting the female superhero film, but it seems like no one cared to do that. Captain Marvel is just another addition to the MCU with little to no personality or distinct traits, and that is the greatest disappointment of any story. This film suffers from the one problem Wonder Woman did perfectly: make the female protagonist the most interesting character. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine worked together with great chemistry to bring out the best aspects of that story, but in Captain Marvel, Brie Larson seems to suffer from a strong script that was edited to inject poorly timed humor.

I cannot emphasize the dud of this film’s humor. It is rough to say the least, following the normal Marvel set-up—the characters make a scene almost serious but pull back at the last moment to make a dry joke. In this film, though, it is taken to the extreme. The first 30 minutes is meant to be serious and suspenseful, with secret missions and high-stakes action, but then Brie Larson seems to look directly into the camera and speed through her lines as if it was a last minute addition! If she winked during one of them, I would not have been surprised. The jokes are forced, and they break any momentum that was cumulating beforehand.

Thankfully, Agent Fury comes in to save the day. The joy and energy that flows out of Samuel L. Jackson through this film is contagious as he portrays the classic 1980s-black-suit-agent with under-funded equipment and a curious mind, wondering what secrets lie just beyond his reach. Seeing a ready-to-retire Agent Fury witness what is happening outside of this world was a blast, and his comedic timing balanced out the poor humor at the beginning. The de-aging CGI on his face was absolutely flawless, and will be the reason why this film will be remembered for so long. On the other hand, Agent Coulson, the man that rallied all the Avengers with his sacrifice in The Avengers, has little to no screen time—possibly due to his awkward de-aging compared to Samuel L. Jackson’s prioritized face-modifications—yet there are small moments that add to his character.

Surrounding Captain Marvel and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are a fantastic ensemble of aliens and espionage. Yon-Rogg was a solid addition to the growing cast of MCU characters, and I hope to see him in future Captain Marvel installments. He stands as the cold, mysterious, but somewhat caring mentor to Vers, the name he gives Captain Marvel after she loses her memory. The character in its own essence is very generic, but the way Jude Law approaches each line and scene give it some unknown energy that kept my eyes glued to the screen. And to support his seriousness, the stealth-team he commands is filled with colorful characters that find their own small moments to make their mark, and their fight scenes have some of the best action in the MCU. They make the space sequences memorable and intense, while also accidentally balancing out the strange interruptions of Captain Marvel’s humor within those same sequences.

The best character this film has is Talos, the general of the Skrull army. His depth was a refreshing surprise, and his interactions with Samuel L. Jackson made the only decent comedy scene in the entire film. Instead of making him CGI, his face is entirely practical, and it gives the acting a strong physicality as he explores the space in front of the camera - even taking the spotlight from the protagonist. None of his shapeshifting twists were surprising, but it is because his story really fleshes out when he is in his Skrull form. The Skrulls reminded me of a Star Trek episode, while contrasting against the Men In Black approach to Samuel L. Jackson, and to be honest, the nostalgia elevated those scenes to greater quality with childhood memories.

Overall, the great supporting cast and visual scenery is nothing compared to the failure of this film’s hype. Captain Marvel, the main protagonist, is the least interesting character in this story. Every fault and speed bump in the rush that is this film stems from how they wrote her, and that is a tragic misstep it never recovers.

Story Rating: 5/10

Character Rating: 5/10