The reactions to the newest edition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been… interesting to say the least.
Captain Marvel is a film that has been plagued by controversy, with people deciding to hate the movie no matter what and people deciding to love the movie no matter what, despite having not seen it yet.
But I want to judge this film based on its own merits, rather than the quite annoying controversy surrounding it on both sides.
Still, coming into Captain Marvel, I did have my concerns.
The trailers had never really wowed me, and I hoped that they were not representative of the final product.
Sadly, for the most part, they were.
This is not to say Captain Marvel is a bad film, on the contrary there are some great things about it, but there are also numerous features that bring the movie down, creating a mixed bag of a film.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, the titular Captain Marvel, a Kree Warrior who winds up on earth to hunt down the shape shifting Skrulls, and learns she may have had a life there.
What follows is an engaging mystery to uncover her past and what the Skrull’s true plans are.
The mystery elements surrounding Captain Marvel’s character is the highlight of the film for me, providing numerous twists and turns.
The action is entertaining, especially with the CGI, which de-ages Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clarke Gregg) fantastically.
The film also makes great use of the Skrulls’ ability to shape shift.
Speaking of the Skrull’s, Ben Mendlesohn is by far the best actor in the film as the Skrull Talos, who is an engaging character with relatable motivations.
However, this is sadly not the case for Captain Marvel herself because it honestly felt like Larson was pulling her punches, acting wise.
She still turns out a good performance with some great moments, like in the scenes where her buddy-cop relationship with Nick Fury is put on full display, but it still often feels like she is holding back.
Whether this is because of her acting or direction, we will not know until we see her in Avengers Endgame.
But Captain Marvel herself is not the only character in the film who is problematic.
There are quite a few characters who feel out of place like Ronan (Lee Pace), who is completely pointless apart from nostalgia value.
Then there are the numerous plot holes that are created for prior films in the MCU through Captain Marvel’s appearance and interaction with Fury.
As for Fury, the way he loses his eye in this film has to be the worst part of Captain Marvel because of how astonishingly stupid it is.
So, Captain Marvel is a mixed bag overall.
The story, action and performances of some of the actors, especially Mendleshon, push it over into the category of a good film for me, but there are still numerous problems like with Brie Larson’s performance.
That said though, a touching tribute to the recently departed Stan Lee in the opening Marvel logo makes Captain Marvel more than worth the price of admission.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 