Captain Marvel (2019) Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law Genres: Superhero, Action, Sci-Fi IMDb Synopsis: "Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races." |
Sorry, let me try that in a more headline-friendly voice.
A month ago, Captain Marvel blasted into theaters! Much better.
I’ve seen this movie two times now. That’s one more time than I wanted to see it. But I’m glad I gave it a second chance, for reasons we’ll get into. Expect mild spoilers ahead, but let’s be honest: we’ve all seen this film by now.
Upon my first viewing, I was tremendously disappointed with this movie. If you’ve read any of my previous work, you surely know I’m a massive MCU fan, I always get considerably hyped up for even the smaller movies. I have no background knowledge of Carol Danvers, but I really like Brie Larson (see: my “Scott Pilgrim” dissertation), the 90’s throwback seemed like a good idea, and Marvel’s consistently proven to be, at worst, enjoyable. But I just never got into this movie. The action and the humor fell equally flat, the 90’s aesthetic seemed more like a ham-fisted nostalgia cash-in than a necessary part of the story, and - the greatest offense - I really didn’t care about any of the characters.
Okay, obviously I’m not trying to make fun of people suffering grief or any other mental afflictions. But why did this movie splat like a wet turd for me?
In my fervent review hate-watching, there were a few common criticisms that really resonated with me. Firstly, I think the character of Captain Marvel wasn’t really given her dues here. The benchmark for a good character is one you can describe without resorting to their appearance or their actions. Leaving Captain Marvel, the best I could say about Carol Danvers is that she’s “stoic,” “heroic,” and “has a problem with authority.” That’s not a character; that’s an archetype. As Dan Murrell said in the Screen Junkies review of Captain Marvel, the one thing you can always count on the MCU to do is get the core characters right. That didn’t really happen here. I think the fault for that rests on everyone’s shoulders. Brie Larson’s performance mostly fell flat for me; she didn’t show off much personality or emotion, rather opting to be this stoic, wooden “hero” archetype. She tries to do the RDJ/Tony Stark quippy bantering thing, but it’s really hit-or-miss because the charisma isn’t there. Again, I really like Brie Larson, so I’m gonna give her the benefit of the doubt and say the writing isn’t doing her any favors.
Besides that, there’s a lot of more mundane problems with this movie. The plot is ridiculously convoluted; a movie that’s already trying to introduce an entirely new character to such a dense universe shouldn’t have so many disparate plot threats. The Tesseract reappears as Mr. MacGuffin, and while this would’ve sent me into FANBOY TIER 11! back in middle school, now it just feels cheap. Many of the musical cues, especially one during the final battle, are absurdly on-the-nose and seemingly out of nowhere.
But despite all the criticism, there is some stuff to like in this movie. Sam Jackson puts in a very lively, enjoyable performance as Nick Fury, even if it’s not totally in keeping with what you would expect that character to be. Ben Mendelsohn as the alien shapeshifter Talos steals nearly every scene he’s in, unashamedly chewing scenery in a thick Australian accent. Brie Larson does have a few standout moments, mostly in banter with Nick Fury, and I like how her conflict with the main antagonist is resolved. But that’s about it.
Now let’s briefly touch on what I can’t be bothered to care about. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), the audience fan-favorite who tragically died in The Avengers, is back, and that’s super cool. Well, it would be if he was given any actual hint of a character or things to do. Instead, he shows up for a small handful of scenes as mostly fan service.
Because Carol Danvers is suffering from amnesia, the writers have gone for a nonlinear storytelling structure; this is a good concept that doesn’t really work in execution so it cancels out.
I was very reluctant to see this film a second time, even with it being on a cheap ticket Tuesday at my local theater (sidenote: does your theater do that? If not they really should). But I had a friend who really wanted to see Captain Marvel, so I agreed in begrudging silence to see the film again, convinced that it was going to be as dour of an experience as it was the first go-around.
However, I found myself enjoying the movie much more the second time around. The humor was still really hit and miss, and I think Brie Larson’s performance is about as bland as the film’s visual style, but I was able to appreciate what they were going for here. Brie Larson tries to do the stoic warrior-lady archetype we’ve seen in movies like Wonder Woman, (which is really good, just for the record) and I think she may have forgotten to also make the role her own. But she’s clearly trying, and I think in future movies she’ll really have a chance to shine. Like, that moment in the latest Endgame trailer where Thor’s ax, and she just cracks the faintest of a cocksure smirk, is absolutely perfect. That one shot does a better job characterizing Carol Danvers than most of this movie.
The cat thing is still stupid, though.
Image & Info SOurces:
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Captain Marvel IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/
Kubler-Ross image: static.psycom.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kubler-1024x806-1-1024x806.jpg
Carol Danvers image: pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/captain-marvel-still.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
Envy Adams image: i2.wp.com/www.theskinnystiletto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/brie-larson-1.jpg?
resize=490%2C568
Solo image: medias.spotern.com/spots/w640/112791-1537462181.jpg
Nick Fury image: hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/nick-fury-eye-1552397861.jpg
Endgame trailer image: d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/avengersendgame-captainmarvel-
thor-700x305.jpg
Chris Stuckman review: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jubC_nENyc4
Screen Junkies review: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmuRhiO_Y9s