Director; Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck. Starring; Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law. PG-13. Color. 124 min.
The Marvelous Ms. Marvel has arrived. Yes, the MCU has finally released their first stand-alone film featuring a woman starring Oscar winning actress Brie Larson with “Captain Marvel”. A new character to the film universe, Captain Marvel will undoubtedly be a key figure in the upcoming phase four portion of the MCU with actors such as Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans jumping ship after “Avengers: Endgame” as they retreat to a tropical island.
The film opens rather jarringly. Larson is initially introduced as Vers, a gifted fighter in the ongoing intergalactic war between the Kree and the Skrull species. The Kree citizens on the planet Hala (like the Ja Rule song “Holla, Holla”) have been battling the Skrulls for centuries and are perceived to be a race that conquers planets throughout the galaxy. The Skrulls are essentially space’s version of chameleons as they are green but also have the ability to shape shift into any person after having laid eyes on that creature.
Vers has no memory of her past but wakes up every night haunted by memories and images from earth she cannot explain. Her mentor is Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), the head of the Kree army or corps or soldiers, whatever they call themselves. During a dreamlike sequence after visiting the Kree Supreme Intelligence (Annette Bening), admittedly a very creative piece of existential filmmaking, Vers begins to remember moments from her past.
On earth in the late eighties Vers was Carol Danvers, a wanna be hot shot Air Force pilot when women were often not allowed to hit the skies. Danvers fell pray to an otherworldly crash that infused her with unique powers that ultimately turned her into Captain Marvel.
We are given reason to believe that the Skrulls, lead by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) have their eyes set on taking over earth one shapeshifting grandma at a time. In comes a young eyepatch-less Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as an up and coming S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that stumbles upon Ms. Danvers. The human and former human turned superhero form an unlikely bond to try and figure out what the hell these green people are up to.
“Captain Marvel” is an up and down roller coaster of fun mixed in with some “well that was stupid” moments. The casting is top notch from our star to the supporting characters. No one is a dud or phoning it in which is hard when performing the ridiculous. The way in which the origin story is drawn out over the entire length of the film without begin shoved in your face during the first 15 minutes is also well played.
There are also the downsides. The action set pieces are blah CGI stuff. The 90’s references are fun but eventually get so in your face that you want to stop the writers and say “Ok, I get. It’s the 90’s!” And as is their M.O. Marvel fails once again to provide us with a good villain on screen. If you don’t know who the real bad guy is within the first ten minutes you aren’t paying attention.
Having said that, “Captain Marvel” isn’t awful. There is some fun to be had with friends and family on the weekend. I truly hope this makes more money than “Wonder Woman” as Marvel once again shows that, when it comes to putting a character on screen, they are way ahead of D.C. You’ll have some laughs and the kids will be light punching their way out of the theater. Yes, that is a new adjective, light punching. I’m not saying it’s great, but I had no desire to slam my head against the wall to forget the experience after walking out of the theater with this one.
Suck Factor: 3out of 7 (7 means your movie really SUCKS!)
Written by Byrd
The SUCK FACTOR, how it works. We have flipped the rating system upside down. If a film is classic, it gets a 0. Meaning that movie has 0 SUCKS. If a film is complete trash you must avoid at all costs, it gets a 7, meaning this movie really SUCKS!
Greg Squared Films 