CAPTAIN MARVEL – A Review by Cynthia Flores
Captain Marvel is loud, fast, and full of “girl power” set in the 90s. This is the origin film for the character of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) who becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes, Captain Marvel. She is also the superhero that first let the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency know that threats to Earth would even come from the stars above and not just countries we were at war with.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) first meets Vers (this is what the Kree aliens who she is working with at the time call her) when a mission by Starforce to extract an undercover agent goes wrong, and her team barely escape an attack by the dreaded Skrull. They are a race of shapeshifters that are in a galactic war with the Kree. The Skrull group is lead by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), and he is the one who is using a device to extract information from the newly captured Vers. It is this extraction that flips a switch in Vers’ mind to a time before she was a Kree, a time she forgot when Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) gave her a transfusion of his own blood to save her after an accident, imbued her with superhuman strength, energy projection, and ultimately flight. She was told that her powers were given to her by the Kree and could be taken back by them as well.
Back to Nick Fury meeting Vers who has escaped from the Skrull and has crash landed on Earth. She disobeys orders from Yon-Rogg to stay put until they can retrieve her and with Nicks help goes after information that the Skrulls want as well. In the process, she finds out about her human origins and the friends she left behind that fateful day she crashed with Mar-vell AKA Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Bening) as they were trying to get to her secret lab where her invention that could end all wars was hidden.
That is as much of the storyline as I dare give you under penalty of being eaten by Goose, the orange Tabby cat in the film. You will understand what I mean once you go see this film. And trust me you will go see this movie because you want to be ready for the Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 that comes out next month. Is this the best origin film ever? No, not even close. Is this the worst origin film to come out? No, origin films by nature have to pack in so much back story and sell us on the hero in a short amount of time, so they tend to be clunky anyway. This is just a so-so middle of the road origin story film. Captain Marvel does its job telling us how Danvers became a superhero, a believer in truth and justice and a bridge between Earth and space. Oh yeah, and that she can kick some serious villainous ass! I give Captain Marvel a B- rating.
Directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Written By Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Nicole Perlman, Meg LeFauve
Rated PG-13
Selig Rating B-
Running Time 2hr 4min
Drama / Comedy
Wide Release March 8th
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening
The Selig Rating Scale:
A – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
B – Good movie
C – OK movie
D – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
F – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.
