An Arguing With Myself Review: Captain Marvel
Carol Danvers (Brie Larsen) becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races; The Kree and The Skrulls.
What’s the saying? The mark of a great hero is not how many times you’re knocked down but how many times you get up. With Captain Marvel, there’s no shortage of resiliency. Through a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout Captain Marvel, we learn Ms. Danvers doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”. Whether she was destined to take up the mantle of the titler character or just fell into the role, she proves to be a force to be reckoned with.
To tell you the truth, I know very little about the character of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. What I DO know, I cobbled together throughout my time collecting comics. First off, Captain Marvel was originally a man. By the time I began collecting, he had already passed his powers onto someone else. Carol gained the powers soon after or directly from him. That part is unclear to me. At some point, the X-(wo)Man Rogue (Anna Paquin played her in the original X-Men trilogy) had absorbed the powers and psyche of Ms. Marvel (that’s how I’ve come to know her).
Many years had passed, Rogue and Ms. Marvel fought, Carol regained all that she lost…I think that covers it…there are several different iterations of the character. Honestly, I can’t keep track. Thankfully, they condensed her story into a two hour film
That’s right, the film! Sorry, I went off on a tangent, there. If you made it this far, I suppose you want to know what I thought of it. Well…I liked it. I enjoyed my viewing. I didn’t fall head over heels for the film. It was a decent entry into the MCU. Was it Necessary? Only time will tell. First and foremost, I look at each of these films as episodes of a series. Each one telling an overarching story that spans 22 episodes. Captain Marvel felt like a “filler episode”. It felt disconnected from that linear story only to give us the early days of SHIELD with agent Phil Coulson (fan-favorite played by Clark Gregg), alongside Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
It could’ve easily been a 2-3 episode arc on Agents of SHIELD TV series. Brie Larsen was better than what the internet trolls let on about her performance. She’s a fine actress. She actually emotes! Don’t let the trolls tell you otherwise.
I’m glad Captain Marvel didn’t give us another origin story. In the way the MCU, and other films of the comic book variety, have in the past. I’m grateful for that. Give us exposition. Spending a third of your film giving the whys and hows seem like a waste of time. Speaking of origins, Nick Fury is better suited cloaked in mystery. Do we really need an origin of how he lost his eye? A curiosity, sure, but finding out HOW it happened felt like a distraction. I expected more “wow!” than “oh.” for it’s BIG reveal
The film, itself, was comparable to how I felt about Dr. Strange. It’s a middle of the road story. Nothing glaringly special about it. As I said, I enjoyed the film but it wasn’t my favorite out of the twenty-one releases. And much like the good doctor, perhaps a grander set up for the character in the MCU? The thing Captain Marvel managed to do was make me anticipate Endgame THAT much more. Where it fits in the overall narrative, remains to be seen. So, until this journey comes to an end, I remain “Mr. Marvel”.
In true Marvel fashion, here’s an “after the credits stinger”:
I’ll be back, here, for my review of Avengers: Endgame. Stay tuned!
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