Today’s quick review: Captain Marvel. As an elite Kree warrior, Vers (Brie Larson) fights to protect the planet Hala from the Kree’s most hated enemy: shapeshifting aliens known as Skrulls. When Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), a Skrull general, ambushes Vers and strands her on Earth, she must team up with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), a young S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, to root out Talos’ cell of Skrull infiltrators and discover the truth about her past.
Captain Marvel is a superhero action adventure based on the Marvel comics. The movie tells the story of an alien warrior with no memory of her past, save for a few scant clues that point her to Earth. Captain Marvel continues the Marvel tradition of fast pacing, light humor, and sleek sci-fi action. But its shaky story and flat characters, as well as some subtler flaws, make it one of the weaker additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Captain Marvel has a grab bag of interesting ideas that give it the makings of a fun sci-fi romp. The shapeshifting abilities of the Skrulls lead to some nice guessing games as Vers and Fury try to ferret out the imposters. Vers’ powers lend themselves to bombastic, large-scale action. The film’s setting in the 90s gives it a steady source of humor and allows it to revisit characters from Marvel’s past, including a younger, less jaded Nick Fury.
Unfortunately, Captain Marvel herself is something of a mixed bag. Vers has the potential to be a nuanced, conflicted hero, with an impulsive personality that lands her in trouble and a determined streak that pulls her back out. But in practice she comes across as detached from her surroundings, capable of a few quips but not of any real emotional depth. Her character doesn’t click as readily as Marvel’s other heroes; whether it’s enough will depend on taste.
Captain Marvel’s other major weakness is its failure to build tension. The premise, the skeleton of the plot, and Vers’ character arc all look good on paper, but they lack drama when they actually appear onscreen. The cause is a subtle one: the film tends to introduce concepts as soon as they’re needed and no earlier. Without this sense of anticipation, Captain Marvel has a hard time building up momentum, and its key conflicts fall flat.
Captain Marvel is a popcorn sci-fi action movie that works well enough in a vacuum but falls short of the high bar set by the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie gets the basics of the superhero genre right, but it lacks the tension, the style, and the heart of Marvel’s other offerings. Casual fans of the genre will enjoy themselves, at least the ones who find something to like in Vers, but purists should approach with caution.
For another movie about a superhero introduced to a strange, new human world, try Thor or Wonder Woman. For a space opera with more comedy and flair, try Guardians of the Galaxy. For a sci-fi superhero movie that tries out similar concepts with less success, check out Green Lantern.
6.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for decent action and a dash of humor held back by a hit-or-miss protagonist and a story that fails to achieve what it sets out to do.