[7.4/10] *Captain Marvel* is essentially a phase one Marvel movie. That’s not a bad thing! The original dose of MCU superhero flicks are generally doubles more than they’re home runs, but each is enjoyable and establishes their characters nicely. The journey in each is clearly a personal one, as much about the hero becoming who they’re meant to be as it is about defeating the forgettable bad guys. That’s certainly true for *Captain Marvel*, where the nominally cataclysmic stakes, already diminished by the period setting, take a backseat to the audience getting to know this new character and her path to self-actualization.
And yet, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed in the staidness of the formula here. Over the last few years, Marvel has given us character introductions films in the way of *Black Panther*, *Spider-Man: Homecoming*, and even the fine-but-not-great *Doctor Strange* that offered something a little different, a little more striking than the old norm. *Captain Marvel* is a solid and entertaining rendition of the phase one form, but it’s tough not to wish for a film that broke the mold a little more.
Then again, maybe it’s enough that the MCU is breaking a different mold that it took Marvel Studios 20 films to crack. *Captain Marvel* is the MCU’s first female-led solo flick, and is self-conscious of that fact. The film is unabashed about the specific challenges faced by its title character because of her gender. And the movie carries a laudable message about embracing the emotion and the strength that women are otherwise encouraged to quell because it’s not expected of or embraced in them. To their credit, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck didn’t just make a superhero movie starring a woman; they made one *about* being a woman.
The problem is that the film is fairly heavy-handed and cliché on this front. I’m not averse to important lessons needing to be shouted for the people in the back. But the bluntness of the “powers as emotions” metaphor, montages of generic sexism, and lines to the effect of “I don’t need your approval” lay it all on very thick. In an age where certain corners walked away from *Black Panther* thinking it was somehow an endorsement of the current U.S. administration, maybe films need to be that direct to make their points understood. But the foregrounding and standard delivery of those points lessened their impact for me.
But there’s plenty that the film does well. For one thing, it features an outstanding twist, where the squared-jawed, slick-looking heroes turn out to be the bad guys, and the orc-looking, shape-shifting scoundrels turn out to be sympathetic refugees. There’s a solid dose of *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*’s influence on *Captain Marvel*, but no more so than in the chosen one and her pals having casual, even jokey conversations with prosthetics-covered monsters who have more depth and character than their first impression would suggest. Ben Mendelsohn emotes through the rubber appliances with endearing aplomb, and reorienting of the game board that comes from his character’s reveals is one of the film’s strongest choices.
I just wish we saw more of an impact on Captain Marvel herself. For being the epiphany that changes which side of the fight the title character is on, the movie doesn't really linger on it, or give us much time to see our hero processing it. Instead, it’s just sort of a given that she’s swayed and bothered by this, and the movie jaunts off to Captain Marvel and her allies striking back. For such a devastating reveal, with lies that Carol Danvers had been catching onto already, I wanted more time seeing the protagonist dealing with it rather than the film just dashing off into the next set piece.
But they’re good set pieces, by and large. The third act CGI-palooza becomes too much at some points, with some odd Super Saiyan-y choices for Captain Marvel herself and the perfunctory, stakes-lowering presence of the villain from *Guardians 1*. But a series of cat and mouse chases through the stacks of a military facility, and a handcuffed throwdown with the Skrulls all have some nice verve and character in them. Like all of the cosmic-set Marvel movies, you lose a little punch (figuratively, definitely not literally), when the setting makes things seem a bit too unreal, but there’s plenty of high points to enjoy.
It’s also easy to enjoy the dynamic between Captain Marvel and her unlikely allies. The aforementioned human/Skrull friendship is an unexpected source of warmth in the film. But Carol’s relationship with her forgotten friend Maria and her daughter Monica (a.k.a. Lieutenant Trouble, a downright adorable nickname), gives the film its heart. The strength of that friendship (and Lashana Lynch’s performance) adds the emotional ballast that helps ground Captain Marvel’s wrong-side epiphany and bring her back to Earth. Even the presence of Goose the cat adds some levity and surprise to the movie.
But the gold standard is the quick camaraderie between Carol Danvers and Nick Fury. A Captain Marvel movie rightfully ought to have solid snootfuls of cosmic chicanery. But this film left me wishing that we could lean less on intergalactic intrigue and more on the outstanding buddy cop movie starring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson that took up the middle of the film. Their dynamic is the best thing in *Captain Marvel* and manages to humanize both characters in the midst of these otherwise world-shaking, life-changing events.
*Captain Marvel* also does well with its 1990s period setting, and other bits of texture. The song cues are all enjoyable and, while becoming more standard, still have the novelty as the soundtrack for superhero film. There’s a few moments in the film that feel a little cheesy -- like the “here’s why my suit is this color” or “here’s how we named The Avengers” bits that seem awfully close to something out of Disney stablemate *Solo: A Star Wars Story*. But by and large, the film is good at parceling out the inevitable superhero origin story details judiciously and mixing them with humor and more particular character beats.
It just doesn't do much to subvert or change-up the Marvel intro-movie formula that had, given recent output, seemed to be more a thing of 2009 than 2019 (or 1995 for that matter). *Captain Marvel* is thoroughly enjoyable, with a neat twist, a strong central pairing, and a commendable message. It just can’t quite transcend its “self-realization + punching” roots to become more than another link in the great MCU chain. But if this formula is still in play, if it’s still Marvel’s preferred method for establishing a new pillar of its uber-franchise, then I’m still glad to finally see it used on a different sort of Captain.
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