Captain Marvel

Going into the 21st Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie 'Captain Marvel' (2019) directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck I was afraid that I wouldn't feel the satisfaction that I got from all the other 20 MCU movies from the last 11 years. Despite the criticism and the controversy surrounding the lead actress Brie Larson due to her political activism, I still went into the movie with optimism and an open mind hoping for a good movie. As this is the first female lead superhero movie in the MCU, there are a lot of comparisons made to the DCU's hit-movie 'Wonder Woman' (2017). This right here is a non-spoiler movie review, so don't expect me to talk about any specific plot details in this review. The main purpose of this critique is to give you an idea whether this movie is something for you or not.

Starting with the story set in 1995, Carol Danvers ("Academy Award Winner" Brie Larson) finds herself on "Planet C-53" (also known as "Earth") after an incident in space where she is hunted by so-called "Skrulls" who are a green-looking race/species with the ability to transform themselves into any living creature to hide their identity, spy on their enemies and possibly kill them. In this case, the enemy of the Skrulls are the Kree who are supported by Carol Danvers. Having physically crashed on Earth, Carol is confronted by a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and a young Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).

Let's talk about the things that I enjoyed about 'Captain Marvel'. First and foremost, I would like to praise the incredible, very vibrant and dynamic visual effects. The CGI was through the roof; whether you look at the amazing de-aging effects done on Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg or at the insanely well done, super colourful and extremely gorgeous action sequences, this movie looks fantastic. There were only a few shots that didn't look quite so good, but that is really nitpicking on a very high level. Furthermore, the reason why this movie works so great, is that you care about the characters and the actors have amazing chemistry with each other, especially Brie Larson together with Samuel L. Jackson who is hilarious in the movie. The simple back and forth between Larson and Jackson makes 'Captain Marvel' feel like a fun buddy cop movie. The comedic aspect of this movie is another strength; Samuel L. Jackson was extremely funny as Nick Fury and he really adds greatly to the lightheartedness of the whole movie. One of the best characters in the entire movie is a cat with the name 'Goose'. Or should I rather say 'The Cat'? The unbeatable chemistry between Nick Fury and Goose might be the best thing of 'Captain Marvel'. In addition I really bought into Brie Larson's portrayal of the character Captain Marvel. She really delivered a good performance and it makes sense for her to portray the character the way she did due to the story's set-up. The score was mostly appropriate with a couple of 90s type of songs that almost made the movie feel like another 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' movie. I didn't like one song choice during an action scene towards the end of the movie, I would have much preferred an orchestral accompaniment that would have fit greatly into the grand scope of this movie. I am really happy that 'Captain Marvel' is not a typical origin movie. Her origin is told very differently and finally, a superhero movie without a love interest. The reason why I like the missing romance so much, is because most superhero movies don't have a great romance implemented in them. Besides, it seems so cliché-ridden that a superhero movie 'must have' a love story. I think it was the right choice not to go for a romance story because that would have made the movie feel too packed and not flow as well as it does. The pacing of 'Captain Marvel' is really good. There is also a twist with the villain(s) that I didn't see coming and I really liked that they went for that.

Let's now talk about the few things that were not so great. While the dialogue is mostly decent especially during funny scenes, there are unfortunately also a couple of cringy lines. The ending was kind of predictable, but that didn't bother me too much. However what holds this movie back from being truly great, is the lack of emotional scenes and gut punches. The entire movie is very light-hearted and doesn't have your emotions trembling all over the place. Sadly, the visually amazing looking action sequences do not feel as exciting as they should because the emotional weight is missing and the scenes don't do the visual spectacle justice.

When the movie is over, do not leave the theatre! There is one mid-credits-scene and one post-credits-scene right at the end. The first one is one of the most important end-credits-scenes in the entire MCU as it shows a glimpse of the most anticipated movie of 2019 'Avengers: Endgame'. The second one is a very funny one that is also worth watching.

Overall, I seriously enjoyed 'Captain Marvel' a lot and I think it is a really good movie. This motion picture is not one of the best MCU movies, but also not one of the worst either; I would put 'Captain Marvel' in the middle. This movie is currently dominating at the box office and I think it will gross over 1 billion dollars globally. 'Captain Marvel' is worth the price of a ticket at the movie theatre! 7.5/10