Captain Marvel (2019)

The MCU is a pop culture powerhouse. Is anyone really just NOT going to see the next installment in their long-running, insanely lucrative series? Probably not. But it is good form to approach every new thing with a critical eye. Marvel has been so successful churning out cinematic hits that one has to wonder when they are going to fall on their face? Sure, there have been Less-Thans (looking at you, Thor 1 and 2), but I'm not entirely sure that Marvel has sent an outright terrible film to multiplexes.

It has taken Marvel far too long to get to the Strong Female Lead party. Wonder Woman (2017) may have been a so-so movie, but it had a powerful message with some powerful imagery, and marked the arrival of the super-powered female lead.

With Captain Marvel (2019), the MCU has finally shown up. Yes, people are going to see it. It has already, reportedly, made a boatload of cash. 

But is it any good? 

I. What Is It?

This is the story of Vers, a Kree warrior, and her battle against the subversive race of shapshifters known as the Skrull. When the fight lands on Earth, Vers begins to realize that not everything is as she thought it was. And there is also a great cat. A really great cat.

II. A Different Kind of Feminism

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is a quiet bad ass. Larson has been accused of stoicism, but I see it as subtlety: she works more storytelling into a slight head nod and an utterance than a lot of people can wring out of a long-winded monologue. She's an academy award winning actor, goddammit. She never points out her womanhood, although a bunch of shitty men do for her: she survives. She endures. She persists. She doesn't need strongly worded, music-swelling monologues about the power of women. She just IS powerful. She is a warrior. There is a montage, late in the film, of Carol throughout her life being violently knocked down, and always rising to her feet. In the face of a bloody lip, an abusive father, a shit-heel fighter pilot: she always stands up. It is inspiring not because it beats you over the head with its politics, but because it allows you to see the adversity Carol has dealt with her entire life and the kind of person she's been molded into because of it. The person she has CHOSEN to be because of it.

Without spoiling too much, this film is about gaslighting. It's about men depowering women by convincing them that they aren't powerful, that they aren't unique, and that they are dependent. It's about a woman who overcomes all of that. It is a breath of fresh air.

Shitty Internet Men and Sexist Neckbeards are going to cry foul. They are going to critique the film unfairly. Fuck those dudes. This movie is powerful. Your wife wants to see it. Your daughter wants to see it. Your mother should see it. And, ya know, maybe YOU (men) should see it, too.

III. Chemistry

Larson and Jackson (as Danvers and Nick Fury, respectively) have a wonderful chemistry from the very first frame they share onscreen. Their friendship is believable and is rooted in two incredibly strong performers doing great work. Jackson IS Nick Fury, so that's no shocker, but Larson slips into Danvers like a glove and makes the role her own.

Props, also, to Ben Mendelsohn, as the villainous Talos. Even under gads of green prosthetic, he delivers a cunning, fun and nuanced performance. It would be an absolute tragedy if we never see Talos again.

Lashana Lynch is given what some might consider a thankless role: she plays Carol's bestie, Maria Rambeau. She gets one extended monologue; one scene with real character beats and emotional moments. And she knocks it out of the park. Take what you have and spin gold out of it: I want to see more of Lynch.

Jude Law is a wonderfully complex mentor figure as Yon-Rogg. He is game for the super-powered shenanigans. Also having a good time is Annette Bening. Annette fucking Bening, man.

The core of actors nimbly toe the line between some genuine war-time drama and Marvel's now-trademark sense of humor.

IV. The 90s Period Piece

From the excellent needle drops (there's a fight scene set to No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl:" that was fun), to the fun fashion choices, and the peculiar 90s tech jokes ("What are we doing?" "We're waiting for it to load."), Captain Marvel makes the most of its 90s setting without winking too much at the audience.

V. The Formula With a Twist

Marvel is good at this. They've done it a bunch. They have mastered the art of the Origin Story. One thing that they are learning, now, it seems, is to give films like this a little twist of flavor. I don't want to spoil anything, but the film meets a lot of the necessary Campbellian hero beats, but deviates in fun, interesting ways. Is this movie jaw-shatteringly different and revolutionary? No. It IS competent and confident, and knows what it needs to do.

Of all the Marvel films, this one feels the most like a comic book, to me. And that should be a sign of how effective Marvel's universe-building is. Characters and plots and objects flit into and out of this story all over the place, and we know who they are, without forcing the screenwriters to write in lengthy exposition dumps. That's pretty darned cool.

At 124 minutes, the film makes the most of its run time but never overstays its welcome.

VI. Should You See It?

Yeah, absolutely. Carol Danvers is an unabashedly powerful woman in a time where we sorely need them.

Miscellany

- The cat is named Goose, after the character Goose Bradshaw from Top Gun (1986). Brie Larson is allergic to cats, and had to film her scenes with Goose using VFX or puppets. Goose is portrayed by four different cat actors: Reggie, Rizzo, Gonzo and Archie.
- Pinar Toprak, who composed the score for this film, is the first woman to score a Marvel film
- Larson trained for nine months to prep for the role: she learned judo, boxing, and wrestling, and spoke to active-duty service men and women.
- This is the 21st film in the MCU.
- The film was released on International Women's Day