I have questions that cannot and will not be answered in this spoiler-free review, but this intro will serve as a small number of things I couldn’t say in the YouTube RuView below. Why didn’t Fury call Carol in any of the MCU events before Infinity War? Is that really how Fury lost his eye? How many dimensions are we going into in Endgame? How many L’s is Thanos gonna take when he tries to Deebo Captain Marvel? All this and many more…, on the next episode of… Dragon B… I mean the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as the titular character, aka Carol Danvers, aka Vers, a Kree warrior looking into her unknown past after 6 years of fighting an intergalactic war between her Kree people and the nefarious shape-shifters, the Skrulls.
After 20 movies, Marvel has learned that to keep their origin stories from feeling repetitive, they must deliver something new. Captain Marvel delivers this new (and often weird) formula: show us, don’t tell us. From scene one, the audience is dropped smack into the middle of Carol’s story and everything about her past is revealed real-time. We don’t her until she knows her. This takes what could have been a long, exposition-heavy introduction and turns it into a fast-paced ride reminiscent of the fun of 90s action buddy cop classics. Yet, it also leads to some of the downfalls we catch afterwards when looking back at those nostalgic films: choppy narrative (plot holes!), minimal character arc (Carol is the same badass at the beginning and the end), and small stakes (especially since Carol has been quoted as the most powerful character in the entirety of the MCU).
But we remember those modern classics less for their story and more for their characters. Captain Marvel shines on that front. Brie Larson is as witty as Tony, as confident as Thor, and as noble as Steve. As much as her character may have been surface level, that surface is charming and instills a confidence that her next five movies will produce a fleshed out, complicated and weathered leader. Two words into a post-credit scene is all we need to believe.
Her relationship with a pre-suspicious Nick Fury (Samuel L.) is heartfelt and natural, bringing out one of Sam’s most refreshing performances in the MCU. Lashana Lynch, as Carol’s closest friend Maria Rambeau, is powerful the second she appears on screen, emanating so much connection, love, and history between the pair. Goose the Cat will become the next must-have toy for kids (and adults) everywhere, and Ben Mendelsohn steals every single scene in which he is seen and heard. He finally gets to shed the typical “Ben Mendelsohn” villain we see in Ready Player One, Robin Hood, and Rogue One to display his full range of captivating comedic and dramatic chops.
Captain Marvel’s characters carry the film’s charm and its prevailing message: Marvel and Marvel Studio’s concerted effort to lean into combating trolls who aimlessly scream at whoever they can that the “real” Captain Marvel is a man. From the who’s who of top female 90s hits, to the subtle and not-so-subtle exhibits of the superior sex’s strength, young women and men will leave the theater with another amazing female role model to look up to. It’s a beautiful thing to see, especially with the fact that there is not one scene in which Carol is sexualized, looks for male approval, or in need of a male savior. It is a big step toward not having to think about a Bechtel test in fictionalized portrayals of women.
Captain Marvel feels like one-part stepping stone to Endgame, and one part top 5 MCU origin story. It has story flaws and compelling characters, falling somewhere near the top of 2nd tier or bottom of top tier Marvel movies. I am giving Captain Marvel 8.5/10 Waterfalls to not go chasing.