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As the 21st outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the studio’s first female-led film, Captain Marvel has been marketed as a huge step forward for female empowerment, but isn’t quite the ground breaker that it thinks it is. Brie Larson takes on the titular role as Carol Danvers, a photon-blasting, amnesia-suffering U.S. Air Force pilot caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between the Kree – self-proclaimed “noble warrior heroes” – and the Skrull, a race of mysterious green shapeshifters.
Convoluted plot-building holds the film back, with the first half hour as foggy as Carol’s memories, and as the nineties-era story progresses, it blunders through some bizarre tonal shifts. The first half adopts a stern attitude with plenty of mansplaining from Jude Law’s Kree leader Yon-Rogg (the feminist subtext is heavy handed at best), while the second half becomes jarringly goofy. It’s not just the protagonist who’s having an identity crisis – Captain Marvel can’t seem to decide what sort of film it wants to be.
It is refreshing to witness a strong female superhero come to life, but Marvel overcompensate for their heroine’s delayed outing by making Danvers severely overpowered, resulting in fight
sequences with such low stakes that they are shockingly dull (and with highly questionable CGI). Indeed the major flaw of this film lies in its bland writing; Larson does her best with the little she is given, but it is hard to root for a character who spends the majority of her time being told what to do and how to feel. Carol is no Skrull, but it’s difficult to get a grasp of who she truly is, and the lack of emotional connection costs this film its place in the superhero hall of fame.
However, it’s not all bad; much of the film’s charm comes from its impressive supporting cast,
including Samuel L. Jackson’s return as a seamlessly de-aged Nick Fury, who quickly builds a quip-fuelled rapport with Danvers. Ben Mendelsohn steals the show as Skrull leader Talos, a surprisingly nuanced character whose shapeshifting talents allow for some of the film’s best twists, laughs, and genuinely touching moments.
Captain Marvel is by no means a flawless film – it misses the mark much of the time and leaves many questions unanswered. But, in a genre dominated by white men named Chris, it is an empowering, fun, and important addition, and for that it should be commended and enjoyed.
