Who doesn't love tough ladies kicking booty and taking names?? I sure do! If you haven't guessed or didn't read the title, I imagine you can assume what I'm talking about. That's right pals, I'm reviewing the newest addition to the MCU (that's Marvel Cinematic Universe, if you're a noob and don't already know that), Captain Marvel! Get pumped people! Finally a Marvel film that not only focuses on a woman superhero but she's also the title of the film. You can't beat that! I mean it was a big deal when the Wasp from Ant-Man and the Wasp made her entrance (still one of my favorite superheros in case you were wondering),but now we have a sole movie focusing on a lady! Before I go too overboard I think we should move on to the review. Keep reading, the real juicy stuff is coming up. LET'S DO THIS!
PLOT:
This is the twenty-first film in the Marvel cinematic universe and it tells the story of Carol Danvers AKA Vers AKA Captain Marvel. Vers is a part of the Kree population where they are defenders/warriors of the galaxy. She is trained by Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) so she can harness and learn to control her powers. She is summoned by the Supreme Intelligence (Annette Bening), which takes the form of something you hold dearly so it appears differently to each individual. However, Vers doesn't remember anything about her life before her arrival on the Kree planet of Hala. The Supreme Intelligence gives her a mission in order to save a fellow soldier from their arch enemies, the Skrull, an army of shapeshifters to prove herself.
However, the mission is compromised and Vers and her team are ambushed by the Skrulls, led by their leader, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). They capture Vers and look into her mind to figure out who/what she is. While they do this, Vers' memories start to come back but only in parts so she doesn't really understand them. While this is happening the ship gets attacked and Vers along with some of the Skrulls are catapulted to Earth.
While on Earth, Vers runs into Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), an agent of Shield who helps her find out what the Skrulls want and to stop any plans of a galactic war. While on this mission will Vers discover who she really is and learn about her past? Can she put a stop to this war? Is everything as it seems?
REVIEW:
Brie Larson should be in every superhero movie from now until the end of time. There I said it. I'm not going to lie to you, like many of you, I'm sure, I was pretty pumped about this movie. One it's Marvel, but it's a Marvel movie starring and focusing on a woman! It's the best of both worlds if you ask me. I tried to know as little as possible about this movie because I wanted to be surprised... and surprised I was. When they cast Brie Larson I immediately knew it was the perfect choice. I love Brie Larson and I love the films she chooses to do from Short Term 12 (if you haven't seen this, I highly encourage that you do so because it is a masterpiece) to Room for which she won her Oscar. I'm happy to report that my excitement was warranted because she was fantastic in this performance. She inhabited this character while also making it her own. You could tell she was having a blast and it shows through her performance which makes it that much more enjoyable for the viewer to watch. I feel like I say this about every new female superhero that comes up, but she is definitely one of my favorites.
Don't get me wrong I love Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, Spider-Man, etc., but it's so nice to have a woman superhero be the focus of a movie. We had Wonder Woman which sparked a revolution I think in terms of having more women superheroes on screen, but this is Marvel, it's a whole other league in my book. I love Marvel, if you know me, you know how true this statement is, but so often the women in those films are overshadowed or just the love interest with a few exceptions. It was only until recently with films such as Black Panther or Ant-Man and the Wasp where the ladies got to play a much bigger role in the films and get to be in more of the action. What I loved about this film in particular is yes it focuses on a woman with extraordinary powers, but this film has multiple strong women from Annette Bening's Supreme Intelligence to Lashana Lynch's Maria to Gemma Chan's Minn-Erva. All these women played a part in the story and got to be a part of the action. It was wonderful to see and empowering, even for this 23 year old. I can't imagine what it's like to see this as a kid. I would love to be kid growing up today where there are multiple female superheros/role models to look up to.
The fact that this film takes place in the 90s is probably one of the best parts of the movie. It was so funny/cool to see all the things that defined that era such as Blockbuster and pagers. And if you're a 90s kid like me, it was very nostalgic. It really added to the humor of the story. Not to mention that we get to see Nick Fury with both eyes and at the beginning-ish of his career at Shield. Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson have some great chemistry and you can tell they have a genuine friendship and that shows in their performances. They should have a pretty great relationship by now seeing as this is their third film to star in together. Their comedic timing was spot on and I laughed out loud multiple times. That's the great thing about Marvel is that they don't really take themselves too seriously, they know they're meant to be fun and they do just that.
This film exceeded my expectations above and beyond. Don't read the trolls and their bad reviews because this movie is charming, fun, and action packed. It's also a great story about discovering who you are and being your own personal superhero. And as I mentioned before it's got some amazing women at the helm! I don't need to tell you to support this movie because it's Marvel but go see it so we can get more films where the females are the stars (still waiting on that Black Widow movie BTW, Marvel!).
If you can't tell I genuinely loved this movie. It was a fun ride from start to finish. The humor was great, the action was edge-of-you-seat worthy, and the performances from the stars to the extras were all fantastic. Even if you don't like superhero movies (which if I'm honest with you, I think is really weird) I think you can find something to love about this film. It has 90s music people! What more could you ask for?
PARENT'S GUIDE:
This film is rated PG-13. There is some language used here and there. There is also some violence but nothing too extreme.
OVERALL RATING:
For this film I will give it a...
Captain Marvel: 9/10, surprising no one
I don't really need to say it again so if you need some clarification check out the review above. If you don't want to do that, this movie is amazing.
CONCLUSION:
Another one done! There ya have it folks. I hope you enjoyed my rant on one my favorite topics, superheroes. As always thanks so much for visiting this blog of mine. Be sure to leave me a comment or suggestion and tell your friends! Until next time!
