Captain Marvel
If “Captain Marvel” starts off seeming a bit unsure of itself, it’s only because Carol Danvers is the same way when the film begins. But the film, co-written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Half Nelson”), has the confidence we’ve come to expect from a Marvel Cinematic Universe film by now, and the narrative ingenuity to fully engage us as the main character is followed on an adventure into her past, that might hold the key to her future. As an origin story film, it’s one of Marvel’s best.
We begin as Carol (Brie Larson) is being tested as a Kree warrior by her partner, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), during a training session. She has remarkable energy flowing through her, but she’s unable to control the way she uses it, and finds herself being confronted by the Kree Supreme Intelligence, an AI she visualizes as Annette Bening playing a character from her past, trying to focus her feelings to make her a better warrior. The Kree are engaged in a war with the Skrull race of shapeshifters, and Vers, as she is called, and Yon-Rogg are on a mission to flush some Skrull out on a border planet when she is taken by the Skrull, who show her images that feel like false memories to Carol, but when she escapes to Earth, she’ll find out there’s more to this story than she knows.
By now, it feels like Marvel origin stories, or solo movies, in general, have a basic thematic formula they adhere to, even in the ones that bend the mold like “Guardians of the Galaxy” or find a way to dig deeper like “Black Panther.” Like Daenerys Targaryen promises to do on “Game of Thrones,” though, Carol Danvers’s first appearance breaks the mold by not giving us any parental issues to be resolved; no romantic interests that must be given screentime; and no easy path through the confused memories Danvers finds herself trying to work through as the film’s story takes her down the rabbit hole of her own thoughts and feelings. It’s completely fair if you find yourself not completely clear on what “Captain Marvel’s” story’s purpose is in the MCU, or not entirely engaged by it- Boden and Fleck are doing a different type of origin story, and that it takes place about 20 years prior to the Battle of New York that first brought the Avengers together, means its place in the MCU feels a bit tenuous. As a friend pointed out when I saw the film a second time, it feels like this should have come out earlier in the MCU chronology, but truthfully, this makes sense now, because it brings a lot of things into focus at the end that we didn’t necessarily expect earlier in the MCU timeline, and a certain question I didn’t think required asking this late in the franchise.
Watching “Captain Marvel” a second time prior to finishing this review, I feel like I got a bit more attuned to the type of narrative it had in mind. Without giving too much away, this film has a bit of structural similarities with “The Winter Soldier,” as a hero realizes the organization they served had secrets they were hiding from them, and I also felt a bit of influence from “Skyfall,” the fantastic James Bond film from 2012 where 007 has some questions answered about where they come from. Those two make up the primary mystery within Carol Danvers’s adventure here, and it’s a compelling storytelling basis upon which to center this film’s story of a woman taking her life into her own hands; surviving through trauma; finding her own strength and power, and discovering who she is, and what matters to her, through it all. In other words, this is a role tailor-made for Brie Larson (whom has played similar journeys in smaller films like “Short Term 12” and “Room”), who does a terrific job in the big beats of the film, and has great moments with a versatile supporting cast, whether it’s Jackson or Bening or Law, or Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull leader Talos or Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, Carol’s best friend, and fellow pilot. Who the Hell needs a love interest with characters like those to play against? You seriously don’t even care.
As much as I enjoyed “Captain Marvel,” Boden and Fleck aren’t the strongest when it comes to staging action. A train chase that feels like a riff on “The French Connection” is entertaining, but a scene of suspense later in a secure facility where Skrulls are after Fury and Carol is more fluid and fun. The third act of this film has a big fight scene where Carol takes on the enemy single-handed, but it just doesn’t have the same energy, or light fun, as the opening action with Baby Groot dancing during chaos in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” It’s during the character beats and personal drama they excel, and those scenes are what elevate “Captain Marvel” to an upper tier Marvel entry as the “Endgame” of what the franchise has built this decade comes to a close, and a new era opens.
Well, those scenes, and Goose the cat. I demand more Goose in future films.
