Logan Sork Film Reviews
Captain Marvel
Female-led superhero films aren’t anything new. In fact, they’ve been around since the 1980’s and have been based on some of the most iconic female comic-book characters of all time. Unfortunately, many of these films were – for lack of a better word - garbage. It’s not that female leads don’t connect with a general audience, it’s just that they’re always given a poor excuse of a film to star in. Things changed however in 2017 with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which not only proved that female lead superhero films could be awesome, but that they could resonate with nearly anyone who watched it. Now we have Captain Marvel, Marvel’s answer to Wonder Woman and while it’s certainly better than most of the previous female lead superhero films, it’s not exactly amazing. The film has some good stuff to be found, but these things are ultimately let down by amateur direction, a poor script and a central character who just doesn’t connect with audiences as well as intended.
Captain Marvel is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and is the 21st installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film follows Vers (Brie Larson) AKA Captain Marvel, member of an elite strike force serving the Kree, an intergalactic empire, in their war agaist the shapeshifting aliens known as the Skrulls. When a mission goes wrong, Vers is captured by the Skrull General Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who searches her mind for an artifact that the Skrulls can use to destroy the Kree. As her memories are scanned, Vers is confused as she sees a life she had on earth yet can’t recall anything about her time there. Seeking answers, Vers escapes and travels to earth, with the Skrulls in pursuit. After she lands on earth, she finds an ally in Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), an agent of SHEILD. Together, the two set out to find the weapon, with Vers hoping she can learn more about her past and discover who she truly is.
Before diving into some of the issues I had with this movie, I want to take some time to address the things I enjoyed about the movie. First and foremost, a lot of the ideas that the film has are actually very interesting. The filmmakers do a lot of small things differently to help keep the audience guessing even though It’s a familiar origin story like the countless ones we’ve seen beforehand. These nice twists and turns allow for some (albeit subtle changes) that keep you interested even when the narrative falters. There are some entertaining action scenes as well as nice little character moments spread throughout the film, allowing the audience to get to know some of the characters in some quiet moments rather than big dramatic moments. There are also even some good performances, with Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn stealing every scene.
While these moments could’ve been elevated by strong direction, script and a compelling central character, this film has none of those. In terms of previous films, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have mostly come from smaller dramatic films. This can sometimes be a good thing as sometimes these big action movies need smaller dramatic moments to balance out the spectacle. Unfortunately, Boden and Fleck did a poor job on both accounts, resulting in a film that is lacking in both drama and spectacle. The dramatic moments are so few and far between that they feel less like beats and more like occasional moments of humanity in an otherwise boring slog. The action feels amateur, with many fights taking place in dark hallways with shaky cams being used to generate the feeling of action rather than producing memorable fight scenes. This robs the film of what could’ve been epic moments and turns them into something that is anything but epic.
The script also does a lot to hurt the film. The central narrative is a simple one, Captain Marvel is from another planet and returns to earth, unsure if she had a life there, to search for answers to her past. It’s really hard to mess up a general mystery like that. Still it doesn’t help that the first shot of the film reveals that she did indeed have a life on earth. By revealing in fact that she does have a life on earth so early on, the audience is forced to watch the lead character investigate a case that we already know the answers to. And while there was one twist that I will admit was pretty clever, you could see the rest coming from a mile away. Taking a simple more linear approach to the story would’ve helped this film greatly. The film’s tone also shifts wildly. One moment its an epic space battle then it’s a 90’s reference fest followed by a self-discovery drama and then back to space action with almost no flow whatsoever. Had the film picked a tone and settled on it, then the story and characters would’ve been more consistent and as a result more entertaining.
By far the biggest disappointment of the film however is our lead character. Captain Marvel shows hardly any emotion throughout the entire film. Instead, the film plays her as this stoic warrior who is impenetrable to any threat, dusting off challengers with ease consistently and never loses. This is a major problem, as it makes the character feel distant and as a result makes the entire film feel distant. There are a couple of nice small moments where Brie Larson does show some sign of humanity, but these moments are so few and far between that it makes Captain Marvel more of a bland one-liner spouting protagonist than a complex female heroine.
In the end, Captain Marvel unfortunately falls into the bottom tier of the recent line of Marvel films. It’s such a shame to, because in all honesty there is a good movie to be found here. There are enough interesting ideas and good performances to warrant a watch. But with weak direction, a poor script and a bland central character, it’s best to check any and all expectations before giving it ago. And even then, you sadly might still be left wanting more.
4/10