Captain Marvel Film Review

Separating The Actress from The Controversial Rhetoric

I had been contemplating whether or not I should review the latest film release from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson. For those who may not know, Brie Larson has been attributed in making some inflammatory comments in the buildup to the debut of Captain Marvel. Those comments sparked a growing backlash online that brought about discussions from all corners of the globe. The uproar that followed had to be quelled as projected ticket sales began to plummet and the interest in seeing Captain Marvel also began to plummet so much so that it forced the film aggregate website, Rotten Tomatoes, to suspend its scoring method and forced them to respond in a way that was questioned by many. Still, the movie made its debut in the United States and here is the review.

If you are fortunate while making a film, the cinematography can either make your project look like a winner or look like an also-ran. In the case of Captain Marvel, the verdict is an also-ran. One of the things I look for in a film is how the film looks to the eye. Depending on the film, it should give off those hues and mid-range tones that convey the film going experience. In the first half of this 2 hour and 4 minutes production, we are introduced to the Kree civilization like we already should know what that is. Unless you are a follower of Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel from the comic books, you’re stuck with the premise that you should already know who they are. That is just one of several things that is problematic with Captain Marvel.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who both wrote the screenplay along with Geneva Robertson Dworet and others, the film comes off as a frenetic kinetic Frankenstein circus that seems to reflect each individual writer’s contribution but without the cohesiveness. We are involved with a Kree and Skrull conflict without the benefit of why. We must figure out for ourselves as to who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. There is a battle scene that’s fought in the cover of dark tones. I hate dark tones. It’s a common technique that allows the filmmakers to cheat of action sequences and special FX but at the same time, robs to film going community of a quality viewing experience. The spaceships going into hyperspace looks cheaply done. This entire sequence wasn’t as engaging enough then perhaps they had thought. Once the fighting scenes were over, it was a forgettable moment.

In fact, the whole movie was a forgettable moment. This film was brought on as a bridge between Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame. Disney spent $150 million on Captain Marvel just to justify an end credit scene tying Captain Marvel with Avengers Endgame.

As this movie kept going, we get the perfunctory hand-to-hand battle scenes on a metro-rail that is totally by the numbers. The laws of physics are ignored as the fight on top of the metro-rail. If train A is going at 50 miles an hour while two bodies are on the outside fighting on top, what forces are applied to said bodies? When will filmmakers take into consideration that these action sequences are not realistic and the audience is not stupid and yet, they still persist in this hackneyed troupe?

There were many troupes that were dragged out with this film. One troupe that always bothered me was the scenes where Caral Danvers was in the aircraft without wearing the breathers. I know why she wasn’t wearing one and that was because it would obscure the face and the dialogue but it’s totally wrong. You are flying through the stratosphere and into space and you’re not wearing a breather. This just doesn’t hold true and defy all aeronautic properties and conventions.

A lot of this film has dialogue that is cringe-worthy. “Noble warrior heroes” shows how arrogant you are and how self-important you hold yourself. The interaction between Nick Fury and Carol Danvers is strange in that they become too familiar with each other in such a short time that it defies logic in their first meeting. The filmmakers want to accept this premise without question. What is strange about this film is that in nowhere in this film does anyone refer to Carol Danvers by the title name as Captain Marvel.

This film is supposed to be an origin story. What we get is a hodgepodge of snips and cuts from a past life, some feminism troupes, some worn out troupes of outdated behavior of men that’s from the ’60s, and a severely miscast Brie Larson in the title role. Not helping this film is an uneven direction. This is supposed to be a Marvel film. Marvel films are supposed to be big in nature. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are from the Independent small film community. Nowhere on their film resume is there any signs of having done any science fiction or fantasy film on a large scale. That lack of experience shows heavily with this film. There isn’t anything special about this film. It’s not a return visit film. It’s a film that you can quickly discard.

Film rating: D