CAPTAIN MARVEL (O-RVZ MOVIE REVIEW)

Captain Marvel is a superhero film and is the twenty-first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is based from the comic character named Carol “Captain Marvel” Danvers and sets in a 1995 pre-Avengers era. The film is led by Academy Award winner Brie Larson (Room, Kong: Skull Island) playing as Carol Danvers, one of the noble Kree warriors called “Starforce” who has superpowers of energy blast whom she got from an unknown source. The film also features recurring characters played by their original actors such as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and also introducing new characters from the comics such as Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan), and others. The film is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck with Kevin Feige as the executive producer.

It’s really sad that Stan Lee wasn’t able to see this film and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame as he passed last year, however, I’d like to point out that this film has the most beautiful tribute to the legend himself. The film sets in a period where superheroes are yet to be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The timeline is quite confusing considering there were superheroes already introduced before such as the original Ant-Man. On the original Ant-Man film, S.H.I.E.L.D was already well established with all the technologies that are involved however in this film, S.H.I.E.L.D is portrayed like a start-up company of some sort. Maybe because Fury at that time was a low-level agent who doesn’t have any access to the higher tech but this is one of the confusing parts that I have from this film together with the other one that I can’t mention here to avoid any spoilers from the film. Unlike any other origin film, Captain Marvel already has her powers here so I was expecting that the progression of the story would feel fast. However, the first few minutes of it really felt so slow and it didn’t provide me a sudden interest in the story. As the movie goes along. Things quickly picked-up its pace and while some revelations are starting to unveil, this is where the movie really starts to feel interesting. In terms of the characters, at first, I really didn’t buy Brie Larson playing in a superhero role. She’s more effective in an indie-role where you could truly see her performances flourishes. Some of the lines coming from her felt kinda awkward and cringey. If you’re going to ask me, will she be an effective character coming into the Avengers: Endgame, I believe so since it kinda balances her awkwardness to the other characters. My favorites in this film were Nick Fury and Talos. The two of them were the highlights of the film and I think these two should have their own solo movie or be featured more in upcoming movies. Nick Fury is portrayed as a mysterious guy from the other MCU films. However, in this film they really put another layer of his character as they added more color to his personality and more humor. When I think about it, I like this version of Nick Fury more so than the recent Nick Fury. Though, it kinda makes sense Nick Fury at that time was young and was in the start of his career and looking forward to his future in S.H.I.E.L.D. In a way, I kinda understand the recent Nick Fury since the older you get and the longer you stay in a company, you get colder and grumpier. Talos played by Ben Mendelsohn was so very effective playing a menacing character and at the same time holding some sort of a very big burden. I was so entertained by his performances more so than the lead. It’s something an issue of the film that I want to point out since the film is not about Talos but rather Captain Marvel. In terms of the story, it’s not really that game-changing event like in the likes of Captain America: Winter Soldier. It’s just an origin story that tells about the Kree-Skrull war and how Carol Danvers got her powers and where she was all these time during the events of the first Avengers till Avengers Infinity War.

OVERALL

CAPTAIN MARVEL is still a solid entry of the MCU franchise. I had a good time watching the film though there were moments from the film that felt slowness and at times confusing. I still think Brie Larson was a miscast playing the part of Captain Marvel. I was hoping for Emily Blunt to accept the part but after the announcement of Brie Larson playing the lead, it was a bit of a letdown for me. I still waited for the film to be released to see if she works but after seeing the film, I can say that I’m not into 100% of accepting Brie as Captain Marvel but I will wait for a few more movies or after Avengers: Endgame. Captain Marvel is still a good and solid film. The visual effects were great especially the de-aging Technology used on Nick Fury and Phil Coulson. It was really really well done and it was just so smooth. A few good characters were also introduced with one or two characters who didn’t get to shine more. I enjoyed the whole film and after watching the post-credits scene, I’m really now excited to see Avengers: Endgame.