Reel Review Roundup

Captain Marvel (M)

Directed by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn

3.5 stars

Review by: Julian Wright

The last Marvel Avenger gets her introduction, just in time for the ultimate showdown between Thanos, who is keen on world domination, and the remaining superheroes (catch Avengers: Infinity War for a recap).

On the planet of Hala, Starforce member Vers (Brie Larson) is in training to control her super powers while war wages against the alien shape-shifting Skrulls. Skulls leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) captures her to extract memories hidden deep in her mind that lead them to Earth.

Once she crash lands into a Blockbuster store in 1995, Vers teams up with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) to discover her forgotten past and what information Talos was after.

After getting off to a shaky, exposition heavy 20 minutes (you really want to pay particularly close attention here), Captain Marvel finds its rhythm and scoots along with a sense of fun and adventure and a nice 90s nostalgia kick.

Larson brings some girl power and sass to the Avenger universe, and her fun rapport with Jackson is certainly a highlight, not only of the film, but in the ongoing saga that has been unfolding for the past several years.

The twist in the familiar origin routine is a welcome addition (Captain Marvel already has her superpowers here, it is her past and identity she must discover), particularly this late in the game where so many origins have been set up beforehand.

Ultimately, the film does little other than set up a justification for Captain Marvel to swoop in and join the team in Avengers: End Game (out soon), but it is still a fun diversion and there is not much more you can ask for than that.

This entry was posted on April 12, 2019 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.