If Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s film was genuinely concerned with presenting a layered, complex, inspiring female hero who could empower young audiences everywhere, then they would have crafted exactly that kind of character and movie. But precisely because Captain Marvel is being trumpeted by the Marvel machine as a shining beacon of diversity – and that audiences everywhere should not only appreciate the studio’s efforts, but be grateful as hell – its failures feel especially acute.Īlmost immediately, Captain Marvel puts itself and its central saviour atop a faux-pedestal of progress. Department of Defense ( Iron Man 2, for instance, was granted access to a vast array of military hardware). From 2008′s limber Iron Man through last year’s lumbering Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been built on the concept of getting as many people as possible to pay for inoffensive movies that feel written by committee (which they are), that defer to timid wait-and-see notions about gender and diversity (there is a reason it took 20 films to get to a woman-led film, just as it took 18 to make Black Panther) and that are literally underwritten by the U.S. This isn’t to say that any of Marvel’s 20 other offerings are untainted goods. Namely: money, the easy exploitation of intellectual-property, artistic conformity and queasy politics that undermine whatever liberal notions it’s peddling.

But this shiny and progressive and golly-gee packaging misrepresents how Captain Marvel made its way into the world, and what it is actually about. Its supporting cast includes a cute little cat named Goose. Its story is one of empowerment and self-determination, set to a nostalgic nineties-era soundtrack. Its lead is (finally) a woman, played by the delightful, talented and socially conscious Brie Larson. On its surface, the new Marvel Studios extravaganza sells itself as the most enlightening of superhero offerings. Despite some flaws, Captain Marvel is yet another solidly entertaining pop-corn film from Marvel.Captain Marvel arrives in theatres like a cosmic-powered punch to the head. Also, the soundtrack is incredibly well-done using '90s music to set the tone and time period. But the action-scenes and fight sequences are fun and exciting, and there's some lighthearted comedy that works really well (particularly the Stan Lee cameo). Unfortunately the script is rather poor, as it desperately tries to avoid telling an origin story while also ham fistedly forces one in at the same time. Brie Larson gives a decent performance, though she's clearly doing an imitation of a Tony Stark-like character (which there are already too many of in the MCU), and the supporting cast is pretty strong featuring Samuel L. After escaping capture by the Skrull, a Kree soldier named Vers gets stranded on Earth where she discovers that the Skrull are searching for something and during her investigation she unearths a past that she never knew about. Marvel delivers its first female centric superhero film with Captain Marvel, a prequel to the Avengers series.

Captin marvel review