The Setup
If you are somehow unaware of what the film Captain Marvel is, here is a quick rundown. Captain Marvel explores the origin story of titular character Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers. While not the original Captain Marvel in the comics, she is the most prominent and well known figure to wear the mantle of the hero. A member of the elite soldiers of the Kree, Captain Marvel was born human but given a Kree blood transfusion to save her life and given superpowers. The film proceeds to tell her story as it progresses in the 1990s and set up her relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury. It’s a fun origin story with twists and turns as you might expect.
The Technicals
Continuing Marvel’s streak of flashy films, Captain Marvel has some impressive visuals. Though it is nice that the film never feels like it expects you to stay for these effects. There are plenty of obvious things, like Carol’s superpowers and some of the alien visuals. As a fan of the Skrulls and their unique comic book look however, I was personally very happy with how they transferred over to film. The music used for the film was also extremely satisfying to me, being a 90s kid growing up with grunge music. Acting in this film is also very on-point, with Brie Larson bringing her charm and A-game (get it? like Avengers… “A-game”). She just felt very comfortable and at home in this role.
Summation
Not all of the films in the MCU are able to stand on their own at this point. With such an expansive cinematic universe, just about all films include references or direct responses to previous entries. Captain Marvel still very clearly sets up future appearances in the MCU, as seen in Infinity War. Overall, Captain Marvel felt very fresh in terms of the MCU. There is a splash of Guardians of the Galaxy and a bit of Captain America: The Winter Soldier if you want something to compare it to, but more than anything it is very much its own thing. I very much enjoyed this film and would recommend it to everybody without a second thought. Let’s hear what you thought!
