So it’s 1995. The Avengers haven’t yet torn apart New York City or Zokovia, Asgard is intact, Ronan the Accuser hasn’t lost his mind, and Thanos hasn’t even started collecting stones for his mighty gauntlet. Captain America rests beneath the ice, Nick Fury is a lowly S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and Phil Colson is a rookie who is called nothing more than a rookie by his senior colleagues. There are no superheroes in the S.H.I.E.L.D. lineup. Meanwhile, on Hala, the capital planet of the Kree Empire, Vers, a Kree special forces agent, is training under his mentor Yon-Rogg, recovering from an injury sustained during a previous operation, and trying to remember his past. The Kree are fighting the insidious Scrulls, a race of dangerous werewolves capable of taking on the guise of any creature.
During the operation, in which Vers and Yon-Rogg take part (air support is provided by Ronan the Accuser, whom we know from the first Guardians of the Galaxy), something goes wrong and Vers finds herself on Earth, where she is met by young Nick Fury and Phil Colson. The girl must figure out what happened to her on this planet six years ago and protect Earth from whatever might threaten her.
Captain Marvel might as well have been called S.H.I.E.L.D. Beginning or Nick Fury: Origin. After all, it’s from this movie that we learn how the Fury/Colson tandem was born, where the name “Avengers” came from, how the Taseract got to Earth, where Fury lost his eye, and where he got the pager that was shown in the after credits scene in Avengers: Infinity War. Sometimes it seems that Fury is even more in the movie, which is called Captain Marvel after all, than Captain Marvel himself. At any rate, Samuel L. Jackson’s character looks brighter.
The digital rejuvenation technology used in Captain Marvel by Lola VFX (they also rejuvenated Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) literally does wonders for Captain Marvel. 2), literally works wonders. And if in the case of Clark Gregg, playing the role of Agent Coulson, some unnaturalness of skin and facial expressions is sometimes visible, then Samuel L. Jackson as a young Nick Fury is simply peerless. If it goes on like this, virtual old age Hollywood stars are not in danger.
The second task assigned to Captain Marvel is the introduction of a new character into the MCU, one of the strongest in the Marvel comic universe. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is the product of a fusion of human and Kree DNA, in her full power she can accelerate to FTL in a second, absorb the energy of stars, and ignite extinguished stars. Superman compared to this girl is a nerd student who’s always skipping gym class. In game terms, Captain Marvel is an imba, too strong, unbalanced character who can break the whole gameplay. It’s unclear what a creature of such power would do in the company of Falcon Eye and Widow with their cheap spy tricks. However, let’s see what role Captain Marvel will play in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.
Speaking of which. In the scene after the credits of Avengers: Infinity War, Nick Fury signals to the absent Captain Marvel, and in the scene after the credits of Captain Marvel (there are two of them), we’ll be shown a whole fragment of the upcoming “Endgame”, so we’ll definitely meet the Captain.
All that fanservice, cross-references, subplots and 90s nostalgia is all very well of course (the soundtrack is peerless), but what’s in Captain Marvel with the story of Carol Danvers herself? Has Disney/Marvel managed to create a worthy answer to Wonder Woman? Sadly, no. As a standalone story Captain Marvel is very weak, as a sort of feminist movie it is also very weak. The screenwriters dump slogans on the viewer that seem to be necessary for a modern movie with a female protagonist, but they do it in such a clumsy and straightforward manner that it has a rather opposite effect. Yes, it is still necessary to repeat the truisms that a girl can dream of a career as a fighter pilot or a scientist. Yes, instilling in teenagers the idea that no matter how many times you fall, the important thing is how many times you get up is also important… But why, for example, was it necessary to change the gender of Mar-Velu, who went from being Carol Danvers’ lover and partner to some kind of mother figure? What, exactly, is the feminist message here?
While Brie Larson herself looks very organic in the role of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, her character is hardly developed at all. He’s just a carrier of giant plasma cannons in his hands, punching spaceships with his forehead, not a living person. But who came out very lively and natural, so it is not easy red-haired cat Goose, who has a very important role in this movie. I wish I had such a cat.
Special thanks to the filmmakers for the redesigned Marvel logo in the splash screen and a very touching posthumous cameo of Stan Lee. We’ll meet the great fantasist again in Avengers: Endgame.
Perhaps the problem with Captain Marvel is that it has too much on its plate. It’s the introduction of a new character that hasn’t appeared in any MCU movie, a kind of “origins” of the Sh.I.T. Agency and Nick Fury personally, a lead-in to the final confrontation of the third phase of the MCU in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, and Disney/Marvel’s answer to Wonder Woman. That’s a lot for one movie. Captain Marvel looks assembled from different pieces that, though tied together, create a patchwork quilt effect. No, there is nothing wrong with patchwork, but it is not suitable for all interiors.
Alas, Captain Marvel did not manage to become a full-fledged movie, it is satisfied with the role of a filler, bringing us to the events of Avengers: Endgame. However, we can’t say that the movie is not good at all, but Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming set the quality bar too high. Well, let’s see if Endgame manages to take that height. As a reminder, we are exactly a month and a half away from the premiere of Avengers: Endgame, scheduled for April 26, 2019.
Conclusion:
Alas, as a standalone Captain Marvel movie is weak, but as a subplot to the main course, Avengers: Endgame, it has a right to life
Pros:
Cat Goose; Brie Larson looks organic enough as Carol Danvers; digital rejuvenation technology for the actors; soundtrack; fan service; Stan Lee cameos
Minuses:
The movie feels more like a collection of fan service for fans than a stand-alone picture; unconvincing staging of fights; Captain Marvel breaks the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s balance of power
Captain Marvel movie meaning
Genre comic book movie
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Starring Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Jude Law (Yon-Rogg), Ben Mendelsohn (Talos), Annette Bening (Dr. Wendy Lawson/Mar-Vell), Lashana Lynch (Maria Rambaugh), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Lee Pace (Ronan the Accuser), and more.
Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios
Year of release 2019
IMDb Sites
