Captain Marvel Spoiler Free Review – Predictable Break From The Same Old

Captain Marvel Spoiler Free Review

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe barrels towards the closing of its first chapter with Avengers: Endgame in May, the final piece of the puzzle falls into place with potentially the strongest hero in the MCU, Captain Marvel, making her splashy debut. The introduction of Carol Danvers, the Skrulls, and the reintroduction of some Kree warriors from previous entries is highly entertaining, action-packed, and jam-packed full of some serious space-based goodies and is very worth the watch, though it lacks the punching power needed to be a standout in the MCU.

The intergalactic adventure follows in the footsteps of the Cosmic push the MCU has made in its recent chapters as Captain Marvel tries to piece together her broken memories after a mission to planet C-53 aka Earth, makes her begin to question her entire life.

Brie Larson stars as Vers/ Danvers/ Marvel and does a terrific job as our quippy, sarcastic, and spunky lead who is willing to go head to head with anyone and anything. Regardless of what is happening on screen, Captain Marvel is likeable, funny, and easy to cheer for. I can already foresee the great back and forth she’s going to have with Thor, Tony, and Steve Rogers. Larson effortlessly carries her own film deftly and, well, she kinda needed to.

A Head Scratcher

Sam Jackson holds it down as a younger Nick Fury with a hilarious adoration for a kitty. Jude Law is totally fine as the too handsome and too sarcastic rival whose character turns in the film are as predictable as the sunrise. Ben Mendelsohn is his usual brash self and as always, dominates the screen when he’s on it and his character turns are… questionable. I can’t get into too much as it’s spoiler-free, but I have a lot of questions about the direction Mendelsohn’s character takes as the film progresses. I have no reason to ever doubt Kevin Feige or his decisions, but this one has me scratching my head.

The rest of the cast is completely forgettable and are really just there for exposition. Annette Bening completely phones it in with what surely is one of the blandest performances of her career. Lashana Lynch apparently can’t emote to save her life, and the rest of the crew show up when they’re needed to drive the story forward and drift away without making much of an impact.

Luckily, Larson is as compelling as I had hoped, and the MCU takes a new approach to the origin story having obviously gotten the hint that it was getting a little worn out. Captain Marvel follows more closely with Spider-Man: Homecoming in its introduction of the hero, something that, while still very predictable, is at least a break from the same old, same old. Also, ram in a bunch of funny 90’s references, a load of Easter Eggs for the comics fans, a Stan Lee cameo that was perfect, and a metric ton of awesome space action, and Captain Marvel comes out looking pretty alright for herself.

While it may not be a Winter Soldier or Ragnarok, Captain Marvel’s introduction into the MCU ends up being pretty good but not great. Brie Larson makes sure the movie doesn’t fall into predictable monotony with a great turn as Carol Danvers, there’s loads of action, and you find out about Fury’s eye. Sadly, Captain Marvel is held back from being a real standout by a few meh performances, some really telegraphed plot points, and one very, very strange choice. It’s definitely worth seeing the final Avengers piece being put into place but ultimately it just gave me my MCU fix before the big Endgame drop in May.

Side note, there’s a Stan Lee tribute I hadn’t readied myself for which nearly reduced me to tears. Thanks for everything, Stan.