MCU Rewatch: Captain Marvel

Directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Release date: March 8th, 2019
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law
Box office worldwide: $1,128,274,794

First off, I’m not telling you that you should or should not like Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, but if you’re a big enough virgin to get a petition started to recast the role then you’re the dweebiest of dweebs. This is coming from someone who gets nervous before these movies come out! When, in your little pea-sized brain, did you think you could hop onto petition.org, and influence Marvel f*****g Studios enough to change their minds? Go sign a petition to stop a Walmart from moving to your town, ya puke.

The reason I bring this up is because there were actual asshats that tried to do this.

All I’m saying is that you’re a loser for signing/creating a petition about changing something that a lot of people put a lot of work into. And it’s something you have no chance of accomplishing. I have a better chance to be cast as Tony Stark than you do trying to influence Disney.

Ok, I’m done ranting. Let’s review Captain Marvel

Positives

Similar to Black Panther, it’s got a strong, real world, applicable message. All Skrulls are perceived as being bad guys, right? Well, holy shit what do you know, it turns out that not an entire race of beings are evil. There are some good Skrulls… there are some bad Skrulls. How about that!? And the Kree are supposed to be good guys, but it turns out some of them are bastards. Hmmmm where have I heard this before? Excellent message! Some people were saying Captain Marvel got too political, but I saw it more as a message towards humanity than any shot at politics… if that makes sense? Whatever, I loved the message.
It’s a different plot than what we’ve seen from Marvel Studios up to this point. We haven’t seen a mystery plot where we’re following the main character trying to piece together what happened to her in the past. I would argue that Captain Marvel is the first… mystery? I guess? And I like the change! Another reason I don’t agree with the “all Marvel movies are the same” argument.
Here’s my sports comparison: Brie Larson is Aaron Rodgers. I like Brie a lot as Carol Danvers. Is she as good as Aaron is on the football field? No, probably not, but she gets criticized under a microscope like A-Rodge. There was so much negativity towards Larson’s performance (just like one Mr. Rodgers) and how it was jUsT a wOMaN eMPoWeRmeNT movie (chicks deserve a chick star in a Marvel movie, you boners… Ok I lost the Rodgers comparison, hold on). There are rumors that her teammates don’t like working with her either (sound familiar?). I like Brie. It’s a superrrr tough and complex character to play, and she didn’t deliver a 10/10 performance, but she was good!

When Captain Marvel finally turns into full-blown, unstoppable Captain Marvel, she. Kicks. Ass. And it’s awesome. Her crushing ships like they’re ants is jolly fun. Also, when Yon-Rogg (the unforgettable villain) tells Carol she has to beat him without her powers, and then she blasts the shit out of him… jolly, jolly fun!

I like Carol Danvers. I LOVE Talos and the Skrulls. They’re great characters to bring into the MCU with endless possibilities (and we’ve already seen it at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home).
Speaking of characters I love, GIVE ME MORE GOOSE. Goose the cat, er, flurken was good entertainment!

Nick Fury and Carol Danvers’ interactions are fun! Those two’s banter felt real and natural.
The post credits scene… OOOOOWEEEE! So let’s set up the context: Captain Marvel was released a couple months before Avengers: Endgame. Everybody knew Cpt. Marvel was going to have something to do with Endgame. SOOO when one of the final scenes is Cpt. Marvel showing up on Earth and asking the Avengers “where’s Fury?” I almost went into shock in the movie theater. I was ready to run through a brick wall.
Awesome Stan Lee tribute during the opening Marvel Studios title card.

Negatives

It felt like a set-up to future films. The plot was good, but it never felt like an epic Marvel origin story. There’s a lot of ambiguity around Carol and her powers, which is OK since there are more Captain Marvel movies coming but just looking at this film it feels like a big set up. She got her powers from that battery blowing up… I guess? And they leave it at that, and we don’t really know what she all can do. Which is fine… but I left wanting more from Carol/Cpt. Marvel.
A big reason it feels like a set up to future films is Yon-Rogg… you don’t even know who that is do you? Exactly! He’s Jude Law, the… main? villain… I guess. He was just thrown in there to help smokescreen Carol from the truth, and he’s overshadowed big time by the Supreme Intelligence and even Ronan the Accuser! Ronan is in the movie for, like, two minutes and I felt like I’d rather see Carol VS Ronan… which would be sick, BTW. Make it happen, Disney or I’ll create a petition! Anyways, it felt like a set up for Captain Marvel squaring off against the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence in Captain Marvel 2 more than a stand-alone movie masterpiece.
As much as I like Brie as Carol… there are some parts where I was bored with her. But I think it was more the dialogue and the situations rather than Brie’s performance. It doesn’t happen a lot, but there are some instances where I go “eh.”
I can’t really count this as a major fault, but I’d rather see Captain Marvel in the short hair like Endgame. She looks soooo badass with the short hair.

Overall Grade: C+

It’s in the Thor, Doctor Strange and Iron Man 3 movie range. It’s good, but has some flaws to it putting it towards the end of my rankings. I, overall, like Brie Larson. I liked a lot of her performance with a couple blemishes. A below-average villain and ambiguity around Carol hurt it, but overall I liked it!

MCU Ranking:

Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Endgame
The Avengers
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Captain America: The First Avenger
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Ant-Man
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor
Captain Marvel (C+ and #14 means it’s a good movie… just not amazing in the MCU).
Doctor Strange
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk
Thor: The Dark World

Up next: Thor Ragnorak