Year: 2019
Director: Anna Boden
Country: US
Language: English
I went to the theatre amused and bewildered, mainly because I had heard incels (involuntarily celibates) were wasting their time writing negative reviews for a movie they had not seen. Why? "because this is not the Captain Marvel I grew up with!" Also actor Brie Larson had made anti-white dude comments during her press tour. It's silly controversy, but if a movie is stirring up this much angst amongst right-America, then it has to be a worthwhile watch, right?
Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
While skeptics say Wonder Woman is the greater feminist picture because it has a more subtle approach, I enjoyed Captain Marvel's politics on its sleeve quality. It had a political statement to make and it was unapologetic in how unabashedly blatant it displayed its politics. The tongue-in-cheek humour displayed throughout the picture gave it a fourth wall Deadpool-style appeal. Kicking ass to No Doubt's "I'm just a girl" was a purposefully self-aware feminist moment.
The screenplay indulges in many nostalgic references, but I felt they didn't go overboard (unlike having hundreds of one-off references in Ready Player One) and they added either to the mood of the scene or to the humour. I felt the immigrant metaphor twist was well laid out and the cute "cat" named Goose added a great surprise. Captain Marvel as a character needs to be more rounded out, but her story made for a far more entertaining picture than any of those Ironman movies.
Captain Marvel doesn't run as deep as Black Panther, Thor Ragnarok or Guardians of the Galaxy 2 but on a surface level its a fine picture that is worthy of re-watching. There are plenty of amusing moments and its politics will at least capture the hearts of little girls.
