The Good, The Bad and The Critic

Established on March 19th, 2012 and pioneered by film fanatic Michael J. Carlisle. The Good, The Bad and The Critic will analyze classic and contemporary films from all corners of the globe. This title references Sergei Leone's influential spaghetti western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Monday, March 25, 2019

Captain Marvel (2019) Review

Title: Captain Marvel
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.