Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I'd put in the bottom ten of all the films, but it's still an entertaining action picture. It does not, however, do for women what Black Panther did for those of African descent. Look to Wonder Woman for that.

The history of Captain Marvel is labyrinthine, as both D.C. and Marvel have used the name. Several characters in the Marvel Universe have used the name, but this film uses Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), one of the first U.S. female fighter pilots, as the jumping off point. Marvel fanatics will note the appearance of Monica Rambeau, who one day would take the name of Captain Marvel.

Anyway, nerdgasm complete, the film takes us back to the '90s. Larson begins the film thinking she is a Kree warrior. The Kree are at war with the Skrulls. Larson has no memory of what she was before becoming a Kree. She is kidnapped by the Skrulls in order to get information out of her, and she ends up crash landing on Earth (or as it is known here, C-53), plummeting through the ceiling of a Blockbuster video store, one of many winks about '90s culture (the music is full of hits from that era, many by female singers, which doesn't account for the two by R.E.M.).

Investigating this strange woman who fell from the sky is S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, again played by Samuel L. Jackson, this time with hair and the wrinkles removed from his skin. He ends up helping Larson on her quest, although who the evil ones are is not so sure. It reminded me of the SNL sketch from years ago that supposed Superman was raised in Germany and became Uberman instead, killing everyone in England. Every side has a story.

Captain Marvel follows a lot of the basic Marvel template, but directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who have only done small indies (Half-Nelson, Sugar) bring a bit of an art-house stamp to the film. I found the beginning somewhat disorienting, as we are dropped media res into a mission with the Kree. I thought to myself, wait a minute, I thought Danvers was human. And thus I was off my stride for a while, which in films like this, which can be so formulaic, is all for the good.

Larson was an interesting choice for the role. She was great in Short Term 12 and Room, but here she seems distracted. It's interesting that she is accused of letting emotions curtail her power (which is mostly shooting blasts out of her hands) but Larson shows very little emotion, and sometimes delivers her lines in a monotone.

Jackson has a lot of fun in this role. We learn some things about Fury, such as how he lost his eye, how the Avengers got their name, and where he's from. He's also very fond of cats.

Also in the cast are Jude Law, as Larson's mentor, Annette Bening in two parts--as a scientist who may have invented a light-speed engine, and as the personification of the Supreme Intelligence, which runs things in the Kree world. Ben Mendelsohn is behind makeup for much of his role as the head Skrull, but manages to be effective under all the rubber.

Of course, Captain Marvel will figure in the next Avengers film. If you remember the post-credits scene from Avengers: Infinity War, Jackson paged her right before turning to dust. In this film we see her give him the pager, and tells him to use it in an emergency (she's off to adventures across the galaxy, which may form one or two more films). I think it's very restrained of Jackson not to have called her for twenty-five years.