Hey everyone, I'm back with an actual review! Yay! Today we're going to be talking about the newest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel. As usual, no spoilers ahead.
So we're going to do this as a pros then cons, with my thoughts at the end. Pretty straightforward.
Pros
-Carol herself. She was brusque, snarky, and didn't have time to be 'nice'. And you know what? I liked that a whole heck of a lot. And there was nothing Sexy(TM) about her. She was either in her costume or the shirt/jeans/cap from the trailers. She didn't do any 'sexy' fighting movies either. In fact, she stalked around punching and blasting folks with her fire hands because she had Shit To Do. It was great.
-Carol and Fury. They had a great bond and a fun relationship, and having Nick Fury back, even in an earlier time than we're used to, is always great. One conversation where they're trying to prove to each other they aren't Skrulls is one of my favorite moments between them.
-Goose! Goose was kind of like Groot in that he tended to steal the scene when he showed up. And seeing Fury get all squishy about a cute cat is pretty awesome. It was fine when it was an actual cat, but there were some iffy CG moments. Once you see the movie, you understand why he was in so much of the marketing.
and he's a handsome boy
-The Skrulls were more interesting than I expected. I didn't think we'd get as much into them as we did, so that was welcome. I figured Ben Mendelsohn and co. would be one note, but you actually spend time with them, especially him. I know people say that this is leading into Secret Wars, but after this, I'm not really sure how. But fleshing the Skrulls out was something I didn't expect, and was a pleasant surprise.
-Annette Benning. Okay, I don't want to talk about her role in detail because spoilers, but she was obviously having a really good time, especially in one 'part' (I don't know if that's the right word, exactly) of her character.
-The intro. Okay, so this is the only mild spoiler I'll give. The Marvel logo intro is different than usual and is part of a tribute to Stan Lee. It was lovely.
Cons
-The Kree get very little time. Carol is part of a Starforce team, but you don't really spend a lot of time with them or get to know them. I don't think I even knew half their names. You also see a little of pre-eyeliner Ronan and Korath, but not a whole lot. Of all of them, Jude Law gets the most time. The resolution for the arc of his character and Carol is so great, too. But yeah, not a lot going on with these guys.
I don't know who half of you are....
-There are a lot of side characters. Okay, so the Kree aren't the only ones who don't get a lot of screentime and attention. There are a lot of characters, especially since this is an origin and trying to tie into the greater MCU and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. Maria and Monica Rambeau didn't get a lot of characterization outside of what related to Carol, Coulson didn't get a lot of time, either. Hell, I was hoping for a cameo from another character who would've probably been in S.H.I.E.L.D at the time and they didn't show up at all. There's a lot going on, and the movie isn't going to hold your hand and explain it. Either you're along for the ride and you know the basic gist of the MCU or you don't.
this, basically
-Slow in parts. I use the 'five-year-old rubric' to measure this. As in, did my five-year-old sit and watch the movie or did she get bored? By this measurement, there were some slow spots. And since she sat through both Black Panther and Infinity War without a fuss, this should've been no problem. She did enjoy it overall, though.
So, in conclusion, what did I think? I thought this movie was just fine. I had a good time with it. It's not my absolute favorite Marvel movie, but it's a good time and now that we've been introduced to Carol, I'm quite interested to see how this plays into Endgame. Would I recommend it? Sure. If you aren't chomping at the bit to see it (in which case, you've probably seen it already), go see it on cheap Tuesday or whatever your equivalent is.
