“Captain Marvel” surprises with yet another solid movie

8/10

by Alexis Tucker, Editor-in-chief

There were many concerns going into see “Captain Marvel.” Among those include Brie Larson’s acting, how the plot fits into the overall universe and how it holds up against other superhero movies. Moviegoers should be happy to hear that “Captain Marvel” doesn’t suffer from “prequel syndrome” and is a welcome addition to the MCU.
The storyline feels much more like a Phase 1 movie than a current Phase 3 movie, but that’s a good thing. Carol Danvers, known as Captain Marvel, lost her memory and struggles to find who she was and who she is currently, and she spends the movie discovering herself, who she was, who she is and other aspects of her identity. The plot is fairly simple with a few twists, but it serves the movie well, considering it’s supposed to take place in the mid-90s.
The movie draws parallels between our world and the MCU in regards to refugees, which in general is a spot-on comparison that adds some political commentary, but it doesn’t feel out of place for those that may not be interested in hearing about politics from a movie. For those that may be familiar with the comics, the story definitely doesn’t go in a way that is expected (even compared to usual). The whole idea of who is the villain is flipped on its head.
Nick Fury and Carol Danvers’s relationship is fun and explains a little bit of the MCU’s overall story, but expect the expository information more in ways like “nods” to the past MCU movies and adding to Fury’s character in general.
Carol Danvers is a well fleshed out character. Some of Brie Larson’s acting in the trailers seemed stiff or fell flat on delivery, but in the movie, her acting fits well with Danvers’s entire personality. Danvers is snarky. She’s a strong character. She never backs down from a fight, and she never apologizes for who she is. The movie doesn’t focus entirely on her struggles “as a woman” in the world, but it is definitely there. It is empowering in all the right ways. Rather than Danvers giving up, she always picks herself back up. Her motivations make sense from what the audience learns about her from her herself and others.

The movie is far from perfect, however.
Some of the CGI feels like it needed a little more work or time. “Captain Marvel” was advertised as a “90s period” movie, but it doesn’t linger too much on the era, which is fine, but the film could have pulled off more of what they were going for if they embraced the 90s more. There are a few times that the movie has to remind the audience that it’s the 90s. The main antagonists don’t get enough exposition to understand what they want or what their end goal is, which is more important than the timing of the music. The audience gets a feel for possibly why the villains are “bad,” but there isn’t much there in terms of dialogue about their motivations are besides protection of their race.
The 90s soundtrack is fun, and most of the music is familiar. For the most part, the music resonates well, when it is used. The 90s music is used more sparingly than “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Artist such as TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, Elastica, Nirvana and more are all sprinkled throughout the course of the movie’s score, which adds in some 90s nostalgia feelings in there.
The music is occasionally used at an awkward time, but that is minor.
“Captain Marvel” is a solid movie all things considered. Carol Danvers feels like a superhero that should’ve had a movie 10 years ago with the original Avengers, and her presence in the MCU is already so widespread with one movie. Audiences should look forward to her return in the future. With Endgame roughly a month away, “Captain Marvel” adds to the hype that continues to build leading up to that fateful day.