Captain Marvel delivered action, humor and heartfelt storytelling that can be enjoyed by hardcore Marvel fans, as well as people new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Something Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel’s directors and screenwriters, achieved better than previous Marvel creators was the balance between humor and seriousness.
While this certainly wasn’t the most serious Marvel movie ever created, it also wasn’t as lighthearted as movies such as Ant-Man or Thor: Ragnarok.
The balance of tension and humor made it a funny and emotional watch without it feeling too heavy.
Additionally, the events in Captain Marvel tied in perfectly with last spring’s blockbuster, Avengers: Infinity War, filling in some of the gaps and setting things up for the next Avengers movie.
However, it never felt like the movie was made just to explain Infinity War or the upcoming movie, Avengers: Endgame; it could stand on its own as a great movie.
As the movie was set in 1995, directors brought in a mix of new and old characters.
Brie Larson played Carol Danvers, otherwise known throughout the film as Vers and Captain Marvel.
As both a no-nonsense and quick-witted character, Larson’s character was a refreshing take on superheros and was more balanced than others have been in the past.
Her training taught her to be tough and efficient during fights, but her sarcastic personality came through in everyday situations.
While Larson’s character was definitely the central focus, the supporting characters were dynamic and added both humor and emotion.
Samuel L. Jackson reprised his role as a Shield Agent, Nick Fury.
There was a younger, dorky quality to his character that made him more relatable than in previous movies and broke the tension in serious moments.
His relationship with Goose, a cat that joins him and Danvers for most of the movie, was unexpected and hilarious.
Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), Danvers’ best friend from the Air Force, added emotional interest to Danvers’ backstory and stood on her own as a dynamic character.
The bond she shared with Danvers was strong and connected the viewer to her immediately.
Additionally, Rambeau’s relationship with her daughter was sweet and help round out her character.
A character with an interesting arc was Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), the leader of a group of aliens called Skrulls who invaded Earth.
His character development was unexpected and a refreshing twist on typical villains. Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) was a tough mentor for Danvers.
While his character arc wasn’t particularly original, it fit the story well and led to an exciting conclusion.
The music throughout the film added to the story.
The score, composed by Pinar Toprak, helped add tension and emotion without becoming a distraction.
Additionally, the use of songs from the 90’s helped make the movie feel more realistic and added a fun element to certain scenes.
The visuals were fairly good.
Most of the movie takes place on Earth, although a portion of it takes place in outer space and on another planet.
There weren’t any moments where the CGI was glaringly obvious, though if you paid attention, you might have noticed it a few times.
The costuming for the Skrulls could have been slightly more well-polished; there were several times when the costume was distracting when it should have fitted seamlessly with the character.
Overall, Captain Marvel was a fresh spin on typical Marvel tropes and created a great original movie with the MCU’s first female lead.