It’s taken the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 11 years, 20 films and countless Stan Lee cameos to get to Captain Marvel, their first female-led superhero outing. And we’re here to tell you that it was worth the wait and Captain Marvel is everything you want it to be… and so much more.
CAAARRROOLLL!
The opening moments of Captain Marvel make you realise that you’re in for something different, something unlike any Marvel film that came before it… something special. And really after everything, for those who have stuck with the MCU so far, that’s saying something.
Without spoiling anything, Captain Marvel follows Carol Danvers, a member of the Kree military team, Starforce, has to try and piece together her past and her place in the universe. And although, that might sound like a cookie cutter plot, it’s the heart, humour and confidence that writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck inject into it that makes it stand out.
Soarin’, flyin’, there’s not a star in heaven that she can’t reach.
We’ve known for a while that Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel was the linchpin for the MCU going into Avengers: Endgame, touted by Kevin Feige as “the most powerful character in the Marvel universe” and oh boy, does Brie Larson bring it. Larson’s performance is powerful and understated but really what more could you expect from the Oscar winner?
Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg return as a digitally de-aged Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, although Coulson is relegated to the sideline for the most part. Jackson however, looks incredible and chews up the scenes with Larson and they work really, really well.
*Insert opening like of Blur’s Song 2*
Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening, Jude Law and Lashana Lynch round out the admirable supporting cast, all turning in multi-faceted performances but the real MVP of the film? That is without a doubt Goose, Danvers’ cat who steals every scene he’s in and can we please give him a spin-off already?!
Formerly known as Chewbacca.
The soundtrack is up there with the Guardians of The Galaxy in its use of dynamic, energetic music that will make you hop out of your seat. Like who in their right mind would’ve thought that we would ever have one of the MCU’s best fight scenes set to No Doubt’s ‘I’m Just A Girl’?
Captain Marvel marks a step in the right direction for the future of the MCU and after 2018’s Black Panther, we’re seeing a socially aware phase of films coming out that will make you wonder why it took so long.
Shaka-can’t do this.
The film is the cinematic equivalent of a hug. Sounds weird, I know. But when you think about the pantheon of comics and characters created by Stan Lee, it makes a bit more sense. The characters that inhabit these universes are both reflections of ourselves and people we aspire to be like and Captain Marvel is no different.
It’s aspirational and it wants you to be as well, it wants you to defy all expectations and simply try to be better… not by changing anything about yourself but by understanding yourself.
Fly on.