CAPITAN MARVEL CAROL DANVERS MOVIE
Giving the best performance in a movie that relies on its excellent cast to compensate for its empty characters, the ever-reliable Ben Mendelsohn elevates Talos into a genuine menace, first in his reptilian form and then as a Ben Mendelsohn-looking body snatcher once Carol escapes from his clutches and crashlands into Los Angeles circa 1995. It’s a good thing that the Skrulls are more than meets the eye, because their leader - Talos - is asked to shoulder most of the film’s emotional burden. Not since Edward Norton’s Hulk has the MCU offered such a two-dimensional title hero (compared to Danvers, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk might as well be a Dostoyevsky character). There’s an emotional core in there somewhere, but the movie doesn’t find it. So she settles for quips and second-hand glimpses into whatever life she used to live. Larson is far too eager to play her own action figure, and that proud approach doesn’t leave Carol anywhere to go once her memories inevitably return. Danvers has no such luck, and Larson - an Oscar-winner whose natural protectiveness is poorly served by such a self-satisfied character - has little to do beyond mug for the camera and spout third-rate one-liners to any of the men who get in her way. This isn’t the first time a Marvel protagonist has spent an entire movie trying to figure out the basic details of who they are, but at least Star Lord was given some additive character business to fill in the gaps. Their mission: To eliminate a race of shapeshifting aliens known as the Skrulls, who can imitate any lifeform they see.
The first and most fatal mistake of the script that Boden and Fleck co-wrote with Geneva Robertson-Dworet is that it reduces Vers - or Carol Danvers, as she’s later and better known - to an amnesiac for most of her adventure in other words, Captain Marvel is far and away the least compelling thing about “Captain Marvel.” Her journey begins on the futuristic planet of Hala, where Carol lives alongside a humanoid species called the Kree, and fights as a member of their elite military Starforce. If not for some grounded character work towards the end of the story, their contributions to this $152-million behemoth would seem totally anonymous.Īs much as this movie can be seen as a step in the right direction, it’s so eager to get to the promised land that it trips over itself right out of the starting gate.
That disappointment is only deepened by the fact that the film was directed by the talented indie twosome of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, whose previous work (“Sugar,” “Half-Nelson,” and “Mississippi Grind” being the highlights) is charged with all the verve and humanity that’s missing here. If only Vers’ movie didn’t treat that sentiment like a self-fulfilling prophecy if only it earned the beautiful idea that it lays out at the start.Īs generic and retrograde as “Black Panther” was specific and revolutionary, “Captain Marvel” is a frustrating disappointment at a time when every inclusive blockbuster is fought over as though it could be the decisive battle in our never-ending culture wars. The context behind Yon-Rogg’s axioms couldn’t be clearer, nor the message more pointed: Women are always being told that they’re too “emotional” to lead, but Vers’ convoluted journey will lead her to see that emotions can be a superpower unto themselves, and that her vulnerability is also her greatest strength. On the contrary, it’s the 21st installment of the 21st century’s most popular mega-franchise, and somehow the first to center on a heroine (a fact that makes the film’s arrival a sadly overdue cause for celebration, like a kid blowing out their birthday candles on the 21st try). “You have to let go of the part of yourself that makes you vulnerable.” He’s Morpheus, she’s Neo, and this is the dojo fight from “The Matrix” if it were less visceral and more explicitly gendered.īut “Captain Marvel,” despite expectations and appearances, is not a groundbreaking science-fiction saga from the 1990s. “There’s nothing more dangerous to a warrior than emotion,” he barks at Vers ( Brie Larson).
Jude Law, playing an alien military commander named Yon-Rogg, mansplains it to his promising female protege as they spar during the opening scene. For a film that’s almost completely incoherent for most of its first act - and seldom finds its footing after that - “ Captain Marvel” is rather clear about its one big idea.
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