Captain Marvel is an extraterrestrial Kree warrior who finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between her people and the Skrulls. Living on Earth in 1995, she keeps having recurring memories of another life as U.S. Air Force pilot Carol Danvers. With help from Nick Fury, Captain Marvel tries to uncover the secrets of her past while harnessing her special superpowers to end the war with the evil Skrulls.
Captain Marvel is, you guessed it, another Marvel film about a superhero fighting the bad guys! What makes this film unique though is that it will be the last Marvel film released before Endgame comes out next month, and that really shows in this film. The story behind this film is basically Captain Marvel crash lands on Earth and aims to protect the planet from Skrulls, however upon fighting them off she realises that they are not the real enemy. This film is definitely full of plot twists and character switches which help to keep the film unpredictable and exciting, however is this merely a final post before the biggest film of the year? Or is this the best way to lead up to Endgame? Here are my thoughts.
I'll be honest, the film started and didn't really introduce the characters very well at all. But what I did like was the way in which various themes and feelings were created right from the very beginning which felt apparent throughout the rest of the film, not only did the battles in the faraway planet create a sense of mystery around the characters but it also showed that Captain Marvel definitely had something to prove as well which helped to give her some character at the start. I also really enjoyed the typical Marvel plot theme, in typical Marvel fashion a variety of cool effects, background audio and plot twists were used not only to really help make the film interesting but also to really help the audience engage with the film and the plot. The result of this was really positive, I really feel that the film was full of really interesting and exciting scenes, this then made the more tense scenes much more meaningful too. The way in which this film was executed really helped to make it exciting, as well as this plot twists were used to help support this. I was really surprised, because this film was absolutely full of plot twists and surprises. But actually they helped to keep the film feeling fresh and exciting because we never knew where it would go next, and this really helped to solidify the films plot because it was unpredictable which helped the film to feel like more of a story rather than a real film plot. I also thought that another element of this film that made it unique was the mixture of planets and species, seeing humans and Skrulls mixing together in a variety of environments really made the film exciting, because we were always guessing whether each character was who they said they were, it also had a really positive effect of helping the films plot to stand out in a vast sea of superhero films, I understand that a lot of films have this mixture of species but this seemed to feel really different, but very well executed.
I was especially impressed by the cast and characters in the film though, Brie Larson is excellent as the main lead. I mean, she really kicks arse! The fight scenes are much more realistic than for instance in Wonder Woman. The 90s setting is also well done. When you know that era well then be prepared for a lot of laughs and nostalgia. The other characters in this film were really good too, albeit the plot twists sometimes made the character relationships a little confusing and they were really key to the success of this film. They're really exciting and engaging for a variety of reasons, firstly their dialogue really helps us to attach to the characters and really put ourselves in their shoes, this helps us to really relate and understand the characters on a personal level. Also the plot twists, these help to keep the characters on their toes and what I thought made the film really special here was that we found out secrets and information about the characters past as they did, it almost felt as if we were helping them to search through all of the memories to find their true self and that was really enjoyable. I also feel that the way in which character relationships changed and evolved was really fresh and exciting too, not only did it help to keep us involved within the films plot but also the characters too, because we could see how various scenes and events seemed to have a long lasting impact on the film. This was done especially well. Seeing the switches between humour and action was also really well done and helped to make the film enjoyable and humorous too, Fury and his cat seemed to be a great dual team which definitely seemed to be well received by the audience, especially due to the loud laughs and claps that were used during these scenes towards the end of the film. What I found most intriguing was how the movie served to fill in many of the blanks that existed within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, that's not to say you have to watch all 20 entries to appreciate the movie, but there remains a large number of Easter eggs for die-hard Marvel fans to feast upon. The film also has a number of surprises, which at times left me stunned. Without a doubt these moments greatly contributed to my overall enjoyment of the movie. Captain Marvel is far from a perfect film, however, and there are certainly a few elements that I could have done without.
There were of course a few elements in this film I really didn't like however, the main part of this film I didn't enjoy actually relates to the characters and the plot. I feel that both of them are really under-introduced, as a fair Marvel fan I didn't really appreciate being thrown straight into the deep end without any introduction as to who the characters were, where they were or what they were doing. I definitely felt that for some of the starting scenes, I felt myself not questioning this but just allowing it to happen which resulted in a pretty blurry and confusing starting set of scenes to the film, this didn't help to establish a very strong start to the film. I also found myself seeing visual and character issues in the film too. Coulson's CGI face wasn't perfect, it was a little bit flawed and I could see through it. Also the relationship between Carol and her friend in the Air Force was not intriguing enough or that believable and we didn't see much of it compared to what was teased in the trailers, this would have been a really important part of the film and could have really helped to increase the emotional and powerful aspect of the films plot if this simple relationship would have been focused on a little bit more.
On one hand I thought that the plot twists were really well done and definitely helped to add to the films plot, but on the other hand I thought that they actually contributed to making the films plot quite confusing and flawed. I found that many of the plot twists and changes to characters actually just seemed to make the film a bit more confusing, as these characters were constantly being changed and adapted which sometimes meant that they lost what made them their original character. This honestly felt like Phase 1, which is not a good thing. That's not to say that Iron Man and The Avengers weren't good, it's just that this film feels a lot like the early Marvel films in the sense that it felt like they were still in an experimental phase. They were still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work about their films.
Overall, I would rate this film an 8. I have seen online the poor ratings that this film has been receiving from audiences and I definitely don't feel that these are justified, the film was definitely interesting and exciting enough to make a solid entry into the MCU films. Especially going off the new twists and direction that this film seems to take, as well as the solid acting from Brie as the main character too. However I cannot overlook the variety of confusing and underrepresented scenes which just downright made the film confusing, where either some characters weren't properly introduced or scenes were made confusing due to the heavy plot twists and that is definitely a shame because there is potential here. However, I would still definitely recommend this film and please STAY BEHIND AFTER THE CREDITS!!! But seriously, if you're into Avengers or even if you aren't then there is still plenty that this film offers for the hardcore fan as well as the everyday person who likes superpowers.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching it and writing this review. Thank you to everyone for the recent numbers I have been getting on my posts, I would love if some of you could use the 'contact me' section to send me across some comments, feedback and even information about you, your favourite cinema or your favourite film. Thank you and have a lovely day. :)
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