Captain Marvel
16/03/19 Filed in: Cinema
As anyone who follows my reviews probably knows, I have of late become a bit bored with superhero movies. It's a matter of overkill, both in reality and metaphorically. But with no other enticing choice this week, and after hearing Mark Kermode give the film his blessing, off we went to see Brie Larson take on the role of Captain Marvel. Of course, that in itself was probably good reason to go since, Wonder Woman aside, female superheroes are pretty thin on the ground.
The film has been a resounding box office success despite the backlash against Larson, who had the temerity to advocate more diverse film criticism during an interview for the March 2019 edition of British Marie Claire. Citing the 'overwhelming white male representation among film critics' was never going to win her much support with dyed in the wool white males. But I doubt that worried Larson, and it would seem that there are plenty of white males out there who can imagine a world beyond that dominated by one half of the planet's population.
And so to the film. It does start off a bit slowly, one of the criticisms. But it is establishing both a back story and giving us an insight into our heroine's troubled mind. She is a Kree, going by the name of Vers, one of a warrior race that we see initially on a mission to track down Skrulls, an avowed enemy who have the ability to shape-shift into literally anybody or anything. The Krees are ambushed and Vers is captured, enduring a mind probing examination that seeks to recover information from her brain, while at the same time subjecting her to flashbacks of a former life, the same flashbacks that have continually troubled her in nightmares.
But Vers is more than just a Kree, she possesses a power over and above that of a normal Kree warrior. A power that Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), her mentor, is training her to control. Even at this stage one senses that everything that Yon-Rogg says shouldn't perhaps be relied upon. Vers' special power allows her to escape the Skrulls, ending up on the planet C53, or as we would call it, Earth. Crashing through the roof of a Blockbuster video store, her arrival attracts the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) being the first to question her. But she spots a Skrull, suitably shape-formed into a normal sort of guy, and makes chase.
From this point on the action really takes off, starting with a fight on the top of a train, while Fury is in hot pursuit, French Connection style, below the elevated rail tracks. Agent Phil Coulson is with him, or is he? Events unfold that result in a bond of trust forming between Vers and Fury as they try to track down a woman who features strongly in Vers' nightmares, a one Dr Wendy Lawson. They arrive at a US Air Force base where Vers discovers who she really is, and that the name Vers derives from a fragmented dog-tag, her real name being Carol Danvers. And at this point we are introduced to Goose, a cat that befriends Fury, but it's no ordinary cat.
Fury and Carol track down a former close friend of hers, but the Skrulls are still on the case and soon make an appearance. But just like her name Vers, the story of the Skrulls has been misrepresented by the Krees. And Yon-Rogg is now looking for her for all the wrong reasons. But the special power within her is to prove far greater than Yon-Rogg allowed her to believe, and when she realises this the true Captain Marvel emerges, and is indeed a force to be reckoned with.
She ultimately sets out to right wrongs throughout the universe, leaving Fury a sort of super pager, having a range of around two galaxies, by which he can contact her. And we discover that in her former life, as a jet pilot, she went by the name of Carol (Avenger) Danvers. And so we have the lead in for her next outing, telegraphed by a mid-credits' Easter Egg showing a group of 'Avengers' monitoring the inter-galactic pager. But where's Fury, a question that Captain Marvel is eager to have answered.
So if you're not one of those white males who can't stomach a woman in a power role, then I strongly recommend this film to you.
But Vers is more than just a Kree, she possesses a power over and above that of a normal Kree warrior. A power that Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), her mentor, is training her to control. Even at this stage one senses that everything that Yon-Rogg says shouldn't perhaps be relied upon. Vers' special power allows her to escape the Skrulls, ending up on the planet C53, or as we would call it, Earth. Crashing through the roof of a Blockbuster video store, her arrival attracts the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) being the first to question her. But she spots a Skrull, suitably shape-formed into a normal sort of guy, and makes chase.
From this point on the action really takes off, starting with a fight on the top of a train, while Fury is in hot pursuit, French Connection style, below the elevated rail tracks. Agent Phil Coulson is with him, or is he? Events unfold that result in a bond of trust forming between Vers and Fury as they try to track down a woman who features strongly in Vers' nightmares, a one Dr Wendy Lawson. They arrive at a US Air Force base where Vers discovers who she really is, and that the name Vers derives from a fragmented dog-tag, her real name being Carol Danvers. And at this point we are introduced to Goose, a cat that befriends Fury, but it's no ordinary cat.
Fury and Carol track down a former close friend of hers, but the Skrulls are still on the case and soon make an appearance. But just like her name Vers, the story of the Skrulls has been misrepresented by the Krees. And Yon-Rogg is now looking for her for all the wrong reasons. But the special power within her is to prove far greater than Yon-Rogg allowed her to believe, and when she realises this the true Captain Marvel emerges, and is indeed a force to be reckoned with.
She ultimately sets out to right wrongs throughout the universe, leaving Fury a sort of super pager, having a range of around two galaxies, by which he can contact her. And we discover that in her former life, as a jet pilot, she went by the name of Carol (Avenger) Danvers. And so we have the lead in for her next outing, telegraphed by a mid-credits' Easter Egg showing a group of 'Avengers' monitoring the inter-galactic pager. But where's Fury, a question that Captain Marvel is eager to have answered.
So if you're not one of those white males who can't stomach a woman in a power role, then I strongly recommend this film to you.