Captain Marvel

Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Lashana Lynch,

Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening

"Discover what Makes a (Her)o"

Cinema 4,  the Red Carpet @ Shang

I should say right out that I am not a fan of superhero movies. Fan as in knowing all the backstory of each Avenger, knowing the sequence of the movies of each superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (because there is an order when they were released) and being totally invested to the point of lining up hours before the movie is shown at the local cinemas. 

Having said that, I know enough about each of the Avengers because I would leave the TV on in the movies channel, and more often than not a superhero film would be on - "Guardians of the Galaxy 2", "Iron Man", "Black Panther", "Captain America". We were in a mood to watch and picked "Captain Marvel" because the others did not pique our interest. 

The first few minutes show us Brie Larson as Vers, a Kree warrior who is haunted by nightmares. Flashes of scenes that don't really make sense to her. During one of their battles with their shapeshifting enemies known as the Skrulls, she falls on planet Earth. She crashes on the roof of a Blockbuster video store. Soon enough, we discover she is in Los Angeles during the 1990s. Her name is Carol Danvers and is a training pilot in the Air Force. With the help of her friend, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) who is also a pilot, agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) of S.H.I.E.L.D and a witty Skrull leader named Talos - she sets to rediscover who she really is, why she returned to Earth and what is her purpose in the grand scheme of superheroes.

This two hour long film has action packed sequences, a dry sense of humor in its dialogue mostly courtesy of Nick Fury and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). It retains its 1990s vibe by featuring a soundtrack from artists famous during that era and also through its surroundings like having her land on a Blockbuster video store.

Now I want to focus on Brie Larson's acting as Carol Danvers. She was stoic, to the point of being arrogant and mostly managed just one facial expression throughout the entire film. I, first saw her in the dramatic movie "Room" for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2016. She was excellent there, very emotional and compassionate. So I don't really get the manner she portrayed Vers/ Carol Danvers in "Captain Marvel". Sure, I am all for having an empowered female superhero in the name of the feminist movement yet did she have to be so void of emotions? 

In fact, speaking of another female superhero, Diane Prince aka Wonder Woman, she was also a warrior and a princess at that! She was well portrayed by Gal Gadot, with several emotions amidst all her struggles as "Wonder Woman". 

Now going back to "Captain Marvel", the film provides a good background with a believable plot on how Carol Danvers turned into Captain Mar-vel. It also gave us a teaser on the part she would play in the last installment of the much awaited Avengers movie. Overall, aside from my issues with Brie Larson's acting, this movie is a 3 buckets of popcorn worthy entertainment.