Stars: 4/5
Captain Marvel, the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first female-led Marvel movie, blasts into theaters just in time for International Women’s Day. The movie premiered March 8 and since then has made over $455 million worldwide.
The movie is set in 1995, long before the events of the first Marvel movies like Avengers, Thor and Iron Man. It’s also before Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) became the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D and even before he started wearing his infamous eyepatch. It also introduces newcomer to the Marvel universe, Oscar-winner Brie Larson, as Captain Marvel.
The movie starts with Vers — the name she’s called before Captain Marvel — on the planet Hala about to go on a rescue mission with her fellow Kree warriors. The mission goes wrong and Vers ends up captured by the enemy Skrulls. After escaping the Skrulls, Vers ends up on stranded in Los Angeles, where she slowly starts to realize that everything about the Kree and the Skrulls isn’t what she thought.
The beginning of the movie is a little confusing, with the movie not really explaining the whole Kree thing or why the people of Kree have special powers. It also gives hints that Vers has no memory of her life before Kree, but this isn’t confirmed until later in the movie. The movie doesn’t really start to gain momentum and become exciting until Nick Fury is introduced.
If you’ve seen the Avengers, you know Nick Fury as the badass leader of S.H.I.E.L.D who seems to be all-knowing. However, in Captain Marvel we get to see a younger, less experienced version of Nick Fury who doesn’t even believe in aliens until he finally sees one for himself. It’s the perfect way for the character to be portrayed because the audience gets to see him grow into the leader they know and love.
Fury and Vers work together originally to find the energy source Vers is looking for that will help the Kree people win the war against the Skrulls. While doing this, the duo uncover Vers’ past. They learn that she is actually an Airforce pilot who was taken by the Kree and presumed dead by her family and friends on Earth. While deciphering her past, they also realize that the Kree are the bad guys and the Skrulls are just trying to find themselves a permanent home.
Captain Marvel is also the first female-led Marvel movie, so it’s no surprise that the studio went all out. The graphics and CGI are well done and the script is written with the humor of Thor: Ragnarok. They also made Captain Marvel an immensely powerful hero who will be an asset in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.
What may be the best part of the movie is the girl power shown. Not just because Captain Marvel is so powerful, but the relationships between the women in the movie. Vers is reunited with her best friend from the Airforce, and the interactions between them are amazing. Even though she has few memories of her life before, Vers still knows the strong bond she has with her best friend.
Overall, Captain Marvel is a good addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and answers a lot of questions viewers have about the past movies. Once the pace gets going, the movie is a fun, energetic adventure that lives up to the hype of the first female-led Marvel movie.
