The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been around for eleven years now, and over the course of its twenty movies, the franchise has gained a reputation of each movie all having a very similar feel, with its earliest movies in particular all following a very similar formula. Movies like Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk followed in Iron Man’s footsteps, telling essentially the “hero’s journey” formula. Each film focused on a seemingly ordinary individual getting called to something extraordinary, with the help of a mentor, go through some trials and tribulations, learn a little bit about themselves, and face off against a powerful enemy with powers similar to theirs, ending the movie a much different person than they were at the start of the film.
In recent years, the studio has moved away from this formula. While they always retain the overall “Marvel feel,” it would be a little less about the hero’s journey. Certain heroes would get introduced in team-up films with their first solo outing starting them off as already well-established characters and jumping right into things, and any sequels wouldn’t so much rehash familiar elements. Their last few films have been praised for feeling fresher than their normal fare. However, for their twenty-first film, Captain Marvel, the studio reverses course a bit and tells another hero’s journey that seems to be as formulaic as their Phase One films. Or so it seems.
The film starts off in 1995 on a planet called Hala, where an alien race known as Kree are in the midst of a war with another alien race called the Skrulls. During a rescue mission, Vers (Brie Larson), a member of the military unit known as the Starforce, is almost captured by the Skrulls and escapes by inadvertently piloting an escape pod to Earth, where she draws the attention of a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), only to shortly be attacked further by the Skrulls on Earth. As Vers and Fury work together, they dig a little deeper into the Kree-Skrull War and also find the work of a mysterious woman (Annette Bening) who has been appearing in Vers’ recurring nightmares, leading her to discover a little more about herself.
The film makes use of many of Marvel’s most well-known tropes, but manages to subvert the normal Marvel formula, with a supernatural Vers going to Earth and through ordinary humans, finding out the truth behind some of her incredible powers. This was clever on Marvel’s part. Considering Captain Marvel has not been seen in a film prior to this, an origin story only made sense, and the story was told in such a way that it allowed them to still properly set her character up without feeling exactly like all their other origin stories.
And by taking this reversed approach to their normal storytelling method, it makes the titular character’s journey a lot more interesting to watch. Writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are known for their poignant stories, and manage to apply their highly emotional writing style to the superhero genre to some wonderful results, showing us someone with godlike abilities become truly humbled as they discover more about who they are. We get a hero with an incredibly rich backstory that contain plenty of deep dramatic depth.
Despite how emotional it can be, the film can also feel like a “buddy cop” movie, with moments focusing on the relationship built between Vers and Fury. And what’s nice about this is the fact that these scenes are some of the most light-hearted moments in the film. Jackson’s Fury is one of the franchise’s more cynical characters, and the buddy subgenre always has one partner whose totally down on their luck to play off a more upbeat individual. However, this is a Nick Fury who’s nowhere near as seasoned as the hardened agent we first saw at the end of Iron Man. He’s still optimistic and has a quick sense of humor about him. He only knows Vers for less than a day, and easily plays off her like they’re such good friends. This leads to some solid one-liners and excellent visual gags.
The performances by both Larson and Fury also play a huge role in why their relationship is such fun to watch. Despite an impressive filmography up until this point, Larson’s only had one other major lead role before this film (2015’s Room), and it’s unfortunately easy to forget how talented of an actress she truly is. Despite Vers being overly serious in the film’s first act, Larson - who has an extensive comedy background - manages to play up her character’s initial interactions on Earth for some great laughs, with a deadpan delivery that’s almost reminiscent of Leslie Nielson parody films from the 1980s. The second half of the film really shows how much emotion Larson can bring to her performances, speaking with a firm passion that finds her commanding the screen each time she speaks, giving a truly wonderful performance.
Meanwhile, Jackson, whose last few films have found the actor being a little more overly serious in nature, is allowed to loosen up a bit. An actor who we normally think of as inherently funny (even when he’s serious) due to his loud, grandiose delivery, this films sees him channel more of that energy we’ve missed from him, even if it’s not quite as over-the-top as his actual performances in the 90’s.
Speaking of the 90’s, this film doesn’t simply just take place in the 90’s, but is essentially one giant tribute to the era in which many of Marvel’s current fanbase grew up, even down to the feel of its action scenes, as Boden and Fleck have stated that 90’s action movies had a direct influence on this film. With references ranging from obsolete technology to stores no longer in business, this movie is rich with 90’s culture. Some of these references are played for laughs, which unfortunately may prove to be a bit problematic for those who were too young to remember some of the places or objects joked about in the film, but for those who get the jokes, it’s difficult not to crack a smile.
Additionally, even the soundtrack is heavily comprised of 90’s songs. While most Marvel films (outside of the AC/DC-heavy Iron Man films) usually have their own unique scores, Captain Marvel is comprised almost exclusively of classic 90’s tunes. While this is partially used as just a cute way to make the film feel like the time period it’s set in, the film does cleverly inject some of these songs into crucial scenes as background music. Lyrics to songs like Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” and No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” are actually a reflection of the situation at hand, and while the songs themselves don’t necessarily drive the plot forward, if one listens to the lyrics, it allows the songs to maintain a sense of significance while still doubling as a nice reference to the era.
The film’s weakest point is the fact that - just like many of their Phase One movies - the villain in this one is pretty weak. The film contains a nice twist as to who the villain actually is, and while it does a good job at layering our titular hero’s overall journey, the villain on their own is pretty weak. And this is a shame, especially due to the fact that in recent years, Marvel’s villains have gotten a whole lot better, from Black Panther’s Killmonger to Spider-Man’s Vulture containing incredible depth. This villain feels like a step backwards, and feels a little two-dimensional.
Similarly, the film’s supporting cast is overall mostly wasted, with the only exceptions being a scene-stealing Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull leader, and newcomer Lashana Lynch as Air Force pilot Maria, who’s given some nice emotional moments. Everyone else feels totally underused here. Jude Law - a normally fine actor - feels very pigeonholed here, with only one real consistent emotion through most of the movie that doesn’t allow him to do much. Annette Bening gives a lively performance but her character feels more like a walking plot device than a character with any real heart. We also see the return of Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, who’s built up in a way similar to Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars movies, only for his grand entrance to feel anticlimactic. Clark Gregg finally makes his return to the big screen as Agent Coulson, having last appeared in The Avengers, and while he’s enjoyable during his time on screen, his appearance is really more of a glorified cameo than anything.
Captain Marvel may feel like a step back in terms of storytelling as it treads some familiar territory, but it still has plenty to offer. It may be another origin story, similar to their Phase One films, but it subverts the typical hero’s journey to give us a much more emotional journey for its titular character. While the villains may be weak, our heroes are anything but, with some truly charismatic performances from both Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson. And on top of all that, the film will be a real treat for 90’s babies, not only being just a pop-culture-filled joke-fest, but in ways serenely honoring the time period that much of Marvel’s fanbase holds dear to them. Captain Marvel is another winner for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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