Captain Marvel Review (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Story

• It played out like reverse Hook with an origin story for Carol that took a page out of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern with a splash of Batman Begins and it worked tremendously
• Her starting off powered and going through the movie piecing together bits of her past as a human helps us get a better grasp of her character. We want her to piece things together, we want her to find out the truth about herself. Rooting for her to persevere makes the moment when she DOES achieve her goal all the more sweeter and feels organic
• The reason why I said what I said about Thor was because this movie achieves everything that the first Thor movie wanted to do. The handling of the main character and the journey of self-discovery was better, the way they resolved the antagonist’s plan was handled better, the jokes were distributed in a way that didn’t feel annoying or repetitive and took its serious moments seriously; Thor 1 is the only movie in the MCU that can be fairly compared to Captain Marvel and it does such a better job at telling its story than Thor did
• Coupled with the way they did her origin story - despite being tailored to fit the Infinity War narrative in the MCU - and you have a really engaging plot that’s both fresh and stays true to the character’s core, with side characters that are just as awesome, serve a purpose and bring meaning to the overall story

Characters

• Carol Danvers: Brie’s portrayal of her was a mix of charming, genuine and heartfelt. I loved her snark and that she knew when it was appropriate, I loved her no-bullshit attitude and how she handled situations, and seeing her vulnerable and emotional when reaching certain hurdles in her development was hella believable
• Nick Fury: Seeing Sam Jackson play a younger Nick Fury who isn’t as serious as he is in the previous movies was really fun, because it gave Sam a reason to go ham and have fun with it and I can tell in his performance. Which is saying a lot, because probably with the exception of Mr. Glass, seeing him just have fun with a role is very common and this is the first time I’ve seen him have that sense of fun with Nick. Plus, he and Brie work very well together and play off of each other nicely because of it. It reminded me of a PG-13 version of he and Ryan Reynold’s relationship in The Hitman’s Bodyguard in a way

Liked

• The pacing and action throughout the movie was nicely done. Nothing felt too long, too short or out of place; everything about the narrative flowed seamlessly
• The look and overall use of the Skrulls (though some may not enjoy the overall use because it kinda eliminates a possible story element for the next possible arc of the MCU, but I’m fine with that personally)
• The de-aging technology looked really good in this. Every movie they use it in looks better and more realistic than the last one, and I’m very impressed with how well they utilized it for Fury and Coulson.

Disliked

• I wish we got more time seeing the set designs of the different alien planets. It felt a tad bit rushed as far as giving us a chance to absorb the settings in exchange for getting us to the action the scene was gonna deliver
• While the soundtrack was great, the score wasn’t as memorable as I would’ve liked it to be. Plus, Captain Marvel’s overall theme used in the movie was next to non-existent; I really want another Black Panther/Captain America theme where you know that hero is present when you hear it play in the background

Overall

• Captain Marvel was an excellent movie, and did a better job at telling the story of Thor’s introduction in the MCU than his movie did (said by someone who loves Thor)
• The storytelling was great, the acting and the chemistry with all of the actors was great, and despite using the elements of the MCU that I don’t necessarily care for, it was able to use them to form a narrative that I really enjoyed
• See in theaters at full ticket price. Definitely worth a buy.