Phillip Hudson
Student Reporter
“Captain Marvel” brings more galactic elements from Marvel Comics that Guardians of Galaxy introduced. The new aliens include the Skrull and the Flerkens, who look like house cats. We learn more about the Kree, who were mentioned with Ronan: their military structure, that they follow a being called the Supreme Intelligence and their reasons for entering wars with other aliens like the Skrulls.
The Kree/Skrull war sets up the protagonists’ and antagonists’ goals in the film, who will find the lightspeed engine, allowing either side to move several times faster than the other side. As mentioned, the Skrulls can shape shift, so they seem to have an advantage over the Kree, but Danvers’ powers outweigh that advantage.
Danvers can shoot energy out of her body allowing her to fly, shoot blasts from her hands, somehow breathe in space, start an engine, super strength and have glowing eyes. Her only weaknesses seem to be if you can over her hands, though she can eventually blast them off, and being naive, though that is is cured by the end of the film.
The entire main cast play off of each other really well. Their chemistry could fuel a trilogy, which most franchises seem to want. Jackson and Mendelson have the best chemistry and fight scene in the film. They have a sitcom feel about their relationship, each character having a sarcastic response to the other. Lynch’s time in the film is briefer than the other stars but every scene she is in matters and she quickly becomes a key character the moment she appears.
However, the cast is centered around Larson, whose performance was inconsistent in the film. Many scenes she laughed at funny moments and was serious in serious moments, but sometimes she did serious in funny moments. Her and Law’s lines were delivered as if they did not know what the character was feeling or thinking, which may have been a directorial choice. Law is a major player in the film–scientist, leader of the Noble Warrior Heroes and mentor to Larson’s character–but he was forgettable.
The other Noble Warrior Heroes were also throw away characters that could have left the movie at anytime and the film would have ended the same way. This is actually a trend in heroes films, “Wonder Woman,”
“Captain America: The First Avenger,” and all the “Thor” films, that only the Children of Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War” have managed to avoid.
Despite these issues, “Captain Marvel” is an OK film. If you like action, comedy and have some ‘90s nostalgia, go see it.