Captain Marvel (2019) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), is a Kree warrior in the middle of an intergalactic conflict. To combat an alien race known as the Skrulls, she teams up with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

Review:

Brie Larson portrays the cosmic hero, Captain Marvel. For context, this was Brie's initial debut in Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding universe.

Captain Marvel doesn’t break new ground in relation to its origin story.

Audiences are witness to a by-the-numbers setup of who the hero is and her set of powers. As a whole, the film’s tone is dull.

A contributing aspect to this is that Brie Larson looks uninterested in the role she’s playing.

Larson’s acting ability is lacking in Captain Marvel. This may have been because of the film's shallow script.

Her powers have above-average visual effects. Aside from that, they amount to nothing more than action noise with choppy editing.

It is also quite evident that there is no central antagonist in this story. In this film, the Skrulls are somewhat of an antagonistic force.

Their involvement, though, is minimal, making them feel wasted.

Their leader, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), is also a shallow character. There are times when he's fun to watch due to Mendelsohn’s acting.

Making a return appearance is Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who’s been de-aged through CGI.

It should be no surprise that Jackson’s usual charisma is on display here. This makes him the film’s most entertaining character.

Regardless, there is a scene that treats him as a joke, which is frustrating.

Conclusion:

As a whole, there isn’t much to say about Captain Marvel.

While its action is decent from a visual standpoint, there’s no reason to get invested in what’s happening.

What makes an audience gravitate to these sequences is the characters.

In this case, most of Captain Marvel's characters are hollow. Either that or they lack any believable motivations.

To conclude, Captain Marvel has its moments. There should've been a greater effort to invest audiences in Brie’s character.

This may have come across this way because of her acting, a weak narrative structure, or the script.

As a whole, these elements should've used more refinement. This would've made Captain Marvel more than a run-of-the-mill effort.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 5/10

Story - 5/10

Action - 5.5/10

CGI and visuals - 6.5/10

Soundtrack - 5.5/10

Overall score: 5.5 out of 10