Captain Marvel (2019) Mini-Review — Analytic Critic
Was anyone honestly excited for Captain Marvel when the movie was first announced? I certainly wasn’t, at least based on the mediocre trailers they gave us before release. A female, invulnerable version of Superman (who can generally be a boring superhero himself)? Where’s the tension?
That said, I didn’t think I’d ever see a Marvel film as bad as The Incredible Hulk again, but look at me now — Captain Marvel is easily the second-worst MCU film ever created. How so? Let’s take a look.
WRITING:
Captain Marvel follows Carol Danvers, a powerful woman who lost her memory, as she and her alien allies — the Kree — battle against a dangerous group of shapeshifters called the Skrulls.
After being trapped on earth in an accident, Danvers joins Nick Fury in his attempt to uncover the truth behind the Skrulls. At the same time, she has to discover a way to recover her lost memories.
Yes, Captain Marvel is another generic fish-out-of-water story like Thor was. The retrograde amnesia story has also been done to death, which doesn’t help what little the movie’s has going for it at all.
The thing is, it actually has a lot of potential: shapeshifters that can masquerade as anyone, not knowing who you can trust… The issue is that the film never capitalizes on this premise.
Even worse, the writing and dialogue are just abysmal all-around. Between awful one-liners/jokes, unrealistic and contrived feminism, and underdeveloped characters, the movie is unable to captivate the viewer’s attention. The characters lack unique voices, each melding into the others with reckless abandon.
On top of this, the weak villains really don’t provide any actual tension for the audience. With stakes this low, how can the film honestly expect its audience to care?
CAST:
Brie Larson plays the main protagonist, Danvers herself. While she certainly has her moments, she isn’t that great here in portraying a woman torn between her Kree and human roots. It’s unfortunate, too, because I know Larson is capable of so much more.
Samuel L. Jackson is definitely the best actor in the film. Jackson has an uncanny ability to make every sentence he spews believable and immersive. I’ve seen many bad movies in which Jackson is a star, but it is never his acting that ruins a film.
Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law play decent roles as suspicious characters, though I wouldn’t say either is able to elevate the material off the page. I don’t know if it was the dialogue or their delivery, but their performances were definitely a bit off.
Finally, Lashana Lynch plays Maria Rambeau, Danvers’ best friend. Lynch actually has conviction and mostly nails her American accent. However, her delivery of certain lines made me cringe quite a bit.
Okay, so it probably isn’t the delivery; it’s the dialogue.
PRODUCTION:
Captain Marvel isn’t just a poorly written film; it’s a terribly directed one, too. Between the “safe” cinematography, the unexciting action sequences, and the weak delivery of many of the script’s lines, the movie is an utter train wreck.
But that’s not all! The music isn’t memorable in the slightest, the sound design is off, and the sets are completely unimaginative. There’s little of note here.
Moreover, the CGI and special effects are atrocious, instantly pulling me out of the film on multiple occasions. I don’t know if this is a budgetary concern, but for a movie that takes place on different planets and requires moderately immersive effects, the visuals are incredibly lacking.
In fact, there are only two visual elements that land the way they should: the lighting and the editing. The lighting immaculately captures the bright and dark scenes of the film, while the editing cleverly weaves flashbacks into the narrative in an engaging way.
With stakes this low, how can the film honestly expect its audience to care?
SUMMARY:
Put simply, Captain Marvel is beyond disappointing; it’s absolutely horrendous. Between its weak narrative, middling visuals, and mediocre acting, there’s very little reason to ever visit the film in the first place.
Captain Marvel gets a 2.5 out of 10.
