Erik Jimenez/Staff Writer
While the Marvel cinematic universe has an undeniably positive track record when it comes to its films, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t had the occasional stinker. From “The Incredible Hulk” to “Iron Man 2” to “Thor: The Dark World” to “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” Marvel’s weaker flicks haven’t been bad as they are strikingly mediocre. Now, here comes “Captain Marvel,” the new king (or rather, queen) of mediocrity to rule them all.
“Captain Marvel” takes place in 1995 and follows Vers, (Brie Larson) a member of an elite team of aliens that protects the intergalactic Kree empire from their archnemesis, the shape-shifting Skrulls. When a mission goes wrong, Vers lands on Earth and discovers she has a history and past on the planet she didn’t know about. And, when she learns the Skrulls are looking for an item developed by someone in her past that could help them win the war, Vers teams up with a pre-eyepatch Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to stop them.
Believe it or not, I made the film seem more exciting in those few sentences than it ever is in its full two-hour run. The film has a few positives: Jackson, who has great chemistry with Larson; Ben Mendelsohn as the villainous Skrull leader; Talos, a charismatic entity; and appearances from younger versions of Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and Ronan (Lee Pace), the villains from the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film.
The film even has a younger version of Agent Coulson, played by Clark Gregg thanks to the same de-aging process used on Jackson. And there is a great scene involving a cat that will be surprising to those unfamiliar with the comics.
But the film fails in an area that just about every other Marvel film has succeeded in: its hero. Whether it’s due to Brie Larson or the film’s five screenwriters or a toxic combination of both, Captain Marvel is not only her film’s weakest element, but easily the worst hero in the MCU so far.
This is a character that starts and ends the film as stoic and bold; she tries to be a combination of Tony Stark’s wit and Steve Roger’s moral commitment, and fails to be either. Without spoiling anything, the character goes through and experiences many revelations about her life on Earth, and practically none of them seem to affect her emotionally. There is no low point where Captain Marvel questions herself unlike all of the other major superheroes in the MCU.
I don’t know if this character needs better writers or if this might be the first case of miscasting in the MCU. But if this is supposedly the only character that is powerful enough to defeat Thanos, then boy… “Avengers: Endgame” is going to be a rough sit thanks to this dullard of a deus ex machina character.
Even the action itself is unimpressive and forgettable. It’s almost as if Marvel Studios saw “Wonder Woman” and felt like they could top DC by making their female hero more important to their overall story than “Wonder Woman” is to her universe.
But Brie Larson is not Gal Gadot. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are not Patty Jenkins. And this film is not “Wonder Woman.” So save your money and stay away.
Featured photo by Elijah O’Donnell on Unsplash.
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