The Captain Marvel that I knew and loved as a kid was from DC Comics. He was the superhero that young Billy Batson turned into whenever he said the word “SHAZAM!” I used to read the DC Captain Marvel comics in the 1970s, as well as watch his half-hour TV show (which aired in an hour block with Isis, another female superhero who will probably never be revived, thanks to negative present-day connotations with her name). By the time Marvel Comics had gotten hold of the Captain Marvel name and recreated her as Carol Danvers in the 1990s, I had stopped reading comics on a regular basis (they were just getting too expensive for me).
So I really had no idea who this new-fangled (at least to me) Captain Marvel was when I started watching her film, which was the next stop on the ongoing cinematic saga that the Marvel superhero films have become in recent years. There was one main draw for me in seeing this Captain Marvel, and that was the woman who plays her, Brie Larson.
I first saw Brie Larson in Room, a magnificent film where she gave a wonderful performance--and one where she well-deserved her Oscar win as best actress. I also enjoyed seeing her in Free Fire, as well as Kong: Skull Island, and I was pleasantly surprised by her turn in The Unicorn Store, which Larson had also directed. And so even though I had no clue who or what this new Captain Marvel was, I was more than ready to watch Larson play her.
And despite the lazy and lackluster script that she’s saddled with, Larson still gives it her all, here. Her formidable presence alone makes this extremely dopey flick (one that allows a cat to be a major scene-stealer, as well as an overly convenient Deus ex machina) bearable to watch. Samuel L. Jackson, as Nick Fury, is another welcome addition. His chemistry with Larson is very solid--as well as it should be, since he’s already acted with her previously in Kong and The Unicorn Store. Ben Mendelsohn is another standout in the cast, turning what should be just another cardboard villain into a genuinely interesting character through his performance alone.
But the film quickly devolves even further into a silly Star Wars wannabe clone, with people literally running around a blandly designed spaceship, trading weapons fire with Captain Marvel, who can shoot laser beams out of her hands (this power also comes in handy for making tea, as shown in a genuinely witty scene--one which the film could have used a lot more of). This extended laser tag scene aboard the spaceship was so derivative that I half expected to see C-3PO and R2-D2 pop up, dodging the laser fire like they did in A New Hope, all while commenting on how it doesn’t look like the princess will escape this time.
Yet, thankfully, the princess--Brie Larson--does escape this flimsy excuse for a movie, with her reputation firmly intact. I still admire her as an actress (as well as a director) and will still follow Larson’s career, no matter what she decides to do next. I’m actually looking forward to seeing her interact with the Avengers (I haven’t seen Endgame as of yet), and we get just a sliver of a taste of her meeting with them at the end of Captain Marvel.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the new Shazam movie that was recently released, starring the Big Red Cheese himself, as he’s known by his arch nemesis, Doctor Sivana. But I will always fondly refer to Billy Batson’s alter-ego as being the REAL Captain Marvel. --SF
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