Review: Marvel’s latest blockbuster ‘Captain Marvel’ radiates empowerment

Brie Larson stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universes newest film, Captain Marvel.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Brie Larson stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest film, “Captain Marvel.”

Jake Goodwin, Staff Writer

“Captain Marvel” continues to break records. This weekend, it brought in another $188 million in global sales at the box office – one of the top 20 highest-grossing second weekends of all time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie was hinted at during the post-credit scene of The Avengers: Infinity War, released April 27th, 2018. And on the 18th of September, 2018, a trailer for Captain Marvel was released.

There has been a great build-up to this movie. Many have speculated as to whether Captain Marvel would possess the ability to revert all the damage done in Infinity War, and bring back all the deceased characters. While we don’t quite know if she does or if she will, she is certain to play a large role in Endgame, the next Avengers movie to come out on April 26.

Directed and written by Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck, an American filmmaking duo best known for their collaborations on Half Nelson, Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Mississippi Grind, Captain Marvel provides much insight on the past and life of Captain Marvel, A.K.A. Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson. Marvel is a Kree Warrior with extraordinary ability, but in the midst of an intergalactic war with the Skrulls, she struggles with persistent memories of a previous life as an airforce pilot in 1995 on Earth. Throughout the movie, she discovers her past self, and the people she held dear. She realizes her present is not what the Kree has made it to be, and once she understands this, nothing stops her from protecting those that need it.

This movie was wonderful in many ways. It was amazing to see a Marvel movie centered on a woman. Every previous Marvel movie has featured a male, such as the Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Ant-man series, and the single Doctor Strange movie. It was not only refreshing, but empowering to see a female on the big screen.

The CGI was also phenomenal. I absolutely love Marvel for their action-packed fight scenes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the humongous battle towards the end of this movie. Seeing Captain Marvel’s full power was amazing and extremely enthralling, and it made me wonder why other superheroes even exist, her abilities are that incredible.

It was fun seeing the very beginning of S.H.I.E.L.D, and this movie presents to us a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The ominous and usually icy Nick Fury, played by the iconic Samuel L. Jackson had a warmth to him in Captain Marvel that we’ve never seen from him before. He looked insanely young, and his presence in combination with the hilarious cat Goose added much-needed charm and humor into this movie. One of my favorite parts of Marvel movies are the subtle jokes and comedy that is thrown in, and I found myself laughing hard with this one.

My only complaint is that the movie took time to get interesting, but one could argue the slow beginning was necessary. There is also no large antagonist in the movie; I think Captain Marvel’s backstory serves more as a prologue to Avengers: End Game.

Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Captain Marvel, rated PG-13, has a run time of two hours and five minutes.