Captain Marvel (Review)

So Captain Marvel, the now 21st movie in the MCU, is of course, the most controversial MCU movie ever made. Of course it's for reasons...well too dumb to spout off here. But seriously, if you looked at YouTube, you'd see endless supplies of scared white boys, afraid of a movie, with a "Strong" woman in it.

I'm not one of those scared white "Anti-SJW" boys. There, I said it. No, I want to talk about the movie, and the merits it may, or may not have, and focus on what the actual movie GAVE us, rather than what it "might represent to those damn SJW's". I'll still keep it vague, as the movie hasn't even been out 2 weeks yet, but I feel like I can get my points across still. So let's jump into this thing.

First off, let's just get this out of the way. Captain Marvel, is a good movie. Period. No, I'm not a cuck, no I'm not an SJW, I'm just a critic per say, that isn't blindly by something that isn't really real. This movie doesn't deserve the review bombs it got, it doesn't deserve the hate, and is far from the worst movie that Marvel has put out. Have you seen Ironman 2? What about Thor: The Dark World? I could go on about where I rank this movie, but I think I'll save that for the end of the review and score, so if you want, check that out, maybe let me know what your rankings for the 21 Marvel movies is, and see how we compare? But for now, let's focus back up. This movie is solid, it's biggest problem, isn't the villain, isn't the side characters, and it's not even main plot. It's Captain Marvel herself. No hold on, put the pitchforks down. She isn't terrible, Hell, I'd even say she is good. But I'm not sure if it was the direction of the director, or the script itself, but Brie Larson at times, feels a bit wooden. Yeah, she's a badass, but ALMOST every time she starts to have an emotional moment, she never seems to push it to the places it needs to go. Without going into too much detail, Captain Marvel, is a Kree, whose a warrior, that's trained to fight a group of shape shifting terrorists in the Skrulls. She doesn't remember anything from her past, but seems to keep having these dreams that seem like bits and pieces of a past, she doesn't remember. So as she digs deeper into those memories, and more things come about, you would think it would be a great time to have an emotional character, to add depth. But we don't. A lot of the time, the emotion doesn't feel nearly deep enough. It's almost like they didn't want to be labeled wrong, because the lead female showed way too much emotion. However, I'd argue, that it worked just fine in another female led film, Wonder Woman. Like I said before, I don't blame Brie, as I've seen other bits of her work before, the girl can act! My issue with the film, is that they almost hold her back in spots, instead of letting her go wild. Honestly, when Captain Marvel was taunting or being snarky, was when she shined the most, we just didn't get enough of that either. Believe it or not, I want MORE of that. More emotion, more snark. She's kind of like Thor, with her own complicated past, maybe even more complicated, and so when she's taunting like Thor, it had me laughing out loud. Hopefully with a second film, they let that her open up a bit more.

Of course, Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury and his furry companion Goose, have a ton of great scenes together. Jackson shines in the first movie in which he has a substantial role in, and my GOD the CGI in this movie...you thought it was scary when Kurt Russell was changed into a young man again? Try staring at like 30 year old Nick Fury for almost 2 hours! The CGI is no joke, and the more I see this, or the Planet of the Apes movies, the more I can't stand sloppy CGI anymore. It's almost not acceptable. Focusing up though, Nick had some great scenes for sure, but what stood out more, was just how much he opens up in this movie. We learn more about Fury and his past, then we did in 20 other films. There are some fun Easter Eggs here, but I love that they don't heavily rely on them like some films do, especially with what are technically prequel movies. Fury, as well as Goose for that matter, lend to the "comic relief" for the most part.

Fight scenes are awesome, the movie just kind of lacked them. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every Marvel film needs to be just straight action, but there is a lot of character building in this movie, and it could have been broken up with at LEAST one more cool action scene. I liked that the movie was kind of 3 different movies in one. You had the blacks ops vibe in the opening 20 or so minutes, which I thought was really cool. You had the buddy cop movie with Fury, which is where a lot of the humor stemmed from. Then of course, you had your fish out of water, as CM has no idea how Earth, and it's customs, actually are. My ONLY issue with the last part, is that Wonder Woman did it better. I wanted them to play up that "fish out of water" aspect just a BIT more, as it makes you feel a bit for the character, as well as usually get an additional laugh or two. Funny enough though, like I said before, those three ideas sound conflicting, but for the most part work in this film.

Also, there is one other movie that this movie helps out, and I don't even think it needs it, but it helps shape a bit more, of the worst part of it, and that's Ronin, from Guardians of the Galaxy. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't deepen him a TON, but watching the film, and seeing some of the things play out like they do, helps bring a little depth, to the beginning of the first Guardians movie, that it did need. One of the few areas that was "weaker" per say, and I love that this movie can, and does do that. Winter Soldier did that as well, and while I wouldn't put it up there with that movie, I will say that seeing Marvel be able to do this a bit more, kind of helps not only meld the universe together, but like I said before, help rectify certain sins other movies might have unfortunately had. I don't want Marvel to abuse this, but it's nice touch for sure.

So all in all, I liked the movie, quite a bit. No, it isn't a perfect film, nor is it the worst one we've ever got. I'm excited to see how the brothers use her in Endgame in a month, and I'm excited to see Carol in future Captain Marvel movies. So with all that said, I'm going to give Captain Marvel an

8/10

There is some room for improvement, but like I said, the hate is for all the wrong reasons. This movie doesn't push some stupid narrative. It does tell the story of a young woman, who has the powers of a God, who is constantly told how she can't do certain things, that all the other boys can. A lot of women have gravitated to this movie, and I can understand why. However, while it does have this message, it doesn't alienate men, just simply tries to educate them a bit. But either way, the movie is a fun popcorn movie, with some great fights, some great lines, and one Hell of a co-pilot that just so happens to be a cat. I'd say give this movie a shot if you haven't already. Alright guys, so my list will be below if you want to check it out, otherwise I'll catch you, on the next, OnTheShelf.

21. Ironman 2

20. Thor: The Dark World

19. The Incredible Hulk

18. Ant-Man and The Wasp

17. Ironman 3

16. Captain America: The First Avenger

15. Thor

14. Ant-Man

13. Captain Marvel

12. Doctor Strange

11. Avengers

10. Thor: Ragnarok

9. Spider-Man: Homecoming

8. Black Panther

7. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

5. Captain America: Civil War

4. Ironman

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

1. Avengers: Infinity War