{"id":1056,"date":"2019-05-09T13:43:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/kksm\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2019-05-09T13:44:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:44:18","slug":"movie-review-captain-marvel-reviewed-by-jake-hardison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/kksm\/movie-review-captain-marvel-reviewed-by-jake-hardison\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: Captain Marvel (Reviewed by Jake Hardison)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"s-l300\"If you\u2019re like me, the release of\u00a0Captain Marvel\u00a0in theaters was the first thing you marked on your calendar after getting home from watching\u00a0Avengers: Infinity War\u00a0last spring. Even the biggest fans of\u00a0Marvel Comics\u00a0have had a list of questions circling their head ever since they saw that red and blue logo light up on\u00a0Nick Fury\u2019s\u00a0pager as it hit the ground. But the question that I\u2019ve been focusing on most recently is broader than the key to beating\u00a0The Mad Titan, Thanos.<\/p>\n

As the release of\u00a0Captain Marvel\u00a0has drawn nearer, a large-scale discussion has ensued online about if the movie would be good or not. Before any big movie like this, there is typical speculation like this among fans and critics alike. But with this movie in particular there seemed to be an extra display of skepticism, and even maybe anxiety, about the film\u2019s quality. Whether this was in response to the work of online trolls, the way the movie was marketed, or the controversy that ensued as a result of both, people were talking. And from this discussion I found myself asking the question, what does a movie like this need to do? Generally, most movies have the same basic goals, or list of things that they must do in order to really create a great product. They need to give an engaging story, reach the audience in a way that they didn\u2019t see coming, etc. However, with Marvel movies, each installment seemingly serves a different purpose. In\u00a0Captain Marvel\u2019s\u00a0case, the movie had to answer lots of questions suspended in the space between two of the biggest movies in the franchise so far,\u00a0Avengers: Infinity War\u00a0and\u00a0Avengers: Endgame. On top of that, it also has to sneak an origin story into a 10 year old franchise in a way that seems fresh as well as provides a new face for the franchise, as the current figureheads get in position to pass the baton.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s talk about how this movie does. The film follows\u00a0Vers, a warrior serving the\u00a0Kree\u00a0race in an elite squadron known as\u00a0Star Force. With no memory of her earlier life and a set of powers that she doesn\u2019t quite understand yet,\u00a0Vers\u00a0finds herself getting kidnapped by her the enemy, a race of shapeshifters known as the\u00a0Skrulls, with whom her people have been at war with for years. When\u00a0Vers\u00a0discovers the\u00a0Skrulls\u2019 plot to track down someone from her past, she makes her way to Earth so that she can get her hands on the truth before they do. It is here that she not only meets young\u00a0S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Nick Fury\u00a0and\u00a0Phil Coulson, but discovers her past as\u00a0Carol Danvers, a test pilot in the United States Air Force. And the deeper she digs, the more she that everything she thought she knew was a lie. But as the truth unfolds, Carol is able to control her powers in a way she never thought was possible.<\/p>\n

The highest praise that I can give\u00a0Captain Marvel\u00a0is that, for a film that aims for representation and therefore targets a wider audience, it still feels like a movie that is made for the fans. With everything from the adolescence of\u00a0S.H.I.E.L.D. to the\u00a0Kree\/Skrull\u00a0War, the movie adds to the universe while giving fans the answers we\u2019ve been begging for, as well as ones we didn\u2019t know we wanted.<\/p>\n

Other highlights include lots of fun 90\u2019s nostalgia. Some of this comes in moments spent in a Blockbuster Video store or on a Windows 95 desktop, as well a few classic but sometimes cliche soundtrack choices. However, there are also several subtle indications of 90\u2019s films that heavily inspired the movie in theme as well as visual language.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the entire movie is visually stunning. Packed with well choreographed fight sequences, car chases, and especially dog fights, the action is pretty standard from what you would expect from a Marvel movie at this point. The flashback sequences follow suit, but they also fit into the narrative in a way that\u2019s brilliant and doesn\u2019t stop the movie dead. In fact, the movie does a great job of not laboring the exposition, and instead jumps around the timeline of\u00a0Carol Danvers\u2019\u00a0story in a way that feels very natural.<\/p>\n

Of course, the thing that makes all Marvel movies great is the development of relationships that feel inevitably human (even when they are between aliens). One thing this movie was heavily marketed on was the chemistry between Brie Larson and her costars; mainly Samuel L. Jackson and Lashana Lynch. At times the relationships between these characters do feel forced, often manifesting in shared laughs that seem to be overdone and come from out of nowhere. But ultimately you do believe the relationships between\u00a0Carol\u00a0and\u00a0Fury,\u00a0and\u00a0Carol\u00a0and\u00a0Maria. But the surprise is the rapport between\u00a0Carol\u00a0and Jude Law\u2019s character, who shall remain unnamed in this review. Possibly the most important, however, is the relationship between Carol and\u00a0Maria\u2019sdaughter\u00a0Monica. Not only is\u00a0Monica Rambeau\u00a0one of several characters that takes up the mantle of\u00a0Captain Marvel\u00a0in the comics, but the sharing of the story with a younger generation is reflective of what makes the MCU great. Several of these movies highlight the nuance and significance of family relationships between both de facto family figures and parent\/child dynamics. After all, we are meant to share these stories with the generation that came before us, as well as the one that will come after.<\/p>\n

Overall, I would say that the movie was really good, while it had the opportunity to be really great. It\u2019s hard to say that any part of the film was particularly mind-blowing, yet there was nothing offensively disappointing about it. But it does all the things it needed to do. It answers all of our questions, it adds to the larger universe in a way that feels natural, and it introduces a likeable new figurehead to the franchise. Not to mention a beautiful tribute to the late\u00a0Stan Leeat the beginning as well as two absolutely stellar post credit scenes that you won\u2019t want to miss.<\/p>\n

\"0-1\"<\/p>\n

Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0March 8, 2019<\/p>\n

Starring:<\/strong>\u00a0Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, and Annette Bening<\/p>\n

Director:<\/strong>\u00a0Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck<\/p>\n

Distributor:<\/strong>\u00a0Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0Superhero, Action, Adventure, and Fantasy<\/p>\n

Audience:<\/strong>\u00a013+<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong>\u00a0PG-13<\/p>\n

Runtime:<\/strong>\u00a02h. 12m<\/p>\n

Official Site:\u00a0<\/strong>www.Marvel.com\/CaptainMarvel<\/a><\/p>\n

Social Media:<\/strong><\/p>\n